A Talk With Avi
Avi
It is not too often that we get the chance to ask the author of the book we’re reading a question . . . or two . . . or more.This week, you will have the opportunity to ask Avi questions. Avi is author of such wonderful novels as Nothing But the Truth, the Newbery Award (2003) book Crispin: The Cross of Lead, and the book we are reading now, The Book Without Words.
Although Avi is very busy, he has agreed to stop by to participate in our quest to understand him and his work. He will answer any questions you may have about his novels, being a writer, or anything else reading or writing related per chance.
One thing though – please check to see if your question or curiosity has already been posted. Try to avoid being redundant. Have fun.
Here’s how it works:
- You post your question in the comment box, and click submit.
- Please limit your post to one question.
- Please post focused manageable questions.
- Report back here to find the answer posted in the thread.
So, go ahead, ask him a question . . . .
Hey AVI is there or are you going to write a sequel or spin-off to the book wihtout words?
Question 25
I’m just about to publish The Seer of Shadows, a good, old fashioned ghost story.
What inspires me is my love of a good story.
Avi, I have a few questions for you first where did you get the inspiration for each section of the book without words?
second are you going to make any more books like the book without words with mystery?
and my last question is who/what inspires you to write all of the amazing books you’ve written?
Question 19:
I choose to write any book because the story seems interesting to me,that it would be an interesting challenge to take on, and because I think my readers will enjoy it.
Question 20:
The Book without words was one of my most difficult writing projects. It was the first book I wrote after winning the Newbery Award, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to make it a very good one.
Question 21:
My first book was Things that Sometimes Happen. It was first published in 1970. It was recently republished in a different form.
Question 23: Shakespear, Moliere, Poe, O’Casey, Shaw, Dickens, Trollop, Austin, Twain, Hammit, Steinbeck, Hemmingway and on and on and on . . . .
Dear Avi,
I am also a fan of Robert Frost. Were you ever inspired by any great writers?
Thank you for your time!
🙂
Thank you, Avi, for answering my question and clearing up my clouded knowledge of the publishing process.
Dear Avi,
When did you publish your first book, and what was it called?
Thank you.
Avi,
Pick one of these please:
A. How did writing The Book Without Words make you feel?
B. Does The Book Without Words have anything that reflects on your real life?
C. Did any of your past experiences encourage you to write The Book Without Words?
Avi,
I really like your book.
I have questions for you! Pick one please.
A. What made you want to write “The Book Without Words”?
B. What is the background of the book?
C. Why did you pick the place where the book is taking place (Fulworth, Northumbria, etc.)?
Question 15
What is think is important for everyone to realize is that writing is a very long process. And complex. Well, yes, sometimes you get lucky, but not very often. When you read one of my books I hope it appears to be seamless from the first line to the last. But one, be aware I rewrite each book sixty or seventy times. And two, there is no such thing (for me, anyway) as a “first” paragraph. It will be rewritten after I write the second paragraph, and the third, and the . . . etc. What you read as the first chapter may have been the third chapter originally. (That’s what happened with a book I’m working on now) Try to grasp the one of the difficulties in writing is that the author needs to keep the whole book (every word?) in the head all the time.
Question 17
Glad you like it. Do you know it was one of the most difficult of books for me to write. The ideas–as with some much of my work–evolved as I wrote it. I like to quote from Robert Frost: “No surprises for the writer, no surprises for the reader.”
dear Avi,
i love the book.:)
what got you inspired to right such a great book?
thankyou for your time.:)
Question 13
The question suggests something that the Hames B is not quite understanding the publishing process. When I send a book to a publisher it is not finished. That is, there is much back and forth between writer and eidtor, before the book (it is the editor’s decision, not the author’s) is complete. Even then there is the publishing process: design, art work, cover art, proof reading, printing, and on and on. The submitted book may have taken as long as a year or more to write. The editorial process can take as long as a year, and the publishing process just as long. The fastest time–start to finish–for any one my books was, I believe, about a year. The longest, fourteen years.
Question 14
There are a lot of questions here, none of which allows for a simple answer. One could write a book (or a very long essay) on any one of them. Too complex to reply in this format.
Let me try to answer the first one. In order to write (poem, essay, lyric, short story, novel, what ever) you have to learn to think in the form. The writer doesn’t GET ideas, they are EXPERIENCED, and they are experienced in the form that will be written. There is only one way I know that can happen, and that is by reading a great deal. For example, I am not a reader of much poetry. Therefore, I don’t write poetry. But I do read many novels and I do read history. No surprise, I write historical novels. Beyond that, when one reads a great deal, one begins to think in a literary form. Or, if you watch a lot of TV, you will write like a TV show–mostly dialogue–with lots of cleches. This is a simple way of talking about a complex subject–but I guess it will have to do. In short: if you don’t reada lot, you won’t be able to write very well.
