Rebecca Stead on Why Writers Write

Rebecca Stead is the author of the Newbery Award-Winning "When You Reach Me."

 In her end-of-the-book tribute to Louise Fitzhugh's classic "Harriet The Spy,"

Rebecca writes:

"Some people write in order to know themselves. Others, like me, write in order to feel known by others."

Consider what it is for you.

Here's more of what Rebecca said:

"When I was very young, I was preoccupied with the idea that I was stuck alone inside my own consciousness, that my mind was a place no one could enter, a place I could not escape. The world of my own thoughts and ideas made me feel, among other things, lonely.

"Until I discovered books. Books were my first windows into the interior worlds of other people. And my wish to write, which grew–still grows–from the experience [of] reading, is mostly a desire to connect by sharing what goes on in my head. Writing is both invitation and escape, a way to express ideas, emotion, observations, fantasies, fears, and above all, questions. For me, writing, a lonely profession, is also an antidote to loneliness."

-From page 323 of the Special Anniversary Edition of "Harriet The Spy," original text copyright 1964, tribute copyright 2014.

In an interesting side-note, it was recently announced that in addition to continuing to write her own books,  Rebecca is becoming a literary agent. You can read more about that here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee