A Writer's Life

Where do you get ideas to write about?

Ideas come from all kinds of things--people I meet, places I go, personal observations and experiences.

When I write for kids, I try to remember my own childhood and draw ideas from that. I ask myself what was important to me back then, what I loved, what I feared, what I wished for, what made me laugh or cry or get angry. Usually those are the same sorts of things that still trigger strong emotions in kids today. And then I ask myself what that idea has to do with God: what does His Word say about it, or how does that idea relate to Him in some way? What does my story need to say about that idea that is authentic and true? 

>>Next: What do you do when you're not writing?

Some kindergarteners put on a play about Buttercup Hill...

...and they did a great job designing the two houses!