R.L Stine on Writing, Writer’s Block and a Touch of Humor

I read an interview recently with the great R.L. Stine,* author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series. And all I can say is he continues to surprise me. Did you know he wanted to be a comedy writer? Yeah, me neither, until I saw him speak this past January at the SCBWI Winter Conference. It began a list of surreal similarities between us:

1. R.L. Stine actually worked as a comedy writer for 10 years, with Scholastic. I worked as a comedy writer for years, too. Humor was his life's goal, and for a long time, it was mine.
2. In the interview, he says he’s never had writer’s block. Ever. Me neither. But I know what he means when he says, “Some days the writing isn’t as easy or pretty as other days. But you just keep going. You know you can go back and fix it.” He’s absolute right, of course. Get that first draft done! I always say editing is easier than writing. Up to a point, anyway (but that’s a different post).
3. Mr. Stine maintains that “The easiest way to avoid writer’s block is to do a lot of preparation first.” He makes chapter-by-chapter outlines and a character list (including write-ups on their appearances and traits). I was happy to hear this because I, too, do this. Of course, don’t treat an outline as dogma, but man, does it come in handy if a story starts getting bogged down.

So how is it that R.L. Stine, the Stephen King of Kidlit, move from humor to horror? An editor asked him to try it. Which is how I started working on middle grade – an editor suggested it.

Now I can only hope Mr. Stine and I share one more similarity: success. He has sold 350 million books… and I'm 350 million behind him.

But I’m working on it.

*Interview appeared in the Gotham Writer’s Workshop