| |
| SCBWI
France |
| |
| Meet
the Pros |
| |
| SCBWI France publishes interviews
both in the SCBWI France Expression newsletter
and on-line. These interviews offer an insider's
view of the international children’s
publishing market. |
| |
|
| Joan
Bauer |
Author
Joan
Bauer is a featured speaker
in the Spring 2001 Conference
in Paris, 12-13 May 2001. Ann
Kordahl, Melissa Buron and Sandra
Guy interviewed Joan for SCBWI
shortly after she won an American
Library Association Newbery
Honor award for her novel, Hope
Was Here (Putnam, 2000).
|
|
 |
 |
|
1. SCBWI:
A little about your background . . . how you
did you get into writing for young people?
Joan Bauer:
I was in advertising sales for ten years before
I became a writer. Writing was something I'd
always wanted to do, but I didn't think I
could make any money at it, and for the first
few years I was right! I'd done some journalism
for magazines, had an instructive, but frustrating
stint as a screenwriter, and then had a serious
car accident--during the recovery I got the
idea for Squashed and I wrote it in braces,
seriously. That got me on the road. I'd never
thought about YA--I think it just found me.
2.
SCBWI: In your articles and speeches you speak
of humor as a serious subject. How do you
deal with the idea and/or criticism that humor
is seen as "lighter," or "less
weightier" matter than "serious"
fiction? Or, are the "powers-that-be"
waking up to the value of humor?
Joan: I think people are waking up to it.
I've won a few nice awards with my books now
and that says to me that people aren't just
putting humor in a box.
3. SCBWI:
Your novels always have very specific and
detailed settings. How do you "research"
where your novels take place?
Joan:
I do loads--read everything I can get my hands
on re: a subject, place. Books, newspaper
articles. I do way too much research, but
it helps make things real, I think.
4.
SCBWI: Do you find it easier to write from
a male or female point of view?
Joan:
Female, so far, but my next book is third
person.
5.
SCBWI: What do you see as the role of children's
literature today? (especially regarding middle
grade and YA books)
Joan:
They need to be bearers of light, I think--show
kids that the world is tough and complicated,
but there are ways to overcome adversity.
I think literature can be instructive without
hitting people over the head with The Lesson.
6.
SCBWI: How do you work on your YA novels,
from concept (or before) to contract?
Joan:
Each one, honestly, has been different. I
have multiple book deals now and just have
a one sentence idea of what the book is about.
I am simply lousy at doing outlines. I'd rather
die than do one. I always start a book by
developing character--I write pages and pages
of background. I'll discuss that in the workshop.
7. SCBWI:
Why do you think Hope Was Here won the Newbery
Honor? (What award-winning qualities do you
think it has?)
Joan:
This is my favorite of my books--I think it
has the most complex plot and deeply layered
characters. I like to think it won because
it isn't solely YA--it has application to
younger children, too. I think Hope is a character
that many people seem to relate to. This book
has my two favorite characters I've ever created--Hope
Yancey and G.T. Stoop. It's so hard to know
why it won--I'm just so glad that it did.
8.
SCBWI: What would you say was the main/universal
theme of each of your books (in 12 words or
less!)?
Joan:
I'm not so great at these. I think in all
my work, it's that adversity, if we let it,
can make us stronger.
9.
SCBWI: Do you enjoy the publicity/touring
part of being an author and do you think it's
important? (Are you much more in demand since
the Newbery Honor)?
Joan:
I think it's important, but it gets really
tiring. Yes, the Newbery has put me on many
more scopes. I have to be careful not to overbook--if
that happens, I don't write.
10.
SCBWI: What's the most inspiring book you've
ever read and why?
Joan:
The Bible. My faith in God is critically important
to me.
11.
SCBWI: What's the most innovative book you've
ever read? (Why? How was it innovative?)
Joan:
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx--such an
unusual setting; tough descriptions; brilliant
use of fragment sentences. In the first few
pages she encapsulates a man's life like I've
never read before or since. Think this is
a brilliant book. I go back to it often.
12.
SCBWI: Which author do you most admire and
why?
Joan:
I like so many different authors--I can't
really choose a favorite.
13.
SCBWI: Are you working on a new book now?
Can you talk about it?
Joan:
Not talking much about it, except to say it's
about a 12 year old boy and I'm doing it in
third person.
14.
SCBWI: Any suggestions for writers just breaking
into the field, or wanting to break in?
Joan:
What every editor has said to me is that they
are looking for work that shows innovative
voices. I would do a great deal of character
development before writing--I think that's
where the innovation in a character's personality
can really come from. When we know our characters
so well, the writing sings, I think. |
|
| Top
of page |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
