ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
September 28, 2009
A Chat with Author Jon Scieszka
The author talks about the writing process
Where can you encounter real ninjas, fake vampires, a roller-skating baby, a boy with a butt for a head and a cast of misfit characters? The answer is: In the heads of authors! The characters can also be found in the online, and ongoing, story The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, written by Jon Scieszka and a team of popular children's book authors. Every two weeks, a different author continues the story, which will end a year from now.
On September 26, TFK caught up with Scieszka at the National Book Fair in Washington, D.C., to talk about the first chapter that he wrote of The Exquisite Corpse. Katherine Paterson is the next author to continue the story. Her chapter will be published online on October 9. Go to read.gov to read the story.
TFK:Whose idea was it to write the yearlong adventure story, The Exquisite Corpse?
SCIESZKA:The Library of Congress came up with the idea and then they asked me what I thought. And I said, "You know what? I have an idea how we could do this and get other authors to work on it." The Exquisite Corpse form is an old idea. It's over 100 years old. People told stories this way just to get a group together and have fun. And then I thought we could play that game too and ask all these great authors to participate.
TFK:Did you play a version of The Exquisite Corpse game when you were a kid?
SCIESZKA:I grew up with five brothers and we told stories all together at the dinner table. But we didn't really continue each other's stories. It was more like we were all trying to outdo each other. But working on The Exquisite Corpse story was so much fun because I got to write the first chapter, so I could just set up all these booby traps for the other authors and make them have to write about meatballs, clowns and ninjas.
TFK:Isn't that a mean thing to do to a serious writer like Katherine Paterson?
SCIESZKA:Yes, but she is actually pretty sneaky because what people don't know is that she's funny. Her chapter is hilarious. Katherine Paterson and Kate DiCamillo can write serious, emotionally moving books, but they both can write surprisingly funny stuff too.
TFK:Why did you decide to participate in the project?
SCIESZKA:Since I'm the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, I work on all the Library of Congress projects. Plus, I just thought it would be so much fun.
TFK:Did you discuss your chapter with the other authors?
SCIESZKA:No, not at all. But I did read their chapters.
TFK:How did you come up with the characters and the plot for the first chapter?
SCIESZKA:I just kept introducing the craziest things I could think of. Did I mention the meatballs? There's also a Star Wars lunch box that's missing a thermos. I just kept adding weirder and weirder details.
TFK:Is the chapter weirder than your other stories?
SCIESZKA:No, I think that's why I was asked to do this. Weirdness is natural for me.
TFK:Was it difficult to write the first chapter without knowing where the story would end?
SCIESZKA:No, not at all. In fact, I'm going to write all my books like this from now on. You write the first chapter and anything is possible. Then let Katherine Paterson and Kate DiCamillo finish it. That's easy.
TFK:What did you like about the writing process?
SCIESZKA:I got to set the whole story up. I've got a roller-skating baby in there. How could you use one roller-skating baby? The other authors have to make that decision and I get to see how it turns out. It's all surprising and fun. Or who is going to use the Star Wars lunch box with no thermos? And how will the authors use skills like sword swallowing, fire-eating and juggling? The authors have managed to use a bunch of those already. I'm completely entertained. I read a chapter and I go, "Now how did Kate DiCamillo do that?" It's brilliant. And the story just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Shannon Hale let slip that she has a character who speaks out of his butt. His butt is where his head was. I think he got cursed somehow. I don't know how she connected that with a Star Wars lunch box, but it's in there.
TFK:What was difficult about the writing process?
SCIESZKA:Kate DiCamillo and I talked about that this morning. We felt like this was just playing around. And that's what we're doing as writers. We play with ideas and tease out things that don't work. This was like playing around with a bunch of good friends.
