Kate O'Shaughnessy: Patience with the Process
KidLit Craft is back with another Snack-Sized Author Interview. In this series, we ask authors five quick questions that give us insight into their craft and process. Today we’re talking with author Kate O'Shaunnessy.
Many years ago, we formed a book club for KidLit authors in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Kate O’Shaunnessy was one of the original members. She hadn’t been published yet, and didn’t have her agent, but she was so articulate and thoughtful, it felt like only a matter of time. Since then, she’s published three award winning novels with more on the way. I’m always impressed by her skill in bringing characters to life. She’s never afraid to delve into tough subjects, and she’s brilliant with unique sensory details and astute interiority. I was not surprised when her latest book was a Newbery Honor. –Kristi Wright
Welcome, Kate!
Question 1: What's your writing superpower?
When it comes to writing, I’m always chugging along. My husband has referred to me as “the little engine that could.” I go through ruts and uninspired periods, same as anyone, but I don’t let it stop me or slow me down. I just keep on going, keep on trying different things.
This means that I have a lot of books that will never be published, a lot of synopses that are never turned into full novels, a lot of abandoned half-drafts. I throw a million things at the wall.
When something isn’t working, or my team doesn’t like a sample or a direction I’m taking, I don’t allow myself to get too stuck on or bogged down by it, and I think that’s what keeps me moving forward. I’m not super precious about any one idea. But like most superpowers, I’m sure this is a double-edged sword, as I’ve probably more than once thrown out the baby with the bathwater.
Question 2: What’s an element of craft you explored in your latest project and what tips can you share with other authors for growing in their use of that particular element?
The craft of doing less. This is a battle I’m constantly waging and am not always successful with. I think, as authors, we want the reader to experience the story as richly as we see it in our own minds, and that sometimes lends itself to overwriting and over-explaining. We give too much context, too much backstory, too much description.
I’m always trying to tell myself to do less and trust the reader more. Trust that the actions of your characters will speak for themselves. Have them do kind things and you won’t have to describe them as kind.
The reader will understand it, because the reader is smart. And it’s always much more exciting to figure something out than to be told it.
I love discovering who a character is over the course of a book instead of being told what they’re like from the jump.
In terms of less, I also go through the manuscript at the end of every draft for a “cut” round. I tell myself to be brutalist about it. I slice out words, sentences, scenes. Using names in dialogue is a big one, and an easy one to prune. We don’t go around saying each other’s names constantly as we talk to each other, but for whatever reason, we authors love to do it in dialogue.
Question 3: If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give yourself as a new author?
To be more patient with the process. To be kind to myself. Writing is, as you note in the name of your website, a craft. It isn’t a lightning bolt of inborn talent. You have to work very hard, over the course of years, to learn how to do it as well as you can. And “as well as you can” won’t look the same as the authors you love most, which is okay.
And the beautiful thing is that every single day I sit down to write, I’m still learning how to write better than I did the day before. I’m still learning from every great book that I read. Early in the process, I was in such a hurry to arrive at the destination of being the best writer I could be, but I’m now more cognizant of how static that experience would be. I can’t imagine not growing, not learning, every single day. Every time I learn a new trick to put in my toolbelt, no matter how big or small, it feels exciting.
Question 4: What inspires you as a writer?
Connection. I felt so profoundly connected to the books I loved as a kid. At times they were tethering. As an adult it is such a privilege to—at least attempt to—create books that allow for this kind of refuge and connection for today’s children.
Question 5: What’s one book you think every kidlit author should read?
I don’t have any one answer. What might be your holy grail book is one I couldn’t finish, and vice versa. That’s the wonderful thing about books—they’re so subjective, meaning there’s something for everyone. So my advice is to read a lot, and as widely as possible. Read middle grade, YA, poetry collections, short stories, narrative nonfiction, literary fiction, across genres. I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers, and there are features of the genre I used in my most recent middle grade, The Wrong Way Home. There are things to learn from every single book, regardless of what category you write in, and isn’t that amazing?
Bonus Question: What can fans look forward to next?
I have a book coming out next year! It’s my first book that isn’t straight contemporary. It has hints of magic. I’m nervous and so excited to share it.
Kate O'Shaughnessy writes middle grade fiction. When she’s not writing, you can find Kate in her garden, eating good food, hiking with her dog, and chronically mispronouncing words she’s read but never heard said aloud. Kate is the author of The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane (Knopf, 2020) and Lasagna Means I Love You (Knopf, 2023). Kate’s most recent novel, The Wrong Way Home, came out on April 2, 2024 and was the recipient of a Newbery Honor. Kate lives in California with her family..
You can find her online on her website and on Instagram: @kloshaughnessy.
Related Articles:
