I’d much rather listen to a speech than give one. Nerves may have something to do with it, but I think the bigger reason is that it fascinates me to meet new people and learn new things and when I’m talking I’m not learning. Whenever I visit classrooms or lead young writers’ workshops, it’s my job to talk, yet, invariably the best moments of the session happen when I shut my mouth and the kids’ open theirs. We usually do a writing exercise or two. I ask them about their favorite place or weirdest habit and we turn these basic ideas into works of fiction. Kids come up with the quirkiest plot lines and the most lovable and/or despicable fictional characters. I get to experience firsthand how brave, bright, creative, sassy, articulate, and funny they are. Of course, their greatest attributes are also the stuff of my worst nightmares, because it means I have to be on my toes to write for them. The thing I admire most about children is their honesty—yes, sometimes it’s brutal, but it’s that innocence, that curiosity, that passion for truth that makes writing for them so satisfying. And so scary. I have my work cut out for me in making my characters as true and real as possible. I know in my line of work there are no second chances. If I can’t do it, I’ll lose them from page one. If I can, I just may have a reader for life. Insincerity. Kids can smell it a mile off. Which is why whenever they ask me how old I am (and they seem to ask a lot), I always tell the absolute truth. I say, “I’m into double digits. How about you?”


 




Get more on Trudi Trueit at SimonandSchuster.com