“How Writers Create Their Fiction”: Alice Hoffman

I uncovered this month-long NPR series “How Writers Create Their Fiction”, originally run in November 2006. I found many of the ideas presented by the various writers to be informative and inspirational, so we’ll be featuring one writer per day for the next few weeks.

Today’s writer is Alice Hoffman:

Alice Hoffman is the author of 16 novels, most recently Skylight Confessions (coming in January ‘07); two collections of stories and several books for children and teens. Her novels have been named notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and Library Journal.

How She Writes: “I used to get up at five and work for several hours before I went to work, or before my kids woke up. Now I write wherever, whenever. I don’t need an office anymore, or space, or a window. Just my laptop and time.”

Writer’s Block Remedies: “I didn’t believe in writers’ block until I had it. I worked on exercises — outlines, words, character studies, then moved to stories, then the stories became linked stories, then a novel. Again, when I had writer’s block after Sept. 11, I read some of my favorite books from childhood, and they reminded me why I wanted to write in the first place.”

More writing wisdom tomorrow.

[Originally posted February 4, 2010]