Gennifer Choldenko

1.		Write about what you want desperately to understand.

		I wrote what I knew and no one wanted to buy it, which is quite a lucky thing because it wasn’t very good. Turns out what I know is what everybody else knows too. When I write about what I don’t know, what I don’t understand, and what I wish with the deepest part of myself could be . . . my writing gets better.

2.		Look for the "second right answer."

		"Often it’s the second, or third, or tenth right answer which is what we need to solve a problem in an innovative way."

		—Roger von Oech, author A Whack on the Side of the Head

		I came up with 260 title ideas for Notes From a Liar and Her Dog. How nice it would have been if I only had to come up with one. Alas I’m not that talented. I have to fill in the gaps with work.

3.		Write no matter how you feel.

		I write best at my desk in the morning with two caffeine lattes and three oatmeal cookies within an inch of my hand. I’m stale in the afternoon and no amount of caffeine or cookies can help, but I write then too. Just in case.

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