S.E Hinton on Writing The Outsiders & Others.
Author Reminisces About Being Allowed on Set During Filming.
In the film adaptations of her novels, Hinton worked with directors Francis Ford Coppola [The Outsiders and Rumble Fish] and Tim Hunter [Tex], both whom engaged her on set. At the time it was, and still is unusual for a writer to be as involved with filming the adaptations of their books. Hinton even had small on-camera roles in the films as a typist in Tex, a hooker in Rumble Fish and a nurse in The Outsiders.
On the Set of The Outsiders and Rumble Fish
Many of today’s big name Hollywood actors got early breaks starring in her films – Matt Dillon, Nicolas Cage, Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise and Emilio Estevez. According to Hinton, Cage was always a little eccentric.
“Nic Cage was always ahead of his time. Still is,” she recalled, with a laugh. Dillon was her favourite young actor to work with; appearing in The Outsiders, Rumble Fish and Tex, and Coppola was ‘just too deep for her’ when envisioning how scenes would translate onto the screen.
During the filming of The Outsiders, the average age of the actors was about eighteen, so Hinton took on the role of ‘Greaser Den Mother’.
“By the end, I felt like an old dog with my used tits dragging down the street.”
Hinton admits that working on movie sets influenced how she wrote her subsequent novels. She began thinking more about scene; writing pieces of the story that could stand alone and be bridged together later.
The Outsiders - A First Novel
Despite the continuous popularity of the book and film, Hinton’s first royalty cheque for The Outsiders was a mere ten dollars.
“The book’s following built slowly, so I was never really overwhelmed. It spread through word-of-mouth from students and teachers.”
Even more surprising is that she was fifteen-years-old when she first began writing The Outsiders in her hometown of Oklahoma. At the time, there were not many books about relationships between men, let alone ones written by a woman (S.E. stands for Susan Eloise). She received her first contract on high school graduation day and remained with her agent for 30 odd years, until the day she died.
Hinton’s advice to aspiring writers is this:
“When I write, I write what I want to read. If you don’t want to write it bad enough for you to read it – you’re not a writer.”
Hinton's Latest
Her most recent book is titled Some of Tim’s Stories, a book of short stories about the intertwined lives of cousins Terry and Mike, whose paths lead to very different futures. It also includes exclusive interviews with Hinton.
Hinton Signing Copies of Her Books in Seattle.
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