Carl Hiaasen’s musings on the writing process

Educating Carl. When asked about his experience of teachers as a kid and how this influenced his portrayal of educators in his books, Carl spoke with typical candor. "I remember a handful of teachers who were excellent – English teachers, and a science teacher who's in her 90s now. She showed up at a book signing – it was the most incredible thing. She remembered hollering at me for turning in some paper in seventh grade where I didn't do my best! It was the first time in my life I'd gotten a D on anything! But after that one grade, I knew what was expected. I remember a lot of teachers who probably should have been in another line of work. The ones that really make a difference, though – you never forget them."

Hoot on the big screen. A film version of Hoot, slated for release in 2006, is being produced by Walden Media (Because of Winn Dixie). This film production company has an educational component that develops corresponding classroom curriculum for teachers. (Also in production are film versions of Charlotte's Web and The Chronicles of Narnia.) Carl told us, "The people making Hoot have a very active educational division of their studio, and they're going to do a lot of interactive stuff with students in classes and certain schools where they'll have advance screenings of the movie -- along with teaching aids and the book."

Hoot is being shot in south Florida and will even star some burrowing owls, under the guidance of local wildlife organizations. For more information and teacher resources, visit www.walden.com.

Virtual classroom visits. Between writing books and his newspaper column, Carl doesn't have a lot of time to visit schools, though he enjoys talking with kids very much. A gratifying compromise has been utilizing technology to do Q & As with classrooms. He also noted with satisfaction that Hoot is being used in seventh grade science and social studies curriculum in Florida, combining the study of literature and environmental science. This corresponds with the efforts of the statewide literacy project "Read Together, Florida," which chose Hoot as its 2005 book of the year. This project encourages all Floridians to read the same book, to promote the enjoyment and sharing of literature. The project also sponsored an essay contest last spring for which middle schoolers wrote alternate endings to Hoot. The winner, a sixth grade boy, was awarded a walk-on role in Hoot as well as a scholarship and publication of his essay in a beginning writers journal.

"The fun of it is the discovery." The way Carl Hiaasen describes the process of beginning a new book, it's as though once he gives his characters life, he adopts the position of a curious, note-taking onlooker. "The first thing I get is the sense of the characters... They're character-driven novels, the adult novels as well as the kids'. And I have a sense of the premise, the set-up. How it's going to sort itself out, I don't know. I have a sense of who's going to be standing at the end, that I know; but how they get there and all the little twists and turns, I don't know.

I don't have outlines. I mean, life isn't scripted that way, and the characters...I count on being surprised by the characters. Half the fun of it for me is seeing what this cast of characters is going to do on this little stage. If you don't really have an outline, you can have a lot more fun. I mean, it meanders at times, and there's lot of little subplots, but there are in life as well.

Somebody once asked Elmore Leonard, "Do you know how your books are going to end when you start out writing them?" He answered, "Why would I write them if I knew how they were going to end?" That's the best answer I can give. The fun of it is the discovery."

To read the article - Carl Hiaasen: "Delightfully Juvenile" click here.

The deputy told me to empty my pockets: two quarters, a penny, a stick of bubble gum, and a role of grip tape for my skateboard. It was pitiful. "Go inside, He's waiting for you," the deputy said. My dad was sitting alone at a bare metal table. He looked pretty good, all things considered. He wasn't even handcuffed. "Happy Father's Day," I said. -From Flush

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