Mette: I think the better question is—why did it take me so long to finally do what I knew I wanted to do since I was in Kindergarten? I guess my father had told me all my life that writing fiction wasn't important, wasn't a real job and I should do something more stable as a career. Finally, when that other supposedly stable career destructed, I realized writing couldn't possibly be more painful and it would probably be a lot more rewarding. I was right on both scores.
Mette: I remember writing a story about a dragon in Kindergarten, complete with illustrations. I guess I knew then that I loved fantasy and fairy tales. still do. Then I wrote a book when I was in tenth grade and actually sent it into a publisher. The amazing thing was that it came back with a very nice rejection letter, encouraging me to send more. Of course, I didn't. I was too disappointed.
Mette: In my secret heart—yes. But I was afraid for so long, too.
Mette: Probably that has to be Rick Walton, a wonderfully talented picture book writer who is also my brother-in-law. He married my sister when I was eleven years old and sort of pioneered the way for me, showed me how long it would take to get published, what networking was about, why good writing was the most important thing, and on and on. Also, he got my dad used to the idea of writing as a way of living. He still doesn't much like it, but I think he doesn't argue anymore.
Mette: I used to wake up at 5 every morning to go down and write for a couple of hours before my husband left for work. Then I'd get two more hours in when the kids were napping in the afternoon. Now I'm lazier. I just get in as many hours as I can in the afternoon and try to do a whole lot of reading to make up for it. I think about my writing all the time. Ideas come to me while I'm cooking or tying shoes or feeding the baby lunch. Of course, sometimes, they come to me and I don't even know it until I sit back down and start typing away. I'm a rush writer, though. Some people have to write everything perfectly the first time through and I'm not like that. I just get it down, take a look at it and then start cutting and shaping. That means I probably do ten rewrites on an average book that gets published. I try to get in ten pages of either new stuff each day or more than that of revision, depending on how heavy it is.
Mette: I used to hate revisions. The thrill of that first dream-world place you go to while writing would have worn off and I'd see all the warts and know how hard it would be to fix them. Now I like revisions a little more. That's partly because of working with good editors (so far, Tracy Gates at Viking and Suzanne Reinoehl at Holiday House, and my agent, who does a lot of editing for me—Barry Goldblatt). Also, partly just practice, I suppose.
Mette: It's always surprising to me when I look at my watch and realize how much time has gone by. I love to sit and write. I love to get into that zone where nothing else exists. It's very therapeutic, for one thing. But it's the same feeling I get when I read a really good book. The thought that I might be able to do that for someone else is exciting.
Mette: Well, I've met two kinds of writers in my life. Writers who want everything perfect before they send it out and so never send it out, and writers (like me) who send out everything they write. If you know what kind you are, I'd say to the first group—get it done. Then fix it. And to the second group—sit on it for two months before you send it out. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.
Mette: World peace?
Just kidding. Um. I guess some people call it escape when you read fantasy
or science fiction. I think that's not completely truthful. To me, reading
fun fantasy or sf is like drawing a picture upside down. It's not that it's
so much easier that way, but you get a totally different perspective on life
when you come back to it. I think you can see problems suddenly, and
solutions, too.
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