I uncovered this month-long NPR series “How Writers Create Their Fiction”, originally run in November 2006. I found many of the ideas presented by the various writers to be informative and inspirational, so we’ll be featuring one writer from the series per day during February.

Today’s writer is Jeanne Birdsall:

Jeanne Birdsall didn’t write professionally until the age of 41. She received the 2005 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for her debut novel, The Penderwicks, about four sisters sharing a summer cottage with their father after the death of their mother. Birdsall lives in Massachusetts with her husband, four cats, a rabbit, a pet snail and a dog named Cagney.

How She Writes: “I think all day about what I need to write, then settle down at the computer in the evening, usually by eight. I stay there from two to four hours, depending on how much thinking I’ve done that day. When life intrudes and stops me from thinking, I end up with nothing to write, so sulk instead.”

Fights Writer’s Block: “Fight it? That makes writer’s block sound like a germ, which perhaps it is. Well, I haven’t yet been unlucky enough to catch a bad case. Occasionally, though, I do get a little stuck. Then I take a nap. Clears everything right up.”

Come back tomorrow at 9AM PST for more writing wisdom.