Kelly Yang: Hi, I'm Kelly Yang.

Kate: And I'm Kate DiCamillo

Kelly Yang: And welcome to Story Kind. Kate! ⁓ my gosh, it's so good to see you.

Kate: you Kelly, know how happy I am to see you. I wanna know what's your writing week been like?

Kelly Yang: So I am getting really close to my adult novel coming out, The Take, which comes out in a couple of weeks. Can you believe it? ⁓ I think so. It comes out in two weeks. And that means I've been doing a lot of interviews while also trying to squeeze in some time to write. ⁓ So trying to figure out, I've been trying to figure out how to talk about the book, which is, know, it's a podcast in and of itself because mastering that art of talking about your story. ⁓

Kate: Is it really two weeks?

Kelly Yang: right? And being able to condense it down and easily communicate what it's about, that is also a skill.

Kate: Yeah, that's what librarians do all the time when they do book talks, right? ⁓ And it's also that thing where I find that when you start to do the interviews for a story that's just coming out, you learn how to talk about it by having people ask you good questions that then helps you do the next interview. It's like, ⁓ yeah, I hadn't thought of that, yeah.

Kelly Yang: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, oh yeah, I was trying to do that. Yes, that's what it's about. That's what I was trying to do there. Oh God. No, and it's so exciting when you have a good interview, you know, somebody who really gets it. So that's always super exciting. What about you? What have you been working on?

Kate: Yeah, so you learn as you go, you know. ⁓ that's what the book's about. Yeah. I'm, finishing up the rewrite and, I don't know if you can, see this, well, you can't see it if you're listening, but I've got like this little copper, wire thing that I've put on my fingers ⁓ because they hurt from typing all the time, ⁓ know? Yeah. So it's just like, I've been I've been so, ⁓ it's like, I'm almost done and,

Kelly Yang: What? ⁓ my God.

Kate: And it's just been days of intense typing. ⁓

Kelly Yang: ⁓ Wait, I have so many questions for you. We have a lot of questions from the kids, from the audience. They want to know our entire writing schedule. Like when you're in this mode, do you just go first thing in the morning and when do you stop?

Kate: first thing in the morning. Yes. I, it's usually about an eight hour day and that doesn't mean sitting there typing eight hours, but rather like, I'll walk the dog in between. and then, yeah, I'll eat lunch and I'll, and I also like ⁓ at a certain point I have put the leash on the dog and put the leash on my ankle. ⁓

Kelly Yang: Yeah. And you'll eat lunch, I'm assuming.

Kate: so that I can keep on going. I just, yeah, yeah. So I'm a mess.

Kelly Yang: Here's your tab! Does your dog know when you're in that intense writing or revision mode that, you know, things can get pushed a little bit? ⁓

Kate: Yeah, right. No, and he's actually been really pretty good, you know, and I've got a lot of chew toys up there and stuff. So, but yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's been, it's been intense. Yeah.

Kelly Yang: ⁓ that's funny. remember. I remember during this is during COVID, I was just busy writing and for some reason, I was just under an intense amount of ⁓ remember during COVID and I couldn't really, I really couldn't break for, for walking him. And so I train him to be walked first thing in the morning and then to last until like four when I stopped writing. Yeah. ⁓ I remember at four, you should have seen the look on his face was just like, are you done yet woman? ⁓

Kate: ⁓ my goodness. Yeah, I'm not going to get away with that. This dog is still a little bit young for that, it's just like, but he, was accommodating. So, and, and I am at almost crossing the finish line. So.

Kelly Yang: You I'm really glad you're crossing ⁓ the finish line. ⁓ All right. Our question today is from Samridhi ready, is a wonderful If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of writing advice or one writing tip, what would it be?

Kate: ⁓ do you want to go first or should? Yeah.

Kelly Yang: Yeah, I would go. I want to go. I wish I had really known this earlier was you got to write for yourself. You know, because when I was a kid, I spent so much time worrying about what the teacher was going to think and what kind of grade I was going to get. And if it was a bad grade, then, you know, my mom wasn't going to like it. And then all these things are going to happen. And I stopped loving it because of that. It wasn't about me. It was about ⁓ somebody else ⁓ and what they thought. And I wish I could go back and say, no, just write for yourself. you write for yourself and you put all of your love into it for yourself, it's gonna do well. People are gonna like it.

Kate: Yeah, no, that's great. I would to tell younger self that you're not to be a unless you write something.

Kelly Yang: haha

Kate: Cause you know, I spent so much time just dreaming about it ⁓ it and thinking, you know, but I just, ⁓ make myself do the work of it. that's what I would like to tell my younger self. If you want to do it, you're to have to, you're going to have to do it, you know.

Kelly Yang: Wow. True, very true. But you were also reading a ton. And that also... Yeah, and that...

Kate: ⁓ absolutely. Yeah, never, never, ever without a book. And I do think that that is a really essential part of becoming a writer. Yeah.

