A couple weeks ago I started a new post series about how some of my favorite books have influenced my writing. Today is part two! If you would like to read the first post (and see what other books I’ll be writing about), click the button below.
I started writing stories when I was young and it was a while before I decided I wanted to be an author or research about the book industry. The idea of doing something with my stories had been there, but not specifically being an author. That changed a lot when I read, The School Story by Andrew Clements, as a kid. After reading this book I decided I wanted to be an author and started researching the book industry.
The School Story is about a 6th grade girl, Natalie who ends up banding together with her best friend Zoe, and their teacher to try to get Natalie’s book published. There are also other characters who come into play like Zoe’s dad (a lawyer), Natalie’s mom (a book editor), and Natalie’s mom’s boss.
I loved reading The School Story. I could relate to Natalie some in regards to family. I read the book like ten times as a kid and my mom bought two copies of the book for me to own (the first one got a little tattered and worn, so I decided to get a second one to replace it.). I loved how the story showed a little bit of the book industry and how it worked. I loved how it showed a 12 year old girl being able to get her book published. When I was a little older, I realized it did not include everything about the publishing process or how the industry ran and that the book was wrote for a kid’s understanding.
As for writing my own stories, it was a couple of years after my first time reading, The School Story, (and some research) that I decided to go by a pen name (I questioned it just like Natalie did). The pen name changed a couple of times throughout the years though. I remember one of my first times doing it, I created a long list of variations and there were influences from friends. Also, when I started writing my stories were pretty short, but as I continued writing they got longer. As a teenager there were a few stories I had my family look at. Usually I’d asked them about the first two chapters if they weren’t sure about the middle or ending of the book. Part of the reason for doing this was influenced by The School Story. In the first chapter of The School Story, Natalie asks Zoe if her first two chapters were any good.
So, The School Story influenced me to look ahead in my writing and see where it could go. It helped start my dream of becoming an author. In the next post, I’ll talk about Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and the Boys vs. Girls series.
