Wendelin Van Draanen
Wendelin Van Draanen
Wendelin Van Draanenis an American writer of children's and young-adult fiction...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth6 January 1965
CountryUnited States of America
thinking dust choices
As much as thinking this upsets me, I'm starting to see that I need the merry-go-round much more than it needs me, and in the end my choice is to hop back on or get left in the dust.
home thinking ifs
I don’t think you’re aloud to be homeschooled if you don’t have a home.
rip book thinking
You told us over and over that you don’t think you could live without books, but the ironic thing is, you’d probably die before you’d think to rip pages out of one to start a fire. Am I right? Well, get over it already. Better to be warm then well-read.
thinking oil upset
Holly, I understand that you are upset because Gemma pulled down your ants, but why did you think pouring motor oil inside her backpack is the way to solve the problem?
thinking wells happens
It's funny how you can think you know someone pretty well, and then something happens or they do something that makes you understand that you didn't really know them at all.
less morning people simpler though
I write early in the morning at the computer, and people think I'm crazy, but I still use my Mac-Classic even though we have a state-of-the-art PC. There are just less distractions with the simpler machine.
kids
You can't be preachy - kids are allergic to messages.
believe
I believe in the paramount importance of entertainment, but I have something to say.
arsenal believe certain hope life navigate
There are certain things I believe we need to keep in our emotional arsenal as we navigate through life. Hope is a big one. The more of that we can carry, the better.
afraid attention ears eyes interested kinds life lots pay people styles voices ways
If you are interested in writing, get out and live your life! Do a lot. See a lot. Keep your eyes and ears open. Pay attention to the different ways people speak. Read lots of different kinds of books. And then try writing in different voices and styles - don't be afraid to experiment.
health life mental run
I've run my whole life - for more than exercise, for mental health.
age books early editor eventually good learned rewrite rewriting stick takes
I rewrite my books many times before submitting them, and after my editor takes a look I wind up rewriting some more! It's a good thing I learned at an early age to keep on trying. Stick to it, and eventually you'll get there.
growing loved mysteries people
Part of my motivation for writing mysteries for young people is that I loved mysteries when I was growing up, and now that I'm on the creative end of things, I'm discovering that they're even more fun to write!
achieved compliment consider exactly grow happens method mine possible reader sort tells
What sort of person you grow into should not be achieved by default, and often that's exactly what happens to kids. I see literature as a method of guidance, information, and contemplation, and consider it the greatest compliment possible when a reader tells me that a book of mine really made him/her think.