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Week 1
Are you planning to write a sequel – “Gruel the Second”?
It’s already written. I don’t know if you read GRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT or not, but I left an opening for Arnold Dinklighter to have a brother who would come into focus in a second story. The two brothers went searching for their estranged father, which they did on bicycles traveling from Ohio to the east coast and back. I based it on an actual trek I took back in college. It was fun to write and brought back lots of memories from my original bike trip.
My manuscript was accepted by my editor, and I felt I was on my way. The two of us then began working together for several months on the process that all manuscripts go through. Then my publishing house was gutted, most everyone was fired. My editor, along with about everyone else, moved on to a new publisher. I was given a new editor and, well, I’m still not sure what happened. They ended up paying me not to have my book published. When I tried to hook back up with my old editor, he explained to me that a rival house doesn’t normally publish a sequel whose original had come out with a different company. It’s something about being difficult to promote, I guess.
Ah, my long, sad tale of woe.
When I start to write, I don’t get very far before I get stuck and I don’t know what to write next. Does this happen to you and how do I get unstuck?
Yes, I know what you mean. For me, I don’t quite understand “writer’s block.” I do comprehend “writer’s sloth.” In other words, I get lazy.
I think what all writers go through is we don’t spend enough time thinking, mulling, pondering. You see one of the fun parts of being a writer is figuring out how to solve all the various problems that arise in creating a story. So, in other words, don’t sweat it. Early in the writing process you just need to give ample time just to thinking. I believe you’ll find the further you get into the story, the faster and faster you will write. By then you will basically have the characters and the plot figured out and it will almost seem like the story will write itself. I also believe you will find that quite a bit of fun.
How much do you write before you show anybody what you wrote?
Unless I get overly antsy, I try to be as completely done with my manuscript as I can. I have my wife, Paula, as my first reader. She’s good and I don’t want to waste her time. Therefore I try to have it completely written, revised, and typed before she reads anything. I suppose I don’t want her pointing out what I already know is wrong. Instead I would rather my wife notice what I missed, what is glaring. The two areas Paula normally points out are my word choices and when I go off on a tangent
I know why we, as authors, want someone to read our manuscript early on. All writers enjoy the gratification of having someone reading their work and getting some feedback. Still, I usually wait.
Week 2
How did you think of the title of your book, “Gruel and Unusual Punishment”?
When my manuscript was first accepted, I felt it was in pretty good shape except for, well, the title. Actually, I had two titles, FROM OUT OF THE GULAG or WHY I, ARNOLD DINKLIGHTER, WILL NEVER TRUST ANOTHER PRETTY APEFACE. I think I was following the precept of if you can’t find one good title, use two bad ones.
My editor and I went back and forth sending each other title suggestions. I was throwing out ideas like THE ARNOLD AND THE ECSTASY which, yes, was rather hideous. Others were even worse. Meanwhile, I was making the final minor adjustments to my manuscript. My very last one was where I tossed in a line on page two describing the school cafeteria food the junior high kids had to eat in detention, or as I called it, Gruel and Unusual Punishment.
The next time I spoke with my editor he let me know my title had been chosen. And that was that. I guess you could say I inadvertently gave my book its title. I do like it. I think it captures the spirit of what I was trying to do with Arnold Dinklighter, my title character.
So that’s how I came up with my title. That and I name all my books after the Eighth Amendment.
How long did it take you to write your book?
I wrote the vast majority of my book in one summer. My wife was finishing up her master’s degree and it was the year before our son was born. Since I am a teacher with summers free, it was my window of opportunity. I sat up on the bed in our bedroom and filled up a spiral bound notebook. I did almost all the writing during the mornings as it is when I am the freshest and think the most clearly.
That is until I got to the very end. By then I knew where I was going and I was writing in a blaze. I wrote my last two plus chapters over a three-night period. I composed the one until late into the night and then took the next evening off, as I was exhausted. I finished the next night, or I should say early morning.
Months later, I realized I had two major problems with my manuscript. First, I removed one minor character, which eliminated two nebulous chapters and then added three new chapters to strengthen what it was I was trying to say. Next, I changed the focus of the penultimate, or next to last, chapter. I had spent some time figuring out what I had done wrong before attacking all that. I believe it took me several weeks.
My mom says if I want to be a writer, I have to be good at all my classes, not just language arts. Why do I have to know algebra and how electricity works if I’m going to be a writer for a living?
