JF:
Learning
styles
of
people
are
important
in
both
The
Gollywhopper
Games
and
The
Seventh
Level.
In
The
Gollywhopper
Games,
Gil,
the
main
character,
needs
to
be
smart
enough
to
solve
the
puzzles
to
have
a
chance
to
win.
In
the
Seventh
Level
Travis
seems
to
be
in
the
wrong
place
at
the
wrong
time
so
often
that
the
people
around
him,
as
well
as
Travis
himself,
lose
sight
of
his
abilities.
I
like
to
think
of
him
as
possibly
having
ADHD,
but
is
not
medicated
for
it.
Near
the
opening
of
the
book,
we
witness
Travis
hanging
off
the
roof
of
his
school.
He
has
his
reasons
–
reasons
which
provide
a
catalyst
for
the
story
-‐-‐
but
the
adults
in
the
book
don’t
see
them.
When
I
write
puzzle
books,
each
of
my
characters
show
a
different
kind
of
smart,
and
with
the
help
of
others
or
by
necessarily
digging
deep
into
their
own
reservoirs,
they
can
often
find
the
tools
to
solve
the
puzzles.
I
purposely
write
different
types
of
puzzles
to
speak
to
the
different
strengths
in
all
of
us
and
also
to
play
to
the
different
strengths
that
each
child
brings
to
the
reading
experience.
SW:
What
advice
do
you
have
for
teachers
who
are
helping
their
students
to
write?
JF:
For
me,
writing
the
puzzles
is
easy;
writing
plot
is
hard.
Writing
in
general
is
hard.
The
words
start
bright
and
shiny
in
your
brain,
but
often
lose
their
magic
when
they
make
it
onto
paper.
When
I’m
crafting
a
plot,
I
rely
on
my
background
in
journalism
and
especially
the
basic
questions
we
all
learn
early
on.
I
have
to
decide
who
my
character
is,
where
the
story
takes
place
(setting),
when
it
occurs.
Those
are
the
easy
ones
-‐-‐
relatively,
at
least.
It’s
the
what,
the
why
and
the
how
which
provide
the
true
backbone
to
story.
What
does
the
character
want?
Why
does
the
character
want
it?
And
how
will
the
character
achieve
that
(or
how
will
he
fail
to
achieve?)
If
I
keep
those
in
mind,
my
story
will
be
cohesive
and
satisfying,
and
I
know
I
will
have
done
my
job
of
exploring
the
possibilities.
I
tell
students
–
and
it’s
something
you
can
tell
them
as
a
teacher
–
that
when
they
don’t
know
where
to
start
or
get
stuck
when
they’re
writing
a
paper,
a
story,
or
to
a
test
prompt,
they
can
focus
their
ideas
by
keeping
the
basic
questions
(the
5W’s
and
one
H)
in
mind.
The
other
element
I
like
to
speak
to
is
revision.
Almost
all
writers
will
tell
you
that
writing
is
all
about
revising.
That
includes
small
and
large
fixes,
from
getting
individual
verbs
right
to
making
sure
dialogue
sounds
realistic
to
throwing
out
entire
scenes
when
they
neither
move
the
plot
nor
deepen
character
development.
When
I
visit
schools,
I
show
a
two-‐foot
stack
of
different
versions
of
The
Gollywhopper
Games
to
illustrate
just
how
much
work
goes
into
writing
one
book.
I’ve
had
teachers
tell
me
how
much
they
appreciate
that
one
visual,
how
they
feel
better
equipped
to
remind
their
students
how
important
the
revision
process
is
within
assignments.
And
it’s
nothing
to
fear.
SW:
What
are
you
working
on
now?
JF:
I
am
working
on
my
third
novel,
but
I
don’t
like
to
discuss
details
before
it’s
done.
When
I
finish,
I’ll
submit
it
to
my
agent.
And
if
it
passes
her
muster,
she’ll
ship
it
off
to
my
ed