NAME: Joe Ballarini
CLAIM TO FAME: Joe is the author of A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting and the writer of the movie, Dance of the Dead and the upcoming My Little Pony: the Movie
WHERE TO FIND HIM: On Instagram, Twitter, and his web site.

Let’s start with the basics: What time of day do you start writing? Is it easier for you to write early in the morning? Late at night?

Now that we have our seven month old son, I start much earlier! I like to make coffee for the wife and I and play with the little one before getting into the office by eight or eight thirty. And don’t leave until I’ve made my pages. I find that by starting earlier and forcing myself to stay in the office (which is a big, sunny room downstairs) until I’m exhausted or satisfied with my work for the day.

Writing late at night can be the best, too. It’s quiet and serene. However, with the kid, it’s hard to stay up until 3am and write my spooky stories in the dark when I know he’s going to wake up at 5:30am.

What’s your preferred tool for writing—a word processor like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, etc.? A pen and paper?

I’m left handed and so I can only write comfortably in one notebook: the Mead College Rule black and white notebook. A writer’s dream. It’s so freeing. I also love to draw, so I can doodle and let my imagination go crazy on the page. The best part is I can’t toggle back and forth between my writing and Facebook and then to a blog and then back to Facebook and then over to a podcast and then back to my writing and then just a quick toggle over to email and then back to the writing. You see what I mean. Paper and pen is king!

I use Final Draft for screenplays. Word for books.

Do you listen to music when you write, or do you prefer silence, or something else in the background?

My Spotify is full of soundtracks for all of my projects. It’s so inspiring when I find the perfect tone or beat for a scene or a moment. I’m a director also, so everything I write is not just visual but cinematic and music is a huge part of cinema. (Not so much in book form, but music does help grease those gears.)

When writing A Babysitter’s Guide To Monster Hunting, I liked listening to ambient mixes, more low key and environmental. Just the sound of the rain or a crackling fire can help transport me into a snowy landscape when I need to feel the chill of Christmas in the middle of June.

Do you have any pre-writing rituals or habits?

Just really good coffee. I grind it, foam the milk and make sure it’s perfect. I give one to the wife and then—cheers.

I started jumping on a mini-trampoline in between down time to keep it all flowing. And no one can take themselves too serious when hopping up and down in their office.

How many words a day do you produce, or try to produce? How much of that ever sees the light of day?

I tend to overwrite and then reduce, reduce. Put it this way, on the second Babysitter’s Guide book, my editor made me chop 120 pages from the book! And that’s for kids! I guess  with writing novels it’s easier and freer range. In screenwriting, I KNOW I have to keep the movie down and that page count can be your best friend because it’s like watching a clock tick down— you gotta keep the story moving, you’ve only got 110 pages to fit it in. Sure, you can write your genius 150 page draft of an action film if you’re Shane Black or Joe Carnahan, but not when you’re

When you first sit down to write, how do you start? What goes through your mind when fingers are first meeting keys (or pen hits paper)?

“Just start. Don’t over think it. Just get the characters talking. You’ll delete all of this later but right now you have to just start.”

What’s your process for editing your work?

I print the beast, grab my sharpie, and go somewhere other than behind my computer. I read, mark, sketch, slash, draw arrows, and slash on the page.

Do you have an author whose voice or style you’re trying to emulate when you’re writing?

With Babysitter’s Guide, I had to emulate the voice of my narrator, Kelly Ferguson. Kelly is a shy, intelligent, funny 13-year-old. For this, I try to channel a quirkier, snarkier, sharper part of my brain and the more romantic, hyper-dramatic side because I remember everything feeling so huge and epic when I was that young. Regardless, this is not an easy task, writing with the voice of a tween girl. Fortunately, my editor, Maria Barbo is great at reading for the right voice. She’ll write “voice” in the margins if I’ve written a line that sounds too adult. So, I’m not trying to copy an author, just tell it in the way the story needs to be told.

Do you struggle at all with that dreaded enemy of writing: writer’s block? Do you think such a thing exists?

It’s not so much writer’s block as writer’s blah. But I still stay in the office when that happens. Hence, the trampoline. I stay in the chair or pace until something comes. I know it won’t be that good and I’ll rewrite it, but I have to put something down in order to fix it. You can’t rewrite a blank page! But if it gets really really bad, I take a hike with the dogs or go to Meltdown Comics. I know it’s bad when I start watching too many YouTube videos in a row. More than three and I’m like, TIME FOR A WALK!

Do you have any favorite books about writing and the creative process?

Joseph Campbell has a series of lectures on Spotify that are fantastic.

David Mamet, Stephen King, Sydney Lumet, and Madeline L’Engle wrote great books on the process. I listen to the Scriptnotes podcast and the BAFTA interview series. Also, I love director/writer commentaries on movies. As soon as I fall in love with a new author, I seek out their interviews online and binge on them. And now I have this amazing website to check out. So thanks. Seriously. It’s great to have a place where you can talk shop without the cynical bits.

When did your aspirations to become a writer begin, and how did you get your start in screenwriting?

I was always writing short stories and making movies as a kid, but the trouble really started when I tried to get into USC film school and they rejected me. I had gotten into the proper school and so I moved out to LA and while I applied to the film school five more times. I decided, well, I’m not going to wait for them to tell me what I can and can’t do. I’m going to start writing on my own. Also, I didn’t know anyone at the time so I would spend most of my nights in the library writing and keeping myself company with a whole cast of characters. Also, paper was cheaper than making a whole movie. I fell in love with writing and discovered so many wonderful books and authors during that time. By the time they finally let me into the film school, I had written 3 screenplays myself and had taught myself a lot about the craft. That’s such a huge part of being a writer, is being a self-starter. You can’t wait for anyone to give you permission. Besides, how much does a pen and paper really cost?

How did you begin thinking about a children’s book and what was that transition like?

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting started as an idea for a movie, but the studios are making super hero movies right now. This is a kids adventure. Why am I going to spend all this time writing a screenplay just to have the studios say ‘no’? I’m going to write it as a book and see what happens. I wrote it on spec and found that I loved the form and the freedom.

You’re the kind of person who is juggling multiple writing projects at once. How do you keep those balls in the air?

I give myself mini-deadlines for each project. I finish those deadlines and then jump into the the next project. I know that it usually takes producers or editors a few weeks to read and give notes, so in that time, I start the next thing, turn that in, and then get the notes on the first project back and start on that one. I like to keep busy. Also, by constantly working, I can’t dwell too much on what I just turned in. Sometimes it takes ages for the heads of the studios to give their decision and I would go bonkers just sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.

It’s a question you’re going to get asked a lot, but our readers want to know: How in the world did you get involved with a film adaption of MY LITTLE PONY?

I had written on a lot of animated films before Ponies and Hasbro liked my stuff. I knew Ponies from growing up with a sister who was into them. Then the phenomenon of the new ponies happened and I had to check it out. Turned out that the characters were engaging and interesting and not just your standard silly kids stuff. Yes, it’s about magical unicorns and stuff, but the core themes of friendship and loyalty and believing in yourself were positive messages that I really took to. Then I met the team and I fell in love with everyone at Hasbro. Seriously, they are the masters of Ponyville over there. It was a real treat to work with such a well-run, intelligent team of creative world-building, character-loving folks.

You studied at the School of Cinematic Arts and got a minor in creative writing. What did you learn when you were younger that’s stayed with you?

Don’t wait for someone to let you make your dreams come true: go make them come true. Also, always bring a pair of leather gloves to set because you don’t want to get electrocuted. Arcing can kill you!

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