You guys, I had the privilege of interviewing Lois Lowry! She was really generous in giving me some of her time and I’m super grateful to her.

If you don’t know who Lois Lowry is, I highly recommend checking out her books! She’s the author of the award-winning books, The Giver quartet, as well as Number the Stars (historical fiction), and the Anastasia Krupnik series (contemporary middle-grade).

Alright, let’s dive into the interview!

W: First, I have to start with this question: When and what was your first introduction to writing? (Have you been writing your whole life or just as an adult?)

L.L: My mother had been a teacher before she married, so our home, when I was a child, was filled with books; she read to us all the time and I very early fell in love with books. I was probably 8 or 9 when I began writing stories myself; I had a younger brother and so he was the recipient of my early attempts!  

W: All your books have a lot of diversity—dystopian, historical fiction, children’s fiction, and middle-grade novels. What inspired you to write such diverse content?

L.L: I would become bored very quickly if I wrote the same kind of book over and over again. Fortunately I enjoy different genres, different kinds of writing. So I go back and forth easily and each new project presents different challenges as well as satisfactions.

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

L.L:  Every book takes at least a year. That includes thinking and planning, starting and restarting, revision and more revision; and then in the later stages editorial input…which means more revision.

W: That leads to the publishing process–at least eventually! For you personally, what would you consider the most difficult part of the publishing industry today? Has it changed over the years?

L.L: Yes, the publishing industry has changed greatly over the years; there are many fewer publishers than there used to be, so from a writer’s point of view it is much more competitive just to find a way to publication. Now a writer needs an agent; that was not true back when I began my career. A writer now is expected to be a marketer…not an easy role for an introvert, which most writers tend to be.

W: What advice would you give to young writers about the publishing industry? 

L.L: I would advise “young writers”…by which I assume you mean those just starting out…not to waste one single minute thinking about the publishing industry.  The publishing industry is a BUSINESS. Writing is an ART. Concentrate on the art. Read. Study literature. Learn your craft. Try. Fail. Try again. Join a writers’ group of some sort and learn from each other.

W: Try, fail, try again. Something that always feels like a ‘fail’ to me is battling writer’s block. Do you have any advice on handling writer’s block?

L.L: I hate the phrase “writer’s block.” What does it even mean? Just that for one reason or another you don’t feel like writing. Everyone feels that from time to time: teachers, dentists, plumbers, trash collectors. But for some reason this myth has developed, as if there is some murky, magical ailment called writer’s block. What do you do about it? Same thing a teacher or plumber would do.  Do the best you can,  if it is your job. Or else: if you don’t feel like doing it? Don’t. The world will continue. Me: on days that I don’t feel like writing, I do it anyway; and I  do it again the next day and the day after that, and hope that the exhilaration returns., and it always does.

W: Wow, I’ve never thought about it that way before! That’s really helpful for me. Finally, what writing advice would you have given your younger self?

L.L: My younger self was already doing what I would, in retrospect, advise: reading.  Reading everything. Savoring literature.

Wow, thank you, Ms. Lowry, for all of that insightful advice! I learned a lot that I will definitely be keeping in mind.

Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed my interview with Lois Lowry and found it helpful! Make sure to share this post with your writer friends, fans of Lois Lowry, and other people who have eyes and can read. 😉

Have a great day!
~Willow