Interview with Children's Author Ellen Jackson by Vanessa McDaniel

Writer's Break recently chatted with award-winning author Ellen Jackson. This successful California writer holds a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Counseling (specializing in early childhood development).

Having entertained tens of thousands of children worldwide, Ellen describes her process and explains how she landed the gig of co-authoring Writing Children's Books for Dummies.

Writers have different styles. Some use outlines. Some just start writing. How do you organize your stories?

The way I write fiction differs from the way I write nonfiction. With nonfiction, I do tons of research before I outline the book. Then I create a very simple outline with a few main headings just to see what points I want to cover. As I cover each topic, I'll break it down into subsections. Often, when I've completed the manuscript, I'll show it to another writer and get some feedback. I have trouble with logical transitions, so often I have to go back and redo my organization when I write the second draft.

Fiction is completely different. I seldom begin a story unless I have a clear idea of how it will end. Coming up with an interesting ending is the most difficult part of writing for me. The second hardest part is the beginning, which is also extremely important. Many editors only read the first few paragraphs--so it's critical to create an interesting and imaginative beginning. Usually I work out the basic plot of a story in my head. I keep an idea file and sometimes I'll just write a sentence or two to remind myself of a plot I've been thinking about. When I'm ready to actually write the story, I'll sit down and write the ending first. Then I write the beginning. And then I write the middle. But I have to add that every once in a while a story will grip my imagination before I've thought up a good ending. I'll start writing and the story just seems to flow on the page without much help from me. It's magical when that happens--though I sometimes feel a bit guilty for taking credit for a story that seems to write itself!

I noticed that you'll soon release Writing Children's Books for Dummies. How did this opportunity come your way?

Another writer, who had worked on a Dummies book previously, was asked by John Wiley to write Writing Children's Books For Dummies. They asked her to find a co-author for the book. She found my webpage at www.ellenjackson.net and liked my Tips for Authors. We balanced each other out--she was knowledgeable about the publishing process and had written nonfiction for young adults. I was more knowledgeable about picture books, chapter books, and middle grade novels and knew a number of editors and agents. Also, I had written both fiction and nonfiction. She thought we'd make a good team, so she asked if I wanted to write the book with her and I said yes.

A writer can write until he or she is almost literally blue in the face. When do you know that one of your stories is finished?

That's a great question! I wish I had a great answer. Once in a while I just "know" that a story is finished--that it's as good as I can get it. But that's rare. Mostly I write and rewrite until I can't quite wrap my head around the story anymore. That usually happens when I've read it over too many times. Then I often put the story away for a while. Then I take it out a few weeks later and read it again. I rewrite it one more time and give it to someone else to read. Usually that person will see things that I've overlooked, so I'll make more changes at that point. That's often when I send the story out to an editor. If the editor is someone I've worked with before, he or she will suggest more changes, or even reject the story with a comment or two about what needs to be changed. It's great if the editor says that story is wonderful in every way and needs no work--but that has seldom happened (I think it happened once).

Learn more about Ellen by visiting her web site, which not only contains information about her books, but a slew of articles for aspiring writers. www.ellenjackson.net.