An Interview with Leslie Connor | Writing for Children 138

INTERVIEWING THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR Leslie Connor is the author of several award-winning books for children, including THE TRUTH AS TOLD BY MASON BUTTLE, the 2019 winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award, WAITING FOR NORMAL, also a winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award, CRUNCH, MISS BRIDIE CHOSE A SHOVEL, and the young adult novels DEAD ON TOWN LINE and THE THINGS YOU KISS GOODBYE. She lives with her family in Connecticut. We talk about: -character development. Why it’s so important, how to do it, and when. -how Leslie’s characters go deeper, and are so fully realized the reader feels like they know that person, leaving them sad to leave these people when done with the book. -does Leslie think of the story first, or the character or characters? -does she outline first, either mentally or physically? -how to keep it straight when you write out of order. -using verbal tics, like Mason’s “Tell you what…” -revealing a character's learning disability through his language is a great “show don’t tell” method. How does she tap into that without overdoing it? Get your Success Journal, free, here: instituteforwriters.com/successjournal