Many of Joan Lowery Nixon’s readers have written to her to ask how they, too, can become published writers someday. This memoir, including anecdotes and advice, is her answer to them. From her first publication at age ten—a poem entitled “Springtime” in a children’s magazine—to her graduation from Hollywood High during World War II, Joan Lowery Nixon shares the events from her childhood that helped her to grow and develop as a writer. Joan Lowery Nixon took to heart and never forgot what her ninth-grade journalism teacher told her, “A writer must always have faith in herself. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.” Both informative and entertaining,The Making of a Writeris a charming look at one writer’s beginnings.