Wow, cool question. Let me see how I can answer this. OK, here goes. Writer A leaves the station writing 22 words a minute. If 30 minutes later Writer B pens 47 words a minute, at what juncture would . . . Ah, who am I kidding. I never could do algebra. And, shockingly, I certainly don’t comprehend lightning.
For what it’s worth, there’s a whole boatload of stuff I’m not good at. However, I’m not sure that’s the point, though I do understand where you are coming from. I most enjoy spending my time with books, family, theater, sports, and music. Whenever possible I try to mix my vocation and avocation, my work with my interests. I like to think everyone should strive for this.
Still you know how parents can be, always trying to do what’s best for you and such. I imagine your Mom is probably not only wanting you to be prepared for college and become a well rounded person, but also you might someday have to write an article on your favorite algebra teacher who was struck down by lightning. (Well, OK, so that’s not a very good answer. For me when I get stuck at work doing something I don’t really enjoy, it’s sort of as if I have to grin and bear it, take my medicine without complaining. You see, sometimes you don’t know what might seem unnecessary to you today, could become important for you later in life.)
And, you know, this really is a cool question. I think this shows you can be a good writer. Good luck to you. And if you ever figure out how to do algebra, write me back. I could use the help.
Do you think it’s harder to write about stuff that everybody knows
about, like things that happen in school like in your book, or stuff
that most people don’t know much about?
Funny you should ask. You see, I have tried both. At the outset, it certainly seems easier to write about what I know. As a seventh grade history teacher, I feel comfortable writing about the middle school experience. Interestingly, I have run across very few people who have questioned the realism or the accuracy of the school and the kids I portrayed. I thought I might have had more complaints since everyone’s been through school and, therefore, has definite opinions on the subject.
Now, as a history teacher, I do have an interest in writing young adult historical fiction. I have completed one manuscript and I worry about getting it right. My experience here is that just when I think I’m delving into an area where few people really know it well, the few people who do know it, really know it. And I have more than a feeling they will tell me if I made a mistake. Therefore, I have to be really careful with my accuracy.
So, I think it’s much easier to write about what I have lived through. However, if you are a writer, choose what you want to write about and enjoy that.
Who’s your favorite writer and why?
Do I have to pick one? OK, OK, I’ll try this time and answer just the question I’m asked.
Ernest Hemingway. I like Ernest Hemingway. When I was considerably younger, I read The Nick Adams Stories and I connected with them. They were short, to the point, and I felt like I knew this kid. There was quickness and a pulse to the stories that I hadn’t experienced in works by other authors.
I began moving from The Sun Also Rises to A Farewell to Arms, Islands in the
Stream to Across the River and Into the Trees, and For Whom the Bell Tolls, a personal favorite. Certainly a part of it is I like this time period, this first half of America’s twentieth century. It was a time of vibrancy and hope and fear. It was the time of my parents and my grandparents. And I could sense my relative’s lives in the tapestry of Hemingway’s stories.
Then about a summer ago I picked up A Moveable Feast, Hemingway’s autobiography on his young adulthood in Paris. I had somehow missed it in my earlier readings. Here he spoke of Fitzgerald and Stein and Hadley, his first wife. And he spoke of the exuberance of a city he knew intimately. And he even spoke of how it is to write a story.
I suppose I have traveled to a variety of places that Hemingway once trod. But I always go back to his books. That is what is important.
Week 3
Did you read books when you were in middle school and what kind?
I read everything I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, books for the young adult audience- that’s you- were not as available or of the quality they are now. So, I read quite a few biographies, as many Hardy Boys as I could find, and sports books.
Now, don’t misconstrue what I am saying; these were fun books and I rolled right through them. Then sometime in high school I ran across this work called Bless The Beasts And The Children. It was almost like an epiphany. I didn’t realize writers could be that blunt, that they could talk about real life subjects in such an extraordinary way. It was about this group of misfits at a summer camp who were shunned by everyone else. They decided to do something partially illegal and, yet, morally correct- set free a herd of buffalo that were being shot by hunters for sport. The language was brutally honest and the subject matter was like nothing I had ever encountered. It excited me and let me in on what was possible as a writer of young adult books.
What is your favorite book that you’ve read?
