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[S.
E. Hinton: On Writing Tex] [Biography]
[The Outsiders - Lesson Plans]
[Hinton Bibliography]
S. E. Hinton: On Writing
Tex
The following is reprinted, courtesy of Delacorte Press's
notes from
Delacorte Press.
I have no idea why I write. The old standards are: I like to
express my feelings, stretch my imagination, earn money. (One you don't
usually see on the list is "total incompetence at anything else." Writing
is much easier to do than to talk about. I'm a character writer. Some
writers are plot writers...I have to begin with people. I always know my
characters, exactly what they look like, their birthdays, what they like
for breakfast. It doesn't matter if these things appear in the book. I
still have to know. My characters are fictional. I get ideas from real
people, sometimes, but my characters always exist only in my head...Thos
characters are as real to me as anyone else in my life, so much so that if
I ran into one of them at the laundry I wouldn't be all that
surprised.
There is an interesting transformation that takes place in the
beginning of a book. I go straight from thinking about my narrator to
being him. Like Lon Chaney becoming the werewolf. Only substitute
typewriter for full moon. This can be fun. I loved being Ponyboy Curtis
of The Outsiders. He was a lot like me, mentally, so the
transformation wasn't painful. He had a lot of freedom, true-blue
friends, exciting adventures, people he loved and who loved him; the
things that were important to him were the things that were important to
me.
I can't say that Tex is a lot like me. But he was the
narrator I most enjoyed being. Capable of thinking, he has to be made to
think; he relies on instinct instead of intellect. And basically his
instincts are good. Capable of violence, but not malice, he has to learn
things the hard way - a basically happy person trying to deal with
unhappiness. I envied his total lack of suspicion.
His brother tells him, "Tex, you are not stupid, and you're
not all that ignorant. But how anybody as simpleminded as you are has
managed to survive for fourteen years is beyond me." A person of action,
without much physical fear, Tex does manage to survive situations he
brings on himself - but he also survives those he has no control of and
can see no justice in. He does so by learning that every action has a
reaction - but many times there is a choice of reactions.
Tex McCormick will very likely grow up to be a horse-trainer
and live in a rather narrow world. His brother, Mason, however, will go
as far as brains and ambition will carry him. I don't think it's
impossible these two kinds of people could respect and like each other,
without wanting the other's life.
In trying to say what Tex is about, the best I can come
up with is: relationships, which are complicated even for simple people;
and maybe love, which can't cure anything but sometimes makes the
unbearable bearable; and being a teen-ager, which is problem enough for
anybody. Mainly it's about Tex McCormick, perhaps the most childlike
character I've ever done, but the one who makes the biggest strides toward
maturity. I have to admit he's a favorite child.
I guess I could explain at this point why I always write from
a male viewpoint. Well, I always have and I tend to get in a rut. I was
a tomboy and most of my close friends were male. I was in high school
before women's lib caught on, and I found nothing in the female culture to
identify with. Sometimes, though, I feel like I spent the first part of
my life wishing to be a teen-age boy, and the second part condemned to
being one. While I'm in the explanatory mood, I guess I can answer one of
the questions I'm most often asked: "Why do you write for
teen-agers?"
Well, I was one when I started out and it was the only thing I
knew about, and then it got to be a habit, and then my publisher was
nagging me, and then kids started writing letters to me, saying, "I never
read a book in my life but I read your book. Have you written anything
else?" and I found that very difficult to ignore; and finally the
reason why I still write for teen-agers is that I like the little turkeys.
I always have.
[Back to Top]
Biography
S.E.
Hinton.com: The Official S.E. Hinton Web Site
Biography, books, movies, miscellaneous
S. E.
Hinton
Biography, interview on becoming a writer; from Random
House
S. E.
Hinton
Past biography from Educational Paperback
S.E. Hinton
Biography
Biography, her books, other information from Carr
Library
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Lesson Plans - The
Outsiders
Random
House. Teacher's Guide to the Young Adult Novels of S.E.
Hinton
Young
Adult Literature in the High School
Journalism
Reporting for The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
9th Grade English or Remedial 10 & 11. By Monica Esparza.
From ERIC
There's a Place
for Us: We Saw the Same Sunset
pdf file; examine peer pressure and gangs. From Center for
Learning
Novel Projects
for The Outsiders
Grades 5 to 8; from KidReach
KidReach.
Anticipation Guide, #1, The Outsiders
KidReach.
Anticipation Guide, #2, The Outsiders
KidReach.
Anticipation Guide, #3, The Outsiders
KidReach.
Anticipation Guide, #4, The Outsiders
S.C.O.R.E.
Language Arts. The Outsiders Cyberguide
The Outsiders,
Teens & Life Choices. WebQuest
Tolerance, careers; By James Good
The
Outsiders WebQuest
Eighth grade; friendship, achieving maturity; by Kathryn
E. Nickell
Let's
Get Ready to Rumble!
WebQuest in form of murder mystery
The
Outsiders; A WebQuest for 7th Grade Language Arts
By Lauren Framer; characterization, self-discovery
Reading/Language Arts.
The Outsiders
Grades 7-8; conflict, theme & point of view; by Ladonna
Flynn
TeachersNet.
Pre-Reading
Activity for The Outsiders
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Top]
Bibliography
For a bibliography
of Hinton's books, biographies and professional references see S. E. Hinton:
A Bibliography
References
Hinton, S. E. "S. E. Hinton: On Writing and Tex" in notes
from Delacorte Press, Winter, 1979/Spring 1980, p3-4.
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