How Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) Sits Down & Writes
'Poison for Breakfast' is a new stand-alone adventure by Lemony Snicket.
A new stand-alone adventure by Lemony Snicket.
For more than twenty years, Lemony Snicket has led millions of young readers through a mysterious world of bewildering questions and unfortunate events. With this latest book—a love letter to readers young and old about the vagaries of real life—longtime fans and new readers alike will experience Snicket’s distinctive voice in a new way.
This true story—as true as Lemony Snicket himself—begins with a puzzling note under his door: You had poison for breakfast. Following a winding trail of clues to solve the mystery of his own demise, Snicket takes us on a thought-provoking tour of his predilections: the proper way to prepare an egg, a perplexing idea called “tzimtzum,” the sublime pleasure of swimming in open water, and much else.
Poison for Breakfast is a classic-in-the-making that—in the great tradition of modern fables like The Little Prince and The Phantom Tollbooth—will delight readers.
Poison for Breakfast is perfect for fans of philosophy, both kids and grownups, as well as those who have missed this author’s singular voice.
We spoke with Lemony about his head of research and chief of drafting arguing before he can begin drafting, where to find inspiration, and about how he never prefers a computer over pens and pencils and index cards.
Q: Where do you like to write the most?
In a library or a quiet café, at a long table with a couple of other quiet workers nearby, perhaps music in the headphones, ink and paper, no screens within reach.
Q: When do you like to write the most?
All day long but especially in the morning and at the close of day.
Q: When it comes to drafting, do you prefer writing on a computer or freehand?
I prefer a computer for nothing. I adore pens and pencils and legal pads and index cards.
Q: Are you more of a plotter or pantser?
I outline like mad and then give the outline only passing attention while making things up.
Q: Stephen King has a great line in On Writing that says “the scariest moment is always right before you start. After that, things can only get better.” That scary pre-start moment often inspires procrastination in writers. Suddenly, you have to clean your entire house, do the laundry and play Candy Crush for an hour before you can actually start writing. Is there anything you need to do before you can actually sit down and work?
What happens is that my Head of Research spends months going through a pile of books and taking notes and putting the notes on index cards and moving the index cards around on the dining room table until they're in an order that approximates sense.
Then my Drafting Chief comes over and says, "Research has gone on long enough. We've got to get going!"
The Head of Research replies, "Don't be absurd. There are five or six more books, which means more notes, more index cards, more moving around index cards on the dining room table."
The Drafting Chief pounds on the table. "I tell you it's time to start writing."
"It's completely out of the question."
"Oh yeah?" The Drafting Chief says. "I don't have to listen to you. I'm starting early and there's nothing you can do about it."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Wouldn't I?" the Drafting Chief says, and starts scribbling on a legal pad. "I'll show you." And in this way I trick myself into starting, by winning an argument going on entirely in my own head.
Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what music? Is your choice of music inspired by the project you’re working on?
I listen to music whenever I can, and my books usually end up circling a specific album or two. Poison for Breakfast seemed to enjoy listening to An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, by the Caretaker; currently, for a book in progress, Domenique Dumont's People On Sunday seems to be leading the way.
Some writers believe you have to write every single day. Is that true of your process? How often do you write/how long for each session?
I tell myself that I take weekends off, but weekends turn out to be a nice time to circle the sentences that are bad, until the whole paper is covered in circles and you might as well try to fix some of the sentences now that the grocery shopping is done. I write when I can. I am lucky enough that I don't have too much else to do. I write and write.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give an aspiring author?
I have much more sympathy than advice for aspiring authors. It is tough, learning how to make something for which the world does not know it is waiting.
Where do you normally find story inspiration?
Literature and life. I listen and take notes. Today I was swimming in the ocean and when I stopped for breath, another swimmer said, "I know you," and then said the name of a person I'm not. Inspiration is everyplace.
Lemony Snicket is the author of a number of other books, including A Series of Unfortunate Events and All the Wrong Questions. Was it challenging to pick up Snicket's signature voice again while writing Poison for Breakfast?
An unreliable woolgatherer turns out to be a voice that comes fairly naturally to me.
Snicket is both the author and main character of Poison for Breakfast. Why did you decide to take him in this new direction?
I'm not sure I agree with your opinion of who the main character is in Poison for Breakfast. I think the main character is death. It felt very natural to lead Mr. Snicket in that direction because we're all going there.
Throughout Poison for Breakfast, Snicket mentions the two rules of writing (one of which is that nobody knows the second rule). Do you have any personal writing rules that you follow?
"Remember, hardly any books are too short. Most are too long."
Poison for Breakfast explores philosophical questions in a way both children and adults can enjoy and understand. Why was it important for you to address these questions?
I think about such things all the time, and I suspect others do too. I hope so, anyway. It feels less lonely to hope so. And that is what a book is, I think--a form of hope, that makes you feel less lonely.
Snicket interrogates the belief there are only two types of stories—a person goes on a journey and a stranger comes to town—as well as the possibility that those two stories are actually the same, just told from different POVs. Do you find this to be true?
Whenever I go on a journey, I arrive someplace feeling strange, perhaps even unwelcome, perhaps even suspicious: a stranger. But maybe other people don't mind the airport as much as I do.
Grab your copy of Poison for Breakfast from bookshop.org, IndieBound, or Barnes & Noble. Happy reading!
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