Tuesday, April 12, 2011

J is for Judith Viorst

Born:  February 2, 1931

Excellent BooksAlexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and many others. 

From Her Life:  Judith has backgrounds in psychology and journalism.  According to an interview with the Kennedy Center, Alexander was inspired by her youngest son who went through a series of bad days.  She wanted the book to let him, and everyone else, know that these days come and go...and that's okay. 

Advice for Aspiring Writers:  Don't write a book that focuses on an overt message or lesson.  In another interview, Judith said, "I did not preach in the books and would consider my books a failure if that is what they had been...There are things I care about...and want to express, but the creativity, the language, the story, the validity of the work as a work has to trump any message."

Websitehttp://authors.simonandschuster.com/Judith-Viorst/707395

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had a blog last year regarding if an author should incorporate elements of a lesson learned. Some response were positive while others did not care for one and thought doing so would be too preachy. Intersting topic with some passionate comments.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

great advice. No one likes a preachy book.

Carla said...

Stephen, I definitely don't like a preachy book, but I do like a lesson to be available. And I definitely don't want to encourage an absence of morals!

I agree, Lynda!

Carla

Laura S. said...

I really liked this book when I was a kid! I haven't read it in a while though. I like how the author got the idea for it from her own son.

Tony Payne said...

I haven't read the book, but my eldest daughter has and loved it.

Dawn M. Hamsher said...

I've always loved that book (especially the gum in the hair part). We also have the animated video too. Kids just love the repetition of words! Who doesn't want to say "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"?

Carla said...

Laura, I love that her son inspired it!

Tony, I've loved that book since I was six!

Dawn, It's so true...it just kind of rolls off the tongue!

Carla

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