Brad Meltzer, Nicholas Sparks and Jennifer Egan Talk Writing Inspiration

Posted on December 27, 2011

Bestselling authors Brad Meltzer, Nicholas Sparks and Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan appeared on the CBS Early Show about what inspires them to write. Jennifer says writing gives her life meaning. Brad jokes that his first book got 24 rejection letters, although at the time there were only 20 publishers. He said he had a teacher who inspired him to write and he thinks of her, and his late mother. Nicholas (who has sold more than 90 million books) says you never know if a book will sell. He said the greatest challenger of being a writer is getting the book to sell out of the store.

The three authors have very different approaches to writing. For Jennifer, it's a more organic process. She starts with time and place and lets her unconscious flow. Brad writes what he loves and is interested in at the time, which makes for some very different types of books. Nicolas is all about the planning. He reveals the six things he has to know about his story before he can write it. Take a look: