Young Adult Author Shares Her Writing Strategies
An Interview with Romantic Comedy Writer Janette Rallison
Jan 21, 2009
Janette Rallison started as a romance novel writer for adults – but found greater success as a young adult author of romantic comedies. Since then she’s written many popular YA books, including Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To Do List; Just One Wish, and My Fair Godmother.
Suite 101 spoke to Rallison over the phone on January 16, 2009, and learned about her thoughts on the creative writing process.
Becoming a Published Author
Suite 101: How did your life experiences prepare you to become a published author?
Rallison: Taking drama classes prepared me really well. I didn’t realize it at the time – I was just one of those people who wanted to go to Hollywood and become an actress. Then I decided that wasn’t practical so I became a writer instead – which probably isn’t more practical than trying to break into film.
But the nice thing about drama is it teaches you to get inside your character’s head – and that’s what you’re doing in writing, except you’re doing it for all your characters.
Suite 101: Did starting out as a romance novel writer for adults help you write romantic comedies for teenagers?
Rallison: It helped me know what you need in a romance – like tension between the hero and the heroine. So if you look at my books, generally my hero and heroine have opposing goals and are in conflict.
But I don’t want to say that’s the typical romance formula, because then people will think writing is a paint-by-numbers thing, and it’s not. Writing is more like when someone hands you flour, eggs, and vanilla and says, “Here, make some cookies. And make them new and different from everyone else’s.”
Finding Inspiration
Suite 101: You’ve said you find inspiration for writing from your kids. What are some of the best ideas your teenagers have given you?
Rallison: For Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To Do List, that idea came out of my daughter’s life. Her drama group was putting on West Side Story – and the teacher became concerned that it wasn’t politically correct. So she didn’t let them say words like “fight,” “rumble” or even “Puerto Rican!” It was a bizarre play -- so it was like, “Oh, I’ve got to write about that in a book!”
Writer Research
Suite 101: A lot of people are surprised when you tell them how much research you do for your novels. What are the best ways to get information?
Rallison: Call people who know about a certain field. If you need to know what kind of bow and arrow your character would use, call the archery store. The telephone is your best friend.
A lot of times people are happy you called. I called a vineyard once and was very apologetic because I was taking up their time – but they just said, “I’m so glad you called to check your facts! I saw A Walk in the Clouds with Keanu Reeves and that vineyard scene was completely wrong!”
The Writing Business
Suite 101: Do you have problems with certain aspects of the writing business like writing query letters and a synopsis?
Rallison: The nice thing is that once you work with an editor you can stop worrying about your query because your publisher already likes your books.
But the problem I have now is that my publishers want me to send not just one synopsis but five! And then they’ll tell me which book they think has the most marketing power and have me write that book.
For me it’s hard to write a synopsis of a book I haven’t written – it’s like telling someone about your vacation photos before you go on vacation! So I let my publishers know the synopsis may not resemble the actual book when it’s written. And they take that into account – I think they just want the main idea.
Janette offers many helpful writing strategies (as well as a list of the top ten reasons to become a writer) at The Official Website of Janette Rallison.
Janette also offers writing workshops at schools, libraries, and bookstores. Read about her experiences talking to kids at Author Visits to Schools Encourage Kids Literacy.
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