1. “An editor once wrote on the top of a manuscript I’d written: ‘Needs more lore.’ MORE LORE is the best advice I ever got.”

2. “I think of the titles first. I think I work backwards from most authors. Most authors get an idea for a story and they start to write it, and then later they think of a title. But I think of the title first and then the title sort of leads me to the story.”

3. “I know the ending, so then I know I can always get there. I plan out every book first before I write a word. I do a chapter-by-chapter outline of every book. So before I start to write, I know everything that’s going to happen in the book. I have it all planned, and then I can just enjoy the writing. I’ve done all the hard part. I’ve done the thinking before I start to write.”

4. “There’s no formula. I think you have to create a very close point of view. You have to be in the eyes of the narrator. Everything that happens, all the smells, all the sounds; then your reader starts to identify with that character and that”s what makes something really scary.”

5. “When I write for kids it has to be kind of believable, but they also have to know it’s a fantasy.”

6. “My advice has always been “it’s actually pretty boring advice”, “write something every day.” And my only other advice is to just READ READ READ. And not just from the same author, but from all sorts of authors. You pick up all sorts of things from other writers by reading them.”

7. “I've never had writer's block. I really don't have time for it—too many books to write. Some days the writing isn't as easy or pretty as other days. But you just keep going. You know you can go back and fix it.”

8. “Sometimes it helps to scold yourself, to give yourself advice.”

9. “The only lesson is, you gotta keep at it.”

10. “People say, 'What advice do you have for people who want to be writers?' I say, they don't really need advice, they know they want to be writers, and they're gonna do it. Those people who know that they really want to do this and are cut out for it, they know it.”

R.L. Stine

Robert Lawrence Stine was born October 8, 1943, Columbus, OH. Stine is an American novelist, short story writer, television producer, screenwriter, and executive editor. He is best known for works such as,Fear Street, Goosebumps, Rotten School, and The Nightmare Room series. R. L. Stine has written over 300 books, and sold over 400 million copies.