Rick Walton became a children's writer because, after trying almost every other career in the book, he finally realized that writing for kids was one of the few things that he both enjoyed and was good at. Since that realization he has had over fifty books published, with another ten or so more scheduled for publication over the next couple of years. His works include picture books, riddle books, activity books, mini-mysteries, a collection of poetry, and educational and game software. His books have been featured on the IRA Children's Choice list, on Reading Rainbow, and on CBS This Morning.
Rick, we would love for you to tell our SFC audience about yourself. I know you are happily married with children, teach writing classes at BYU (Brigham Young University), speak at schools and writer conferences, and live in Utah. Did you grow up in Utah?
I did. I was born in Provo while my father attended school at BYU. Then we lived in the vast far reaches of the world, exotic places like Sandy and Draper, and back to Provo when I was 14. (For those not familiar with the Wasatch front, Sandy and Draper are a whopping 20 to 30 miles away from Provo.)
Now you’ve been writing for a number of years and have over 80 published books and a number of magazine publications as well. Here is the question all our readers will want to know . . . when did you start writing? What were the first types of books you wrote? And when did you decide to focus on children’s picture books?
I wrote for fun when I was a kid. The first writing I actually remember doing was in my ninth grade honors English class when we were studying the Donner Party. We were a creative bunch, and someone started passing around a sheet of paper that each student added their own creative work on—cartoons, poems, and other short pieces of genius, all on themes related to the Donner Party. I remember my contributions, a poem and a cartoon. I will not present them here for fear, no, absolute surety, that they will incriminate me.
The first time I thought of writing books for kids was in my 12th grade AP English class. For an assignment, I wrote a story about a mouse who was disappointed that he was so small, but discovered that his size was a benefit. Okay, a cliché theme. But I was sure it was brilliant. I was taking French at the time, and cleverly titled the story Jealous Sisour. (Sisour is French for mouse.) My teacher, Joyce Nelson, handed the story back with a note that read, "This would make a good book for children."
But of course being a freelance writer was a dream, and impractical. I stumbled through preparations for practical careers—teaching, business, law—and bombed out of them all. All that remained was writing.
My first stories were odd. My current stories are odd. My sense of humor hasn't changed much in 30 years.
What personality trait of yours do you feel makes you a good writer?
Obsession. And the ability to come up with unlimited weird ideas. They're not all good, but because there are so many of them, statistically some of them have to work. So, the same trait that makes me a good writer also makes me a bad writer. Most of what I write is bad. It's practice writing. It's the 9,999 attempts that Edison made before he finally invented the lightbulb. (Okay, so my success rate is better than one out of 10,000. It's closer to one out of 5,000.)
Can you tell us a little about your most recent published book, What Do We Do with the Baby?
It's sweeter than my normal books. Of course it's sweet. It's about babies and bunnies. I came up with the idea when my youngest was a baby. I invented a little game that I played with him. It became the book. My books seem to go in topical phases. I've recently gone through a rodent phase (The Remarkable Friendship of Mr. Cat and Mr. Rat, Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse, and Just Me and 6000 Rats.) In a year or two I will also have a book out from Putnam titled Baby's First.
You also have a couple of books coming out soon. Can you tell us a little about them?
Besides Baby’s First, in the next year or two I will also have a picture book coming out from Peachtree (edited by the delightful Carmen Deedy—check her out at the National Book Festival website), and an activity book from American Girl, co-authored with the brilliant and soon-to-be-famous Cheri Earl.
I know you’ve written in multiple children’s genres, but you seem to have more picture books published. Rick, why did you decide to focus on writing picture books instead of middle grade or young adult novels?
I have a short attention span.
Rick, what steps do you use to create your characters? Which character would you say is most like you? Why?
Oooh! Hard question. Easy answer. I don't take any set steps. I don't even think about it. I just write the story, and the nature of the character is determined by the needs of the story. Sometimes the character comes first, as in Bertie Was a Watchdog. Sometimes the purpose of the story defines the character, such as in the bullfrog books or the bunny books.