This is going to sound terrible, but it is nearly impossible to pick one. I go through themes or authors and then move onto something else. I’m currently into reading Steven Saylor’s mysteries that take place in ancient Rome. In the last year I’ve read a couple of Pat Conroy’s books and I am anxious to read a couple more this summer. He is such a superior writer to almost anyone else out there. I’ve also gone through a number of Bernard Cornwell’s works in the last few years because he writes very well about English history with his stories of fiction. His King Arthur trilogy captured me. Dan Brown, of THE DAVINCI CODE fame, currently is very popular and a lot of fun. I’ve read two of his books in the last year.
I guess it sounds like I’m all over the place. I can’t help it. I like to read. I suppose I just like getting lost in some other time and place.
How hard is it to think of a topic to write about?
I guess this has never really been a problem. Honestly though, I used to worry about this. You see, I thought to be an author you had to lead this wild, exciting life and, then, you could base your books realistically on what you had lived.
I now know this isn’t exactly true. Your imagination is the most important ingredient. That allows me to place my characters in the setting of my choice. You just have to make sure what you write is realistic and believable.
How did you come up with the material for your books?
To continue on from the last question, I spend quite a bit of time thinking. Much of writing, at least for me, is working out all the problems that go into a book. If you want to write, you have to make your writing interesting and your story engrossing and, yet, you also have to be believable and your characters have to be real.
So what I put into my books is all around me. I teach seventh grade; that provides me with wonderful material. I don’t just mean with providing a plot for a book. It’s the way kids talk and think and react to situations. I can apply that to almost any other time or place I want to set a book. It’s fun. You should try it.
What inspired you to become a writer?
When I was about eight years old, I had a bedtime that I felt was too early. I remember complaining, then Mom made me a deal: I could stay up an extra half hour if that time was spent laying in bed reading. That led to me reading a wide array of literature.
It was like stealing time from the night. Soon I was under the covers, flashlight on the book of the evening, well past the allotted half hour. Mom had to have known; yet she never said anything. Her love of books led to my similar fascination.
I suppose from that I thought if I could read and enjoy books, I could also write them. And, so, I did. I became a writer for a lot of reasons, but not the least of which was my mother.
What’s the best part about being a writer and getting your book published?
I’m going to cheat on this question; it’s the whole process. When I first received a phone call from the man who would become my editor, I was holding my six-month-old son. It all became an instant blur. I dropped my son, the phone, or maybe both. I’m not really sure. That was the beginning of a wonderful two-year gestation period from acceptance of my manuscript to birth of a book.
Since I was a complete neophyte -- totally oblivious to what was happening -- the whole publishing process was fascinating. First of all, just to have someone know my book as intimately as me was exhilarating. Then a deluge of stuff was sent my way; a contract to sign, revisions to make, an attack upon my manuscript by a copy editor that had to be addressed. Almost all of it was wonderful. Then when I received a sketch of the cover art for my book, I was floored. I can’t tell you how it felt to see the vision of what an artist had for my two main characters.
The galley copy arrived next- one of the last steps before the final completion of my book. Then the reviews came. Those can be frightening, though most were good. Two reviewers, however, didn’t like my book. When the mail would arrive containing new reviews, I was always a bit on edge.
Then my book arrived in hard cover, first an advance copy and then a whole box of them. Next, out of the blue, I received six copies of my book as it looked in Denmark and then found I had been sold to a publisher in France. The entire process totally blew me away. I feel very lucky to have gone through it.
Week 4
How old were you when you started writing and how long have you been writing?
I was 26. It was the summer and I had just finished my fourth year of teaching. I had always had summer jobs that were not very interesting, but at least they kept me out in the sun.
I decided to write a book, a young adult novel. I mainly just wanted to see if I could complete a whole work. That was about all I accomplished. It wasn’t very good. I now realize it was extremely important practice. (I later revised the work and made vast improvements, though I have never got it published.)
About five years later, I tried a second manuscript that became Gruel and Unusual Punishment. It started as a short story, before I flushed it out and made it a book for young adults. After it was published, I tried writing a book every summer. I have completely written, I believe, six works and have started a few others.
What were you like when you were a kid?
I didn’t appear to be anything special. I was just a kid. I was a Sixties child only in that I was a child in the 1960s. My family did move around quite a bit. I lived in six different towns -- the last five in Ohio -- before I graduated from high school. My Dad was moving up at work, from teacher to superintendent, and we kept moving. Everything about me appeared average, including my grades in school. At the time, I was an introvert (painfully shy), though I did occasionally get myself into messes. I began to come out of it a bit when I learned I could make people laugh -- sometimes.
