Author DJ MacHale shares his jouney of becoming a writer with Costa students

By Julia Difiori
Theme Editor

To a young Donald James MacHale, writing was the definition of torture: sitting still and facing a white blank page.

In a plot twist later in life, MacHale realized his passion for literature and is now a best-selling author and creator of successful Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows. MacHale visited Costa on Dec. 4 and spoke in the library to discuss his career and promote his newest novels.
DJ MacHale created the only television version of “Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective” as well as the hit shows “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” and “Flight 29 Down.” His books include the 10-book “Pendragon” series, the “Morpheus Road” trilogy and “Sylo.”

“It can be incredibly satisfying, frustrating, frightening, exciting, maddening and rewarding,” Machale said. “Often all at the same time. But if you have the desire, you can’t let the challenges stop you.”

MacHale disliked the grammar, sentence structure and spelling aspects of writing as a student. To avoid writing essays for class, MacHale and his classmates put together videos. As it turns out, they were diving into writing rather than escaping it, an irony he only came to understand in a required writing course at New York University.

“The joke was on us,” MacHale said. “All that time we thought we were so smart for getting out of writing, but we ended up doing more writing than anyone in class.”

After studying film at NYU, MacHale began his professional career writing screenplays. After his work was repeatedly rejected, a friend suggested writing for kids. MacHale exploded with ideas once he opened his mind to younger generations.

“Horror writer Stephen King was asked why he writes horror stories, and he replied that that’s what comes out,” MacHale said. “I realized that this, kids material, could be what is supposed to come out.”

MacHale still faced several challenges while trying to get his ideas accepted. When he first pitched “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” to Nickelodeon, a show where kids sat around a campfire telling scary stories, it was orginially shutdown. After MacHale’s persistence, the show eventually became a hit.

“There are challenges and joys in following a career in the creative arts,” MacHale said. “You will hear ‘no’ a lot, but you can’t take no for an answer.”

Spreading this wisdom to younger generations is part of his mission, as he travels to various schools around the world to promote his books. MacHale has visited hundreds of schools, speaking to kids in the deep south, the Canadian border, private schools, inner city schools and even England and Canada.

“It’s amazing to me that no matter where I go, the kids are all the same,” MacHale said. “They are interested, they have hope and they love to learn. I love when somebody comes up to me and says, ‘I love your books.’ That’s the best part.”