Kid Stuff

Tiny Hiney: On Writing a Story

Eva Paulus |

Tiny Hiney is written by Eva Paulus, the six-and-a-half-year-old daughter of Volume One columnist Mike Paulus (who writes The Rear End). For this installment, Eva agreed to be interviewed about her story writing process.

How do you write a story?
You have to think of a little tiny idea, and then write it down. And then the idea grows and grows until you make a story. ... I’m not ready for writing chapter books yet unless the chapters are only, like, three pages long.

Do you think of the whole story before you write it?
I think of it as I write. Like the fairy one [Eva and the Fairy] ... I just had the idea of a fairy that I met in the garden, with goblins, and then I had the idea that the wand turns the grass and everything pink.

Do you go back and change things?
I just like it how it is.

Do you need a cover?
Of course I do. It’s not like ... “Here is the first page! La la-la la, blah blah blah, type on a computer.”   Because there has to be a title on the first page.

How do you come up with a title?
Well, you have to sort of group all of the things in the book together to come up with a great title. Well, sometimes I do the title first.

Why are illustrations good to have?
Well, they show what the words are, in case you’re wondering ... what ... someone squishing their brain out looks like. For example.

At the end, do you always write “The End?”
Well, sometimes. But it’s not necessary, because I could do “and they all lived happily ever after.” But that would be too hard to fit on a page, so I just like “The End.”

Where do you get your ideas?
Well, I usually sorta ... sometimes I bang on my head. Sometimes I already have an idea and write it down. And sometimes I bonk my head.