Member Spotlight: Joyce Schriebman

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Where to begin? I write kidlit and gave a presentation just yesterday on the importance of reading to children. “A reader today, a leader tomorrow.” When you read a book to a child, you create opportunities for conversations about kindness, relationships, fears, and life. Children learn to sort out emotions, feelings, and the world through books we read to them. As we get older, literature provides a way for us to relate to and feel empathy for circumstances and people we’ll never know in real life. Literature sharpens our imagination, builds bridges of understanding, and expands our capacity to step into someone else’s shoes. And who doesn’t think we need more of that!

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I usually write in more than one genre at a time. So when I get stuck on one manuscript, I turn to another. Writing picture books takes an entirely different mindset than writing a middle grade novel in verse. Diversification = less writer’s block

What is your favorite time to write? I don’t have a favorite time to write. I learned long ago that it doesn’t work for me to “FIND time to write” but instead I have to “MAKE time to write.” So I schedule time on my calendar–like I do with anything else that’s important in my life. Of course, while this sounds great in theory, these days it’s more aspirational. Debuting a book takes a lot of time!

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Find a critique group (or two or three.) Not your family. Not your friends. Find other writers (preferably better writers than yourself!) to listen to and learn from. I’m in several groups and each one offers me wisdom and support in different ways.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? “In today’s age” throws me. Hmmm… Maybe that’s because I came to writing late in life and don’t envision a 40- or 50-year career as an author. But what excites me as a writer [period] is the creativity. For some it’s painting. For others sculpture. But, for me, a blank sheet of paper is like a hunk of clay, waiting to be shaped into…something. It’s like magic. A line in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George describes it perfectly, “There’s a part of you always standing by/Mapping out the sky, finishing a hat/Starting on a hat, finishing a hat/Look, I made a hat/Where there never was a hat.” I made a book…where there never was a book. 😊

Joyce Schriebman’s Oy, Santa!: Or, There’s a Latke to Learn about Hanukkah, illustrated by Gila von Meissner, is out now with ‎Intergalactic Afikoman.