Reading time: About 2 minutes
Writer Paul Jantzen believes that anyone who actually enjoys the editing process might have some psychological problems. For Paul, writing is the step that gives him the most joy.
Paul Jantzen grew up surrounded by baseball diamonds, tree forts, and the kind of small-town adventures that shape a lifetime of stories. Blending nostalgia with humor, he writes fiction that resonates with both reluctant readers and lifetime lovers of books. Inspired by the classic summers of the 1970s, Paul wrote his debut novel, Sour Apples, as a tribute to the magical years when friendships were fierce, crushes were messy, and every day held a new adventure. Sour Apples has won the American Writing Award’s Children’s Book International Award and Pencraft Book Award for Young Adult Fiction. The sequel is in the works.
I was excited to talk to Paul about how he approaches writing.
Q. Roughly how much time do you spend writing every day?
If I am working on a new project, I will usually write for two hours a day, which is roughly one to three pages. At that rate, I’m mentally drained and need to refresh before going again later.
Q. What’s a simple activity or habit that makes you a better writer?
I hate admitting this since I do not like to read, but the answer is read.
Q. What interferes with your writing?
My day job is really the only thing that interferes with my schedule to write, but I work around it. If I didn’t have a day job, I’d probably write more each day.
Q. How do you persuade yourself to sit down to write on days when you really, really DON’T feel like doing it?
This is the best part of being an author. I’m excited to sit down and write. But what motivates to sit down every day would be that I don’t want to miss any day that my writing could be exceptional. If you don’t write every day, you don’t know if you missed a great day.
Q. Is there a particular motto or saying that you’ve found helpful for writing?
I’ve never even thought about something like this.
Q. Which stage of the writing process do you enjoy the most: researching, writing or editing/rewriting and why?
I don’t research very often; it’s okay. If someone likes the editing/rewriting process, well, they might be a lunatic. When you have to take a passage of your work and say it wasn’t good enough to stay in the story, it’s hard on the ego. So, for me, it’s got to be the writing process.
Q. What’s one of the best books you’ve read (either fiction or non) in the last five years?
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. Anything, really, from him is great.
Q. What book are you reading right now?
Rat Town Blues by Brian Kaufman.
Q. What do you think is the biggest misperception that new writers have about the act of writing?
Probably, they think their work is better than it is, and they don’t need help from editors and beta readers.