Which character is most like me? That's hard to say. I have the cleverness of Bertie, the stunning good looks of Piggest, the patience of Mother Rabbit, the curiosity of the 6,000 rats, the speed of the Fox and the Mouse, and the firm resolve of Mrs. McMurphy. At least I used to. Until I gave them to my characters. Now I don't have those characteristics anymore.
Can you tell us a funny story about writing your books?
When I wrote my book So Many Bunnies, I had trouble coming up with a name that started with X and that rhymed with a place that a bunny could sleep. I finally just invented the name Xen. I knew that Xan was a Chinese name, and was sure that somewhere in that population of over a billion at least one person had to be named Xen. A few years after the book came out, a friend of mine in the Chicago area found out that their neighbor had named their baby Xen. When she asked where they got the name, they said they were looking for an unusual name, and found it in a book from the library. So now I know there is at least one person with the name of the 24th bunny.
I know you do a lot of writing classes for writers. Can you tell us little about your classes? What is the most common question you get from new writers starting out?
I teach occasional classes at the BYU Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers workshop, and I teach a picture book writing class most semesters at BYU. I also teach occasional independent workshops. In my classes we talk a bit about what makes a good picture book, and I read them a really bad one (celebrity) to illustrate what not to do. And then we do group critiques. And as issues come up in the writing, we talk about them. Over the course of the semester we cover most everything. In my university course the students must write one manuscript a week, but they only need to bring in three of them for critique. I want them to feel free to write garbage. I believe writers need to allow themselves to write poorly, to be okay with the fact that not everything they create is going to be brilliant. I know a lot of very talented writers who don't write because they think their writing is awful. But they're comparing their first draft to the final version of the best children's books. I want my students to be comfortable with whatever they write, and to be able to look at it objectively and decide whether it's something they can work on, or just an exercise to be set aside.
One of the great things about teaching is “grand- books.” It's a delight to see students succeed. For example, Kristyn Crow's first book, Cool Daddy Rat, which was workshopped in my Writing for Young Readers class, just received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and School Library Journal. Carla Morris’s book, The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians, which was workshopped in my BYU advanced picture book writing class, has been getting a lot of attention and selling a lot of copies. And one of my students, Nathan Hale, had his first picture book optioned for a huge amount. It's almost more exciting when my students publish than when I publish.
The most common question? Where do I get an illustrator? Answer, you don't.
In previous conversations we’ve had, I know you have bookshelves throughout your home. Did your parents read a lot to you as a child? Do you read to your children?
My parents read to us quite a bit. My dad used to sit us on his knee and read his physics textbooks to us. We do read some to our kids, but not a lot. They're still turning out to be excellent readers though. Probably because they see Mom and Dad reading all the time, and because they're surrounded by books. In the last two days our six-year-old first grader read the entire Captain Underpants series. He now wants to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
I’m a big Harry Potter, Fablehaven, and anything to do with fantasy fan. I’ve been reading fantasy and sci-fi books before they become popular again with children. What books do you like to read?
I mostly read project related books. Nonfiction, reference books, books that help me write my books. The last couple of years have been tough and busy. And I've been finding it hard to read just for fun. But I'm moving back towards pleasure reading, understanding that it's more than just fun, it's research, it's filling the hopper.
Out of all the books you’ve written and have read . . . what book would you live in and why?
Easy. Bunny Day. I'd love to live the carefree pastoral life of that bunny family.
Rick, when you’re not working on the next manuscript, what do you do in the little spare time you have?
Huh? Spare time?
I was lucky enough back in the 2007-08 school year to see you at Santa Clara Elementary during one of your school visits. You have some really fun and interactive workshops you do with the kids. Can you tell our readers a little bit about what you do during a school visit?
