R.L. Stine: On Writing Addictions, Challenging Himself, and ThrillerFest

This year, NaNoWriMo was sponsored by ThrillerFest, the world’s largest thriller-novel convention, which includes a writing school, the opportunity to pitch your thriller to fifty agents, and a celebration of thriller writers and readers. 

Director-at-large, R.L. Stine,  is one of the best-selling children’s authors in history with over 350 million copies sold of series including Goosebumps and Fear Street .  Last fall, he released his second adult novel, Red Rain . He took the time to tell us just how he’s sustained his passion for writing:

NaNoWriMo’s daunting challenge is to write 50,000 words in one month. I’ve read that at one point you were writing both a Fear Street and a Goosebumps book every month. Any tips you can offer on writing quickly and meaningfully?

Well, first you have to love writing. A lot of authors love having written. But I enjoy the actual writing. Beside that, I think the main reason I can be so prolific is the huge amount of planning I do before I start to write.

I do a very complete, chapter-by-chapter outline of every book I write. When I sit down to write, I already know everything that’s going to happen in the book. This means I’ve done all the important thinking, and I can relax and enjoy the writing. I could never write so many books if I didn’t outline them first.

The other thing I do is set a goal. I try to write 2,000 words every day. I don’t get up from my chair until I’ve finished the 2,000 words.

Our participants have a very similar word count goals, and we know from experience that there can be days when they’re hard to meet! What keeps you motivated to finish your novels?

Greed, I guess. More seriously, I don’t need motivation. I wouldn’t know what else to do all day. Knowing that there are thousands of kids waiting for the next book is a real motivator. But mainly, I see this as my job. My job is writing these books, and I’m so lucky to be doing what I love.

People who are going to be successful writers are motivated to write. A friend once asked me how long I could go without writing, and I said ten days, maybe two weeks. He said, “See? It’s an addiction.” That’s probably the best definition of a writer I’ve ever heard. Someone who is addicted to writing.

NaNoWriMo also helps writers silence their “inner editor” for one month. If your inner editor was a character in one of your books, how would you get rid of him?

My biggest failing as an author is that I don’t have an inner editor. I always think when a manuscript is finished, it’s a classic. Brilliant! I’m lucky to have very tough editors who can show me the problems in a book—because I’m always so pleased with everything.

As for killing off an inner editor, I really shouldn’t talk about that. Because I’m married to an editor!

The NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program includes a handy tool called the Dare Machine. When you click “Dare Me,” it gives you random prompts such as “Have one of your characters receive an anonymous note.” Do you dare yourself to do new things to keep your writing fresh? How did you decide to take on adult fiction?

Having written so many scary novels, the challenge is to find new scares, new ways to describe scares, new cliffhanger chapter endings. I’m constantly alert to what I’ve done before, constantly trying to avoid the old scares and plot twists.

When I wrote Red Rain, my adult novel, I deliberately set up challenges for myself. I wanted to make the book as different from what I’d done in the past as I possibly could. For example, the adult book is told from six or seven points of view, while my kids’ books are always told from one point of view. I tried to make the book as complicated and difficult as I could—just to see if I was up to the challenges.

You’re a Director at Large with ThrillerFest, “a  four-day celebration of thriller books, the authors who write them, and the fans who read them”, which takes place this year from July 10-13 in Manhattan.  How did you become involved?

I joined International Thriller Writers during its very first year. I was delighted to be the only children’s author invited to join. I found it to be such a terrific organization, so devoted to promoting thrillers and helping thriller writers new and old.

The CraftFest sessions (note: an intensive series of hour-long classes taught by some of the biggest names in the thriller business) are always fun and helpful. Experienced best-selling authors have a lot to convey to younger writers. Publishing is changing rapidly, in a real period of flux, and it’s good to hear what these veteran authors have learned about the business.

What has been your favorite memory at ThrillerFest?

Of course, it was being named 2011 Thrillermaster. The ITW board members explained that my books introduce kids to thrillers and create an audience for the adult authors, and that pleased me very much.

Save the date for this year’s ThrillerFest in Manhattan (July 10-13)! Events include:

CraftFest: A writing school that pulls together top authors, editors, and agents for hour-long sessions on everything from your opening sentence to marketing your finished product.
AgentFest: Designed for authors who want to pitch their work to the over fifty literary agents looking for the next big thing.
ThrillerFest: A conference filled with author panels covering a variety of subjects, cocktail parties, and special events, including one-on-one interviews with the 2013 ThrillerMaster, Anne Rice, and Spotlight Guests.  

You can purchase tickets for the entire event, or mix and match the following:

CraftFest is all day Wednesday, July 10, and the morning of Thursday, July 11.
AgentFest is Thursday afternoon, July 11.
ThrillerFest is all day Friday, July 12, and Saturday, July 13.
The Thriller Awards Banquet is Saturday night, July 13.