• 100 questions
  • Checked October 2026

Questions to Ask an Author

Twelve questions for an author on one sheet, each with a line to write the answer on.

Questions to Ask an Author

AuthorAsked byDate

  1. Write the author's name and the date at the top.
  2. Ask each question aloud and write the answer down as it is said.
  3. Skip any question. An author may pass on any line.
  4. On a school visit, give each student one question to ask.
Show all 24
  1. What do readers ask you most, and what do you wish they asked?
  2. Who reads your pages before anyone else does?
  3. Which sentence in the book are you proudest of?
  4. How did you choose where the story takes place?
  5. What research did you do that never made it into the book?
  6. Where did the title come from, and what was the book called before?
  7. What did you believe about writing at the start that turned out wrong?
  8. What does a good writing day look like, hour by hour?
  9. How do you know when a book is finished?
  10. Do you plan the ending first, or find it as you write?
  11. What would you tell someone who is afraid to show their writing to anyone?
  12. What are you writing now, and how far along is it?

Next step Questions to ask about a book

All 100 questions

Good ones to start with 24

  • Do you plan the ending first, or find it as you write? I know the last picture, not how anyone gets there.
  • How did you choose where the story takes place? I wanted weather that could get in the way of the plot.
  • How do you know when a book is finished? When my changes start making it different, not better.
  • How long did the idea sit in a notebook before you began writing? Six years. It needed a second idea to bump into.
  • How much of yourself is in the main character? Her temper is mine. Her courage is borrowed.
  • What are you writing now, and how far along is it? Something with a ferry in it. About a third, I think.
  • What did the first page look like before anyone else read it? Longer, slower, and about the wrong person.
  • What did you believe about writing at the start that turned out wrong? That real writers get it right the first time.
  • What did you cut that you still miss? A whole aunt. She was funny, and she did nothing for the story.
  • What did your editor ask you to change, and were they right? To start one chapter later. Annoyingly, yes.
  • What do readers ask you most, and what do you wish they asked? Where ideas come from. I wish they asked about the map.
  • What do you do on a day when no words come? Type up yesterday's pages. It usually tricks me into starting.
  • What does a good writing day look like, hour by hour? Two hours of pages, a walk, then an hour fixing the morning.
  • What is the hardest kind of scene for you to write? Six people at one table, all talking.
  • What research did you do that never made it into the book? A month on how bells are cast. One line survived.
  • What surprised you when you held the printed book for the first time? How thin it was. Four years, and it fit in a coat pocket.
  • What would you tell someone who is afraid to show their writing to anyone? Pick one kind reader, and one page.
  • Where did the title come from, and what was the book called before? From a line in chapter nine. Before that, just "the boat book."
  • Which book on your own shelf is the most worn, and why that one? An atlas. I look up rivers when I am stuck.
  • Which came first for this book: a character, a place or a single sentence? A place. A lighthouse I saw from a bus window.
  • Which chapter did you rewrite the most times? The first one. I stopped counting at eleven.
  • Which of your characters would you least like to sit beside on a long train ride? The uncle. He would explain the train to me.
  • Which sentence in the book are you proudest of? A short one about rain, near the end.
  • Who reads your pages before anyone else does? My sister. She draws a small cloud beside the dull parts.

Where ideas come from 12

  • Do your ideas start with "what if", and what was the last one? What if a town lost its only bridge overnight?
  • Has a dream ever handed you a scene you could use? One. A staircase that went down into a lake.
  • How do you tell a good idea from one that only sounds good at midnight? I wait a week. The good ones are still talking.
  • How many ideas are waiting in your notebook right now? About forty. Maybe three are any good.
  • What did you overhear that ended up in a book? A man telling his dog the plan for the day.
  • What do you carry to catch an idea before it gets away? A pencil stub and the backs of receipts.
  • What do you read when you are hunting for an idea? Old newspapers. The small notices on the back pages.
  • What turns one idea into a whole book? A second idea that argues with the first.
  • Where were you when the idea for this book arrived? In a line at the post office, with nothing to write on.
  • Which idea did someone talk you out of, and do you regret it? A talking heron. I do not regret it.
  • Which idea have you tried to write more than once and never finished? A story about a clockmaker. It has beaten me twice.
  • Which real place have you borrowed for a made-up one? My grandmother's street, with the houses shuffled.

The desk and the day 12

  • At what time of day do the words come easiest? Before breakfast, while the house is quiet.
  • Do you write by hand, type, or talk into a recorder? By hand first, in pencil, then I type it up.
  • How do you start again after a week away from the book? I read the last ten pages aloud.
  • How many words or pages do you ask of yourself in a day? Two pages. On a bad day, two bad pages.
  • What do you do with your hands while you think? Sharpen pencils that are already sharp.
  • What do you drink while you write, and has it ever landed on the pages? Tea. Chapter four still has a ring on it.
  • What do you see when you look up from the page? A brick wall and one stubborn tree.
  • What does your desk look like on the day you finish a draft? Like a paper recycling bin fell over.
  • What is on your desk that has nothing to do with writing? A jar of buttons. I sort them when I am stuck.
  • Where do you write when you cannot be at your desk? On trains, in the seat by the door.
  • Which sound helps you write, and which one stops you cold? Rain helps. A phone call next door ends it.
  • Who is allowed to interrupt you while you write, and who has learned not to? The cat is allowed. Everyone else knocks.

