TitleTales

Interview: S.E. Hinton

S.E. Hinton, was and still is, one of the most popular and best known writers of young adult fiction. Her books have been taught in some schools, and banned from others. Her novels changed the way people look at young adult literature.

Susan Eloise Hinton was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Outsiders, her first novel, was published in 1967 by Viking when she was 17. Hinton is also the author of That was Then, This is Now (1971), Rumble Fish (1975), Tex(1979), Hawkes Harbor (2004) and Some of Tim’s Stories (2007).

• Browse our list of featured titles by S.E. Hinton

BWI: Previous interviews tell us you’ve been involved in the locations, and in some cases costuming, for movies made of your works. Have you had the same opportunity with covers and cover design for your books, and are there any you like more than others?

SH: I haven’t really helped with the design of any cover, although I have been consulted occasionally. And sometimes I’ve seen a cover when I happened on it in a bookstore. I am very fond of the original cover of Rumble Fish, the movie tie-in cover of The Outsiders, both hardback and paperback covers of Hawkes Harbor; and the hardback cover of Some of Tim’s Stories absolutely floored me. I would never have recommended a picture of Tim, but it was incredibly close to how I pictured him, and gave an accurate idea of what kinds of stories the reader could expect.

BWI: You have mentioned that your novels are character-driven. What do you need to know about a character before you write?

SH: When I write a book I have to become my narrator, like an actor getting into a role. Even though the actor knows the whole script, he has to be his character. I know the whole book, yet when writing I have to be my narrator. Therefore, I need to know his habits, what he likes to eat for dinner, physical appearance, morning person, night person. What level of education; though that does not determine his intellect, it can affect his vocabulary. Speech patterns are very important, as I like to give each character a distinctive voice. After I’ve written a character, I figure out his astrological sign—after never before. Tim’s lucky to graduate from high school, but he is an astute observer and a natural-born storyteller.

BWI: Jamie in Texis a strong-willed girl who says “…I’m not ever going to agree with my husband” speaks her mind, and stands up for what she believes in as she deals with a father who has very traditional ideas about what women should do. To what extent are those Jamie’s feelings and to what extent are they yours?

SH: They’re Jamie’s. I never consciously base a character on myself, though Ponyboy is the most like me. I agree with my husband a lot, or I would have never married him (of course, not on all things). I don’t share, or expect to share, all my characters feelings. On the other hand, any character is some aspect of the writer’s, since the writer is the filter they have to go through to get in the books. So while Ponyboy is a lot like I was at that age, some part of me must be Dallas Winston, too.

BWI: Some of Tim’s Stories—first published by the University of Oklahoma Press as part of the Stories and Storytellers series has some quintessentially Oklahoma or Tulsa references: Dillard’s, Safeway, jalapeño and cheddar mashed potatoes, Tulsa Community College, etc. What kind of assumptions, if any, did you find people have or had about Oklahoma when you first began to be published?

SH: Yes, Some of Tim’s Stories just drips Oklahoma like an August sweat, more so than the others, though Hawkes Harbor and Rumble Fish are the only two I did not set in Oklahoma. On my first trip to New York City, when I was eighteen to do some publicity for The Outsiders I found out that some people assumed we had a buffalo in every back yard. And that we had to take the wagon train to St. Louie to catch an airplane, fighting off Indian attacks the whole way. Since most Oklahomans are at least part Native American, I did find that rather strange. And to this day, people ask me why I still live in Tulsa. Got news for you, people, we have the same Internet access, the same satellite TV, the same media as the rest of the U.S. You can be well-informed or ignorant here, the same as everywhere else.

BWI: You’ve mentioned before that you suffered from writer’s block for a period after The Outsiders was published. What tips do you have for someone with writer’s block?

SH: Well I wrote two pages a day, every day, because my boyfriend (who is now my husband) refused to take me out otherwise. So my great motivation for writing That was Then, This is Now was that fact that I wanted to go out. You have to keep in mind that writer’s block is very different from not being able to think of something to write, not feeling like writing, or not having anything to say. I’ve experienced all of those things, too, and they are not nearly as painful as block. You either work your way through it, or quit writing.

BWI: You have said that it is easier for you to write from the male point of view, and you think your books are more believable that way because you enjoy activities that people more readily identify with guys than with girls. Do you think this is still true? Would you consider writing a YA or adult novel from a woman’s point of view?