I usually start off with my PowerPoint assembly, which is fast, funny, loud, and informative. It talks about my family, my books, how I became a writer, the writing process, the pros and cons of being a writer. It's interactive, has the kids shouting out, and rides the edge of chaos. But it works. On the good days, when the adrenaline is flowing, and when kids are in enough control that I can get out all my jokes, it's like doing a standup comedy routine. In fact, I've often been told that I should do standup comedy. Hah! Not a chance. I'm not consistently that funny, that alert, that adrenalinized.
After the assembly, I usually see all of the kids in the school again in one of two workshops. In my riddle writing workshop I teach kids how to write riddles that they can use to make their teachers and parents want to lock them in the basement. In my coming up with story ideas workshop I show the kids how I come up with my ideas, and then we write a story as a group. We've come up with some amazing stories.
The thing I want to do with my school visits is show kids that writing is fun. I think the fun factor is a hugely important component that we don’t see enough of in education. If kids think something is fun—reading, writing, science, math, anything—they will push themselves to the limits of their abilities to do it. If they don't think it's fun, they will usually give halfhearted attempts, and never do it again once they are no longer required to do it.
What can schools do to better prepare for an author visit? What things should the students do to prepare for one of your visits?
Schools can realize that an author visit is not just entertainment and babysitting for their students.
Done right, it's an excellent way to get kids excited about reading and writing. I've had school visits where teachers tell me the kids went back from the workshops and wanted to write the rest of the day. I've had a couple of amazing experiences where a teacher told me that that kid who was the most active in wanting to share his work hadn't said a thing all year. Until now. A good author presenter, combined with a prepared school, can do wonders with the students. It's well worth the money.
There are many ways to prepare. But they usually boil down to reading the author's books to the kids, getting them excited about the visit, giving them fun extension exercises—writing projects related to the author's books. Actually, the things they should be doing to prepare for the author visit are the things they should be doing all year. Real reading, real writing, learning something about the authors whose books they read, not for hero worship, but to realize that authors are normal people, like them. That anyone can write. (And working with grammar, of course, but not obsessing about it, which I obviously don't, given how many fragment sentences I've used in this paragraph.)
Soapbox Time: one thing that teachers should do is have the kids do real writing, writing with a purpose, writing with possible publication of some sort, all year round. My observation is that the reason this is not done as much as it should be is that teachers do not see themselves as writers. And if they do not see themselves as writers, it's hard for them to get the kids to see themselves as writers. I would like to see school districts have frequent in-service classes where teachers learn, from publishing writers, how to write for real markets. Not how to teach writing, but how to write. And when they feel confident with their own writing, that confidence will spread to the kids.
Rick, I know children tend to ask the darnedest things. What is one of the strangest questions you’ve been asked during a school visit?
I've had some really bizarre questions. I just wish I could remember them. The most common odd questions are, "what is your favorite (fill in the blank)?" What is your favorite animal, color, sports team, President, food, ice cream, candy, pizza, dog.
Do you let teachers and students write you letters? If so, are you able to respond?
I do let them write letters. And I usually respond. But they'll get a quicker response if they send an e-mail.
Rick, is there anything else you would like to add for our readers? Any advice you’d like to share with those who want to be writers when they grow up?
When I do school visits, I often ask the kids how many are going to be writers when they grow up. A smattering of hands go up. I tell the kids to all raise their hands. Most of them reluctantly do. And then I ask, "Aren't you going to write letters? Memos? Reports? E-mail?" and then I explain to them that not only are they going to be writers when they grow up, they are writers right now. And the reason that writing is taught in schools is not so the kids can become book writers, although some will, but so that kids will be able to communicate well, which is important, since much of their success will depend on how well they can communicate. So, my advice is to recognize that you are a writer, you will be a writer in the future, and your success will depend on how well you write. So take it seriously. But at the same time have fun with it, because it is fun.
As for those who want to write books, read a lot, and write a lot. The two most important things for a writer to do. As for other words of wisdom, more advice, check out my blog at www.biguniverse.com. Or bring me to your school or writing event, and pick my brain while I still have some left.
Thank you Rick for visiting with us in the World of Ink!