Characters and names 12

  • Do you know what your characters eat for breakfast? All of them. None of it is in the book.
  • Have you based a character on someone you know, and did they notice? My uncle. He thinks it is his neighbor.
  • Have you ever renamed a character late, and what went wrong? Yes. The old name hid in one chapter until the proofs.
  • How do you choose a name for a character? I say it aloud ten times. If I trip, it goes.
  • How do you make sure a character's eyes stay the same color all the way through? A card for each one, pinned over the desk.
  • What does your main character want on page one? To be left alone. The book does not allow it.
  • Where do you find the way a character speaks? On buses. I listen for the words people repeat.
  • Which character changed the most between the first draft and the last? The villain. He started out as a kindly baker.
  • Which character talks to you even when you are not writing? The grandmother. She has opinions about my cooking.
  • Which character was the hardest to be fair to? The older brother. I kept wanting him to lose.
  • Which character would you write another book about? The ferry captain. She knows things.
  • Which minor character did readers like more than you expected? A ticket inspector with four lines.

Editing and the finished book 12

  • Do you read your pages aloud, and what does that catch? Every page. It catches sentences I cannot say in one breath.
  • How did you feel about the cover the first time you saw it? I wanted the boat bigger. I was wrong.
  • How do you decide what goes on the first page? A question the reader will want answered.
  • How many drafts did this book go through? Seven that I admit to.
  • What did you add in the last draft that the book now could not do without? A dog. It ties three chapters together.
  • What do you do on the day after you send off the final pages? Clean the whole house, then miss the book.
  • What do you look for on the first read-through of a draft? The places where I got bored. A reader will too.
  • What does a page look like when it comes back from your editor? Pencil in every margin, and one kind note at the top.
  • What is the smallest change that made the biggest difference to the book? Moving one conversation from a kitchen to a boat.
  • What mistake slipped all the way into the printed book? A character sits down twice on one page.
  • Which word do you use too often, and how do you hunt it down? "Just." I search for it and wince.
  • Who caught an error in the pages that everyone else had missed? A proofreader, who spotted a Tuesday following a Thursday.

Fun ones 14

  • Have you ever laughed aloud at your own joke while writing it? Yes, and then cut the joke a week later.
  • Have you ever missed a bus stop because you were plotting? Twice in one week, on the same bus.
  • If you signed books with a drawing instead of your name, what would you draw? A small boat with a flag.
  • If your book were a sandwich, what would be in it? Something with pickles. A little sharp.
  • What does the nearest cat or dog think of your job? The cat thinks the keyboard is a warm bed.
  • What is the silliest reason you have stopped writing for the day? A squirrel on the windowsill was more interesting.
  • What is the strangest thing you have looked up for a story? How long a goose can hold a grudge.
  • What is the worst title you ever came up with? "A Book About Soup." It was not about soup.
  • What snack counts as writing fuel at your desk? Crackers. The keyboard is full of them.
  • What would your characters say about you if they could? That I make them walk too much.
  • Which fairy-tale creature would make the best editor? A dragon. It already sits on things and guards them.
  • Which of your characters would win a pie-eating contest? The quiet one. Nobody would see it coming.
  • Which punctuation mark is your favorite, and which one do you avoid? The semicolon is a friend. I am wary of the exclamation mark.
  • Which word does the spell-checker still have to rescue you on? Rhythm. Every time.

For a school or library visit 14

  • Did you like writing stories when you were our age? Yes. Mostly about a horse that could drive.
  • Do you draw the pictures too, or does someone else? Someone else. I can only draw a boat.
  • Do you ever get things wrong in a story, and who helps you fix them? All the time. My editor is very good at finding them.
  • Do you read your own books after they are printed? Only aloud, on visits like this one.
  • How does a story get from your desk into a book in our library? An editor reads it, a printer prints it, and then it rides in a lot of boxes.
  • How long does it take to write one book? This one took two years and a lot of pencils.
  • How many books have you written, counting the ones nobody has seen? Five on shelves, and a few hiding in a drawer.
  • May we see what the handwriting in your notebook looks like? It is messy. Even I have to guess sometimes.
  • What did your teacher say about your stories when you were at school? "Very long. Where is the ending?"
  • What do you do when you cannot think of what happens next? I go for a walk and ask the character.
  • What is the best thing a reader has ever sent you? A drawing of my main character with the wrong hair. I kept it.
  • What should we do if we want to write a story this week? Start with someone who wants something, and write one page.
  • Where do you like to read when it rains? On the stairs, third step from the top.
  • Which part of a story do you like writing best: the start, the middle or the end? The start. Everything is still possible.

How it works

These questions to ask an author open on a starter set: where the book began, what was cut, who reads the pages first. Six more groups cover ideas, the desk, characters, editing, fun ones and a school visit.

Read the full guide

Good questions to ask a writer about the work

Good ones to start with suits a book signing, a festival or a class interview: every question asks for a story, not a yes or a no. For interesting questions to ask an author, Editing and the finished book asks how many drafts there were and which mistake reached print.

Questions to ask a visiting writer at school

For a school or library visit is written in a child's voice, so each student can read one aloud. The example answers are invented and describe no real book. On paper each question has a line under it, and the examples sit on a last page you can leave out.

Questions and answers

What are great questions to ask authors?

Ones about choices: which came first, a character or a place; what was cut and is still missed; how the author knew the book was finished. None can be answered with a yes, a no or the summary on the back cover.

What are the best questions to ask an author at a book signing?

Short ones about the book in your hands: where the title came from, which chapter was rewritten most, which sentence the author is proudest of. Choose one before you reach the table.

What are fun questions to ask authors?

Light ones about the life around the writing: the worst title they ever came up with, the snack on the desk, which character would win a pie-eating contest. Fun ones holds fourteen.

Are there questions to ask an author for kids?

For a school or library visit holds fourteen a child can ask aloud: how long one book takes, who draws the pictures, how a story gets from a desk into the library.

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