A Goodreads user
asked
Laurie Halse Anderson:
You are so eclectic - I love your contemporary novels where you tackle the hard topics head-on as well as historical fiction. How do you approach writing such dramatically different genres? What is a typical writing day like for you? How do you decide what to write about next (beside the catch-all answer of "the story comes to me...")?
Laurie Halse Anderson
I've enjoyed bouncing back and forth between contemporary YA and historical fiction because the research and thought-process ahead of the writing are so different.
Typical writing day (assuming I am at home and not on the road):
5am wake up. Build fire in writing cottage if its cold or snowing
Eat breakfast read for a bit
6ish: start writing. Revisions on next book are always the first order of business. Brainstorming for future projects come later in the day.
In a perfect world, I'd write until 4, run or walk for an hour, have dinner, hang out w husband and dogs and read until bedtime. I'm usually asleep by 9. I don't watch much TV.
Since this is SO NOT a perfect world, about half of my day is spent on email, various publicity things, more email, etc. And then there are about 80 days a year on the road....
Typical writing day (assuming I am at home and not on the road):
5am wake up. Build fire in writing cottage if its cold or snowing
Eat breakfast read for a bit
6ish: start writing. Revisions on next book are always the first order of business. Brainstorming for future projects come later in the day.
In a perfect world, I'd write until 4, run or walk for an hour, have dinner, hang out w husband and dogs and read until bedtime. I'm usually asleep by 9. I don't watch much TV.
Since this is SO NOT a perfect world, about half of my day is spent on email, various publicity things, more email, etc. And then there are about 80 days a year on the road....
More Answered Questions
A Goodreads user
asked
Laurie Halse Anderson:
A lot of 'contemporary YA' has come out in recent years and I love that that's happening, but I don't see a lot of books that address the reality of what it's like living with a dysfunctional family. Mostly, a character's family problems end up ad a sub-plot to more typical teenage drama. Would you ever consider writing a book about this particular problem?
A Goodreads user
asked
Laurie Halse Anderson:
As an author, I assume you're also a lover of books. What are some of your favorite books and why?
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