SH: Yes, this is still true. I enjoy writing from a male point of view, I know I am convincing at it, and it is easier for me. So, no, I doubt I will ever tackle writing from a female’s point of view. Male is easier and I am lazy.

BWI: You consider Some of Tim’s Stories to be the best writing you have ever done. Do you grow as a writer with each book you write? How was the experience of writing short stories different from writing novels?

SH: You always like to think that each book is practice for the next. I wrote the chapters in Hawkes Harbor out of order, intending each chapter to be able to stand alone, almost like a story, and didn’t put them in order until just before publishing. Looking back, I see that certainly influenced the way I wrote Tim’s stories, out of order, not shuffling them together until the last. Short stories are harder to write than novels. You have a much more limited space to define character, describe setting, and tell a story. I put more pressure on myself by limiting my word count to a thousand words per story. But that kind of discipline resulted in some diamond sharp work.

BWI: You have written books for a wide variety of age groups. Is your writing process different when write a children’s book than from when you write an adult novel?

SH: No, my writing process is the same for all genres, focused on the narrator’s experience. A book about a little boy’s first day of kindergarten is not going to have the same vocabulary and themes as a book about a sea tramp’s life adventures. As I said before, the characters define the story.

BWI: Do you think writers are as susceptible to the pitfalls of early success as say, actors in Hollywood? Would you recommend aspiring teenage writers to go ahead and try to get published, or that they wait a few years? Do you ever wish you hadn’t found success at such an early age?

SH: No, writers of all ages can get writer’s block with first novel success, and there are quite a few examples of suicides resulting from it. Mostly, though, I think that writers tend to build their reputations over time. I recommend aspiring writers practice a lot (I wrote The Outsiders after eight years of constant practice) and if the chance for publication arises, go for it. Why should they wait a few years? A great part of the success of The Outsiders is because I wrote it at the right time of my life. And I had been practicing for it. Its popularity built slowly, mainly though word of mouth. My first royalty check was for twelve dollars. It wasn’t any sudden, life-altering event. I’m glad it happened the way it did.

BWI: You said it was your publisher’s suggestion to use your initials S.E. for The Outsiders, and that you ended up liking the way it gave you a public identity somewhat separate from your private life. But if you were just starting your career today, and the same suggestion was made, do you think you’d go along with it?

SH: Sure, it works with my material and I still like having a public name and a private one. A lot of writers use their initials, not just women.

BWI: The characters in Some of Tim’s Stories seem to come right out of the economic/social background as the characters in The Outsiders. What drives you to continue in that vein? Is there a particular place/time you want to capture in each of your works? What inspired you to specifically write a story collection rather than a longer work for this project?

SH: I grew up in a lower-middle class environment, so it is one I am familiar with. Not extreme poverty, but living from paycheck to paycheck, just a little on the edge. In the Tim stories, this leads to a temptation that leads to a disaster. But that socio-economic level is still loaded with all the family, friendship, and romantic relationships as any other. Yes, the place/time will vary from book to book, although sometimes I don’t understand exactly why I chose them until them until the work is done. After I finished Hawkes Harbor, I realized the mid-60s time frame was because I was using the Vietnam draft as a trope for becoming a vampire slave. My mind works in mysterious ways, even to me. I wanted to do a short story collection just to see if I could. After going all over the map, literally and figuratively, with Hawkes Harbor, I want to contract as far as I could and still get the job done. As a serious horsewoman, I compare the two to trail riding and dressage. Freedom versus discipline.

BWI: As I’ve found it fascinating that as a female author you have mastered the male voice, in each of your novels, and it is especially raw and honest in Some of Tim’s Stories. What do you attribute this skill to?

SH: I don’t know. I’ve always liked men, as a child preferred to play with boys, still have very close men friends. (And several close women friends, as well). Maybe my mind works a little more like a man’s. Like I said earlier, it is easier for me and I am lazy. But rereading Tim’s stories I am a little amazed at just how masculine they are. It was like being possessed or something.

BWI: What do you have planned for the future?

SH: The novel I am working on now is a paranormal comedy thriller. Shallow. I need to take a break from depth after the Tim stories. I’d like to do a western. I’d love to work on another movie. Maybe a play. I want to keep mixing formats.

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