I jumped feet first into every sport I could find, though with my coordination I usually tripped on the way in. One of my proudest moments was my junior year in high school when I finally earned a varsity letter in wrestling.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I guess I did have a writer’s eye -- trying to see things in my own light. After my book was published, my mother gave me something I had absolutely no recollection of, a “book” I had written when I was quite young. It wasn’t very long or all that well done, but I suppose it was a precursor of my interests to come.
Did you ever want to stop being a teacher and just write full time?
Not long after I found out I was going to be published, I met Walter Dean Myers. (He’s a prolific young adult author who has been quite successful and is quite good.) He suggested that if I was serious about being an author, I should strongly consider giving up teaching and going into writing full time. I never did consider it very seriously. Partially, it is because I enjoy teaching seventh grade. Of course, now that I am closing in on retirement, I certainly won’t quit anytime to start a new career.
Still, I think it might be more than that. Maybe I was just scared. Or maybe I didn’t trust my ability enough. I sometimes wonder where I might be now if I had given up teaching and concentrated on writing.
I saw you on TV. Were you ever on TV before? Were you nervous? I would have been nervous but you were really funny. I bet you’re a fun teacher.
Well, I’m a goofy teacher -- or at least the oldest kid in my class.
Yes, I was a little nervous, and, no, I have never really been on TV. My wife, son, and I have participated in community theater, so I guess I have performed in front of people before. Besides, I teach, so I’m in front of kids all the time. As you might know, history is stories. I teach history. So, what we do in class everyday is just tell stories. I suppose it can be good practice if you ever find yourself on TV.
In your book, the main character Arnold Dinklighter has a name that probably gets picked on a lot. Was that on purpose?
No, not really. At this point, I have no idea where the name Arnold Dinklighter came from. I think I just liked how it sounded, how it was somewhat memorable. I do have trouble coming up with names for characters. I want them to be unusual and, yet, make sense with their personality.
Originally the name of the teacher was Mr. Workman, sort of as in, “hey, kid, Work Man.” Arnold called him Mr. Warthead. Later, I used the name Workman for the principal, a minor character. The teacher became Mr. Applin, or Apeface to Arnold. It made more sense with the third sentence in the book and I thought it sounded better. I took it from there.
At the time I wrote my manuscript, there were two male teachers I worked with in running our school detention. For fun, I used their names in my book. One became the school secretary, the other a substitute teacher.
Susan Winkerman was the name of the main seventh grade girl. I didn’t know where I got the name; I just liked it. After my book was published, someone pointed out the name was incredibly close to that of a cousin of mine. I can be a dolt that way.
When you have an idea for a book, how do you get started writing?
Every writer -- this includes you -- needs to find what works best for them and what they are most comfortable with. I buy myself a cheap spiral-bound notebook. I then strive for sustained consistency. That’s really the main thing. Just keep writing. Get the words down on the page and keep it flowing. Find yourself a place and a pattern for your writing. I prefer, when possible, to write in the morning sitting up in a comfortable chair. Unfortunately, I now usually find myself writing late at night when my wife and son are in bed. I need at least two hours at a time to be effective.
I write in my notebook (or, I should say, print), skipping lines to allow myself room to make corrections. I keep my pen of choice with my notebook so I am always ready to start anew. It’s probably a good idea to make a detailed outline of where you want to go, though my outlines are free-flowing, if I write one at all. My notebooks have all sorts of other writing alongside the outer edge and across the top. Usually it’s me jumping ahead a paragraph or a page or a chapter or two and penning the lines of how I will want them to sound when I get there. Again, experiment and find what works best for you.
I’m forever writing when I’m driving my car, mowing the lawn, out jogging. No, I’m not actually putting words on paper; I’m figuring out where I am headed. If possible, I try to write further than I think I need to. In other words, after I finish a chapter, I try to write the opening line or paragraph of the next chapter before I shut it down for the night. That way I know where I am headed. The next day or so, when I start again, I go back a number of pages and reread what I already had written. Then hopefully I can pick it up from where I had left off. Keep it moving. I can always fix what I don’t like in rewrites.
Do you try to write something every day?
I wish that I did. The majority of my writing takes place in the summer. That’s another thing that I like about being a teacher. I have been a lucky guy. Other than not getting to play second base for the Cincinnati Reds, I have had the jobs I’ve most wanted to do.
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