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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

‘Read widely, read often’

Children’s book author describes writing life to area students

Jodi Summit
Posted 4/22/16

TOWER- “I always wanted to be a writer,” children’s book author Erin Soderberg told students at Tower-Soudan Elementary last week. “But I didn’t like writing in school when I was a …

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‘Read widely, read often’

Children’s book author describes writing life to area students

Posted

TOWER- “I always wanted to be a writer,” children’s book author Erin Soderberg told students at Tower-Soudan Elementary last week. “But I didn’t like writing in school when I was a kid.”

But writing as a career was something that was always on her mind, and something that eventually became her full-time job.

“I was 25 when I wrote my first book,” she said.

While 25 might seem old to the 5-12-year-olds in the audience, it was the start to a promising career for a now late-thirty-something writer with family ties to the area.

Soderberg, who grew up in Duluth, spent summers at her family cabin in Eagles Nest Township, as well as time with family in Tower and Ely.

“I got really bored in the summer,” she told the students. “But my parents would tell me to go and read a book. As an only child, the characters in the books became my friends.”

Soderberg remembered how her favorite characters were the ones who got into trouble, like Beverly Cleary’s favorite “Ramona.”

She explained that she still reads, a lot, and across genres, focusing on children’s books.

“This makes you a better writer,” she said. “Read widely and read often.”

After graduating from college, Soderberg was hired as a book editor for Scholastic, in New York City.

“I got to read books all day,” she said, and then explained the job of an editor, working with many writers as they revised and honed their own books.

Soderberg started writing titles for Scholastic in long-time series which were based on established characters like Scooby Doo.

Soderberg urged students to be the kind of person who notices things. She told them to keep a writer’s notebook.

“Ideas are slippery,” she said, noting she wished she had written down more of her ideas when she was younger.

She said many of her ideas come from her own life and her family, especially the antics of her three children and their pets.

“People often said I was weird,” she said, “but my mind works differently.”

She said she finds it easy to create characters and settings, and often uses places she is familiar with, such as Tower and Ely, to base her stories in, including the first book in her popular series aimed at middle-school readers called “The Quirks.”

The idea for the book came from her kids, who loved to make up stories about an imaginary sibling who was invisible.

“My son would talk about the crazy things his invisible little brother would do,” she said. “And I thought, what if everyone in the family had a different magical power.”

“The things that make you different make you special,” she said. “Keep your eyes, ears, and imaginations open...Ideas are everywhere. Write about the things you love and know.”

Soderberg gave the students a quick lesson on her writing technique, and ways to create characters, and give them goals and conflicts that they meet among the way.

She also gave realistic advice on what happens after she finishes a draft of a story.

“Then it’s time to revise, revise, and revise,” she said, holding up several inches worth of rough drafts that had been sent back by her editor. She said she will read through a new book at least 50 times before it is published. She talked about how exciting it was to see how an illustrator envisions her book.

The writing process can be quick, a month or two, or as long as seven years, she said. And once Soderberg’s writing work is done, the book is sent to an illustrator.

“My favorite part is to see it on the page the way I envisioned it,” she said.

Soderberg’s visit, along with a similar visit to Ely, was made possible by a grant from the Minnesota Arts Board. After her presentation, students got the chance to ask questions.

In addition, students in Tower-Soudan all got to bring home their own personally-signed copies of some of Soderberg’s most popular titles, “Puppy Pirates” for the younger readers, and “The Quirks” for the older students.