How did Laura Wilder achieve her goal of being a writer?

Answer 1

Laura began writing for local and regional farm magazines in the Midwest in the 1910s, when she was in her 40s. She enjoyed this, but did not have any aspirations to become a novelist.

In the mid-1930s, Laura's daughter Rose began encouraging her mother to begin writing the story of her life. Laura intended to write only one book, Little House In The Big Woods. As she said later, "that book was really a memorial to my father." She felt the stories he had told her and her sisters when they were children were too good not to be handed down.

In 1932, Little House became a huge success, and Laura was amazed and delighted. She received thousands of letters from schoolchildren who wanted more. Over the next 11 years, Laura wrote seven more books. With the publication of each one, her fame grew. She was truly beloved and admired by children all over the world. Libraries, schools and awards were named after her.

Laura's books are not 100% autobiographical, but they are not pure fiction, either. What they create is a wonderful depiction of life on the American frontier over a span of about 20 years, from the late 1860s to the mid-1880s. In them Laura proved that she was just as good a storyteller as he Pa, if not an even better one.