Avi Wortis,
My Question to you is how do you deal with the first paragraph of a new idea/chapter? To be a little more detailed, how do you handle taking the idea from your story and start writing the first paragraph of the entire book to start it off, because when I write essays I end up spending about 25 to 30 of only 45 minutes on it? Any advice?
Dear Avi,
Where do you get the ideas for your books? And how do you organize your ideas?
Who/What influenced you to become an author?
How do you create your characters’ personalities?
Have you ever drawn the setting for your books?
Hello Mr. Avi…
My question for you is: After you sent in your first novel to the publishers, about how long did it actually take to reach the shelves?
Question one:
Nothing one does is perfect. Criticism is not always fun, but without it it’s hard to get better.
Question two:
Wortis.
Question three:
The Medevial period is like the childhood of our own age. Sometimes it’s easier to see why things are the way they are by looking at things from a distance.
Question four: I don’t know how “big” I am. As for the success, quite simply it took a great deal of work–endless reading and writing.
Question five: If I can’t think of a name myself, I have many books of names. I just used one called “The Very best Baby Name Book” to find names for characters.
Question six:
Glad you liked the book. I don’t think of myself as like any one of the characters.
Question seven:
I’m told the first thing I wanted to be when a kid was a grabage collector. If you could see my office, you’d agree, I’ve made it. It was in high school that I first thought of being a
writer.
Question eight:
By the end of this year I will have published 68 books.
Question nine:
Glad you liked the book. Writing with a lot of detail is just my kind of style. If you like it you might try a recent book, IRON THUNDER. Packed with detail about the Civil War battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac. As for why the Medieval period interests me, see my answer to question three. Fulworth is not a real place.
Question ten:
Writing is certainly a major part of my life, but it is not the only thing. I have a family to whom I’m very devoted, and that includes my wife who is also my best friend. I try to engage with and be supportive to my five children. I read a lot. I like to spend time outdoors. Phototography is my hobby. And I do all the cooking in the family.
Question eleven:
When people speak of writer’s block they usually mean one of two things. The most common is just working out the plot, the story of a book, the characters, etc It rarely just flows. You have to stop and think over and over again. Sometimes you get stuck, but you just think it through over time. This is the basic process of writing. Would be writers often worry that getting stuck suggests they aren’t good. Not so. Writing takes a lot of thought. I think you spending more time thinking, than actually writing.
The other kind of writer’s block is very more serious: it happens when a writer can not write at all. It’s as if they get frightened of what they are revealing in their work. Such folk need help. While I’ve known a few writers with this condition, and it’s quite sad,I’m happy to say it has never happened to me.
Dear Avi,
I’m an aspiring writer and I was wondering, did you ever encounter writer’s block while writing one of your novels? If so, how did you come up with new ideas?
Thanks,
Taylor H
Dear Avi,
Is writing novels the only thing you ever wanted to accomplish?
Thanks for your time,
Ashley O
Avi,
I really like The Book Without Words so far.
My question for you is what posessed you to write such an interesting detailed book?
Why did you write a book with a setting in the medevial times? and why Fulworth?
Thank you,
Shauna-Kaye
hello. how many books have you writen?
sincerely, amanda
Wow… cool another author I get to meet, well not exactly meet but still, anyways,
Sir Avi,
I’ve begun to write stories, well not exactly stories, but short biographies of little characters I create (secret obsession of mine).
-Was being a writer the first thing you ever dreamed about becoming when you were growing up, when you were a child?
I’m thinking of becoming a writer myself.
Thank you,
Rachel H.
Dear Avi,
I really like The Book Without Words so far. It’s filled with great suspense and surprises! But I wanted to ask you: Do any of the characters remind you of yourself or are any of them supposed to be you in the book?
Thank you for your time,
Aleeyah F.
How did you name your characters in your story?
And does this book connect to some real life event?
sincerely, Alexis S.
What did it take for you to become a
big and sucsessful writer?
Thank you
sincerely, Chelsea Troilo
Dear Mr.Avi,
When you were younger were you interested in medieval times? If so, then what was so interesting about the time period?
What is your last name?
Dear Avi,
What is it like to be a creative author and to have a piece of work you created criticized in a negative way?