Write what you know when you can

 

“Titles are very hard. Sometimes a title comes before I start to write the book, but often I finish the book, and I still don't have a title. I have to go through the book again, and then sometimes I hope a title jumps out at me from what I've written.” – Eve Bunting 

 

Almost constantly in search of a new title, Anne Evelyn (Eve) Bunting, born on this date in 1928, has penned more than 250 books – both fiction and nonfiction – a remarkable record since her first book, The Two Giants, wasn’t published until age 42, a dozen years after she and her family had emigrated to the U.S.

Bunting’s writing began after she took a writing course at Pasadena City College near Los Angeles.  And while most of her books are set in her native Northern Ireland, she also has authored such award-winning books as Smoky Night, about the Los Angeles riots, and One Green Apple, which won the inaugural Arab American Book Award for books written for Children/ Young Adults. That 2006 book tells the story of a young girl who just immigrated to America from an Arab country and how she discovers that her differences are what makes her special.  

 

Like many other authors, she gives the advice to would-be writers to write what you know                 ,

 what you feel, and when you can.   

 

“I write every day,” Bunting said.   “I don't have a writing schedule. I write when I feel like it. Fortunately, I feel like it all the time.”