Scott Emmons grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, only a short drive from the majestic Rocky Mountains. He studied Classics at Northwestern University, followed by a Ph.D at Indiana University. After a few years of teaching, he took up a job humour writing for Hallmark Cards, where he stayed for sixteen years. He now works at JibJab, working on the StoryBots brand with Mauro Gatti.
To find out a little bit more about his work, we asked Scott the following questions…
What inspires your work?
I’m mostly inspired by funny, whimsical ideas combined with the music of language. It’s always exciting to me when the sounds of words along with devices like alliteration, onomatopoeia, and internal rhyme work together to create a unique tone.
Tell us a bit about your process….
I usually start by daydreaming, free-associating on whatever I want to write about. This will often lead me to a few ideas, short phrases or rhymes that I think would be fun to use in the story. From there I try to work out a very broad outline, using those ideas as high points. I then fill in the gaps to create a first draft. From then on, it’s a matter of rearranging and rewording until all elements of the story are polished.