Kelly Yang: I mean, it really builds up that writing muscle. have a fun today. It's ⁓ from Brooklyn. It's for both of Okay. From Brooklyn. Is there a place you go for inspiration for your stories? ⁓

Kate: Okay, is it for me or for you? ⁓ for inspiration.

Kelly Yang: Do you have a place to go? Actually, I will say that I love to go to the beach. I consider going to the ocean very therapeutic and it's a giver of ideas, believe it or not. It is. I, yeah. And I sit, so I live in LA. So we are very fortunate to be not too far away from the ocean and I'll just sit and watch the waves. And it helps me.

Kate: I totally believe that. ⁓

Kelly Yang: process the story and also reminds me that even if I'm having a string of bad days or the story's not coming, there will be a new tide, you know? And I love that. There will be a new wave, exactly. So now every time I'm about to start a book, I go to the beach and get.

Kate: Right, yeah, or a new wave, a new wave, right?

Kelly Yang: the ocean's blessing. And then every time I'm finishing a book, I go and thank the ocean.

Kate: ⁓ nice, nice. And you know, for me, it's being able to pay to the world and having enough head space to be able to do that. ⁓ And so ⁓ that means not thinking ⁓ about as much, looking ⁓ out. And that is ⁓ so...

Kelly Yang: Yeah. And how do you do that? How do you look out? ⁓

Kate: The notebook, it's the notebook, you know, it's that notebook, having it with me. ⁓ do you take a with you when you go to the beach at all?

Kelly Yang: I don't, I don't, because then I'll get all sandy.

Kate: And also because you're there to like get started and to offer thanks for it having happened. So it's more like a bookend rather than a, yeah, yeah.

Kelly Yang: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I take my phone and I'll write it down in my notes. I have like thousands and thousands of notes. But when you okay, but I want to ask you like, where do you find those seeds of ideas? When you say you look out, and then you you carry your notebook? Are there places you're going to? Do you find it at the grocery store? Do you find it at?

Kate: Yeah, no. Yeah, everywhere, you know, and you probably know this, it's like, ⁓ is great for this because you're out of your own routine. And so you really, really are like paying attention to other people. so I will, I love to overhear conversations when I'm on an airplane. I love to watch people ⁓ on a bus. ⁓ or a train, you know? So that. It's also what I might overhear when I'm walking down to the coffee shop from my house or what I see happening when I'm ⁓ going the grocery ⁓ So it's everywhere all time. I'll say sometimes when I'm talking to kids, when you're a writer, ⁓ everything's your business. ⁓ And ⁓ It sounds kind of rude, but it's also like the whole world is yours to pay attention to, you know? ⁓

Kelly Yang: Bye. Yes. I remember like Harriet the Spy, know, was, it was one of my, right. One of my favorite books and she always was so nosy. I was so, so interested because I think it really speaks to that curiosity, Do you find, I mean, we're both curious people. Do you find that, when you're out in the world, are people just as curious?

Kate: Exactly! Mine too.

Kelly Yang: or have we gotten less curious as a society?

Kate: I think that ⁓ curiosity is ⁓ flip side of fear. And so if you're, and you can choose between ⁓ being curious and, or being I know that I'm afraid a lot. I feel like maybe people are a little bit more afraid And if you can take that fear and turn it into interest, if you can a question rather than making a judgment, I think it's a really powerful thing.

Kelly Yang: Yeah. right? Wow, wow. ⁓ my god, that's so powerful. And also just the kids are inherently very curious, But something happens as we get older, it's ⁓ like we lose that ability to be curious, or we don't think we can be curious, or we can't afford to be curious. Yeah.

Kate: Right, I think we get more afraid as we get older and curiosity is an act of courage, I think.

Kelly Yang: Yes. So it's like, how do we hang on to the curiosity? I love that. Okay, that brings us to the shout out for this episode. Okay, can you read it this time?

Kate: Yeah, so this is from a student who wants to give a shout out to ⁓ their old teacher, Mrs. I hope I said your name right, ⁓ Kleinhenz ⁓ everything that ⁓ student does, the students do in her classroom, they get tickets that are paper. And at the end of the day, they get to use the tickets to get stuff like pencil erasers, animal stickers. Man, I love all that stuff.

Kelly Yang: You

Kate: and other things like that. that's why student wanted to give a shout out to Ms. Kleinhenz

Kelly Yang: God, that's amazing. Okay. And Olivia wants to give a shout out to Ms. Mayers ⁓ for helping every kid in the class and helping them overcome challenges when things are tough.

Kate: Yeah, yeah, and things are tough a lot. So we need all the Ms. Mayers Yeah.

Kelly Yang: Amazing. Things are tough. Things are tough right now. Yes, absolutely. And if you would like to give a shout out to your teacher or librarian, please email us at kellyyangauthor@gmail.com and we will see you here next week. Bye, everyone. Thank you, Kate. Bye.

Kate: Thank you, see you soon. Bye.