Good morning! I am very excited for this post—it’s been the highlight of my week!

I had the privilege of interviewing Gordon Korman, author of Restart, The Unteachables, THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING AT MACDONALD HALL!, and many, many more.

I have a handful of questions about Mr. Korman’s writing journey and process, the publishing process, and finally writing advice—so if you are hoping for some writing advice, stick around for the end because he has some great tips!

So let’s dive into our questions about Mr. Korman’s writing process:

W: When and what was your first introduction to writing?

G.K: I wrote my first book for a seventh grade English assignment when I was twelve and I’ve been writing ever since. (I turned 61 last fall.)

W: Do you have a favorite writing project or experience?

G.K: My MASTERMINDS series stands out as a unique writing experience since the narrators of the book don’t understand what’s happening to them.

W: How have your personal writing techniques changed over the years?

G.K: Over the years, I’ve become much more confident in my abilities as a storyteller. Earlier in my career, I pictured my story as a movie playing out in my head—one that I was attempting to describe to my readers.

W: How long, on average, does it take you to complete a writing project fully?

G.K: On average, it takes me between four and five months to write a first draft, but that doesn’t include the editing process.

W: As for your publishing journey, how has the publishing process and/or industry changed today since your first publication?

G.K: Now that I have a well-established career and long-standing relationships with my editors at two different publishers, my books are already under contract before I start writing them. But the creative process—planning/outline, first draft, revision—isn’t too different.

W: When you published your first book, what was the process like as a teenager? Is it any different than the process is as an adult?

G.K: It was really tough to get the hang of revision when I was a teenager. I didn’t love being asked to change anything about my stories and I was easily offended. It was also difficult to get used to all the waiting. Publishing is a multi-year process and that was difficult for a middle school kid to get used to.

W: For you personally, what would you consider the most difficult part of the publishing industry today?

G.K: As the author of over 100 books, I don’t love that publishers don’t support backlist titles as much as they used to. One of my greatest strengths has always been the long-term appeal of my novels, but these days, editors and marketing people are much more focused on what’s new.

W: Now that we’ve heard about your journey and know about your experience in the writing and publishing industry as a teenager, what advice do you have about the publishing industry for teens and young writers?

G.K: My favorite piece of advice is to write just about every day. I meet so many aspiring writers who seem to be waiting for the perfect cosmic moment where the planets line up—and you can just tell that moment is never going to come. The best time to start writing is always right now.

W: What writing advice would you give to your younger self?

G.K: I would tell myself to chill out. I used to be so frustrated and impatient waiting for the impossibly slow wheels of publishing to turn that I didn’t allow myself to enjoy what was actually an incredibly cool thing that was happening to me.

W: And our final question: do you have any ideas or advice for those who struggle with writer’s block?

G.K: For writers’ block, my solution is always to talk about it. Talk to family, friends, teachers, editors—anybody, really. A block is usually in your own head and getting other people’s perspectives will usually navigate you past it. In fact, you might ultimately find yourself surprised that you ever considered it a problem!

Gordon Korman, thank you for all this awesome insight! I’ve learned a ton and I’m sure that my readers will as well. I appreciate the time you took for this!

If you haven’t, I highly recommend reading Gordon Korman’s books! I started reading them in middle school and several years later, I’m still loving them and am always excited for new releases!

Thanks for reading and I hope that you found this helpful and enjoyable like I did! Have a great day.
~Willow 🙃