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Laura Ingalls Wilder on How the Little House Books Came to Be

In an excerpt from the new book "The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder," the beloved children's book author describes her process and the difficulty she has balancing writing with her husband and housework.
Actress Melissa Gilbert in "Little House on the Prairie." Screengrab via YouTube

Today marks the publication of The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, "the final collection of unpublished writings from the author of the Little House books." As William Anderson, editor of the (fairly hefty) book, writes in the introduction, "There no longer remains a well of her words left to print."

Despite Wilder's undeniably rich literary legacy—which includes her iconic Little House children's books (published from 1932 to 1943) as well as the best-selling annotated autobiography Pioneer Girl—Anderson's words are nevertheless tinged with inevitable loss: Wilder's work remains beloved by countless children and adults who grew up reading her tales of prairie life in the late 19th century. Born to a frontier family in Pepin County, Wisconsin, in 1867, Wilder drew on her own experiences growing up in the Midwest—which included harsh winters, illnesses, and frequent moves—and family in the Little House books. Throughout her letters, Wilder displays the same generosity and patience she brings to her children's novels, whether she is discussing the difficulties of balancing housework with writing or replying to a class of fifth graders who sent her fan mail. ("Such a lot of nice letters!" this reply begins. "And I wish so much I could answer each one, but there are twenty-eight of them and I really haven't time, besides there is the postage which does mount up when there are so many, many letters to write.")

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In the excerpt below, Wilder tells Miss Crawford, a "periodic correspondent" from Kansas, the origin story of the Little House books and briefly explains her writing process, as well as describes the "little room" where she works.

[Note: There is no ending—a missing page. All of her hyphens, etc., are as she wrote them. I did no editing. – William Anderson]

Laura Ingalls Wilder in a ravine on Rocky Ridge Farm, where she wrote the Little House novels. Photo courtesy of William Anderson

September 16, 1940

Dear Miss Crawford,

You will forgive the delay in answering your letter, I am sure, when you know how busy I have been.

No sooner do I get one story off my hands than I begin on the next. And I was just finishing the long-hand writing of the one to follow The Long Winter, when your letter came.

I was glad to hear from you again and to know you are so much interested in my work.

The first of my books, Little House in the Big Woods, was written to preserve the stories that Pa used to tell Sister Mary and me when I was a child. I felt they were too good to be lost and I wrote them for Rose, not for publication. She insisted that I have them turned over to a publisher.

The way I work is a mixture of remembering, inspiration and just plain plugging.

I had no intention of writing any more, but children clamored for more stories; and Harpers insisted, so I have gone on, from one book to the next, until I have completed the long-hand copy of the seventh. There is still one more to do in the series and I promise myself that will be the last of my writing. But Harpers are asking for an adult book when the series is finished and one never knows.

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I do my writing in a little room in a corner between my bedroom to the east and the living room at the north. It is a very small room with a window to the west and one to the south, looking out into the big trees around the house. The room is filled with my desk and a table, couch and small bookcase. It is usually a mess with papers and books and mss. scattered around.

I write whenever I can snatch the time from housework, telephone, callers, Mr. Wilder and Ben, the bulldog. I may have written you that I do all my own work, in the old-fashioned way mostly. And the house has ten rooms.

The way I work is a mixture of remembering, inspiration and just plain plugging.

While I am working at housework I study about whatever I am writing. Sometimes I can't sleep for trying to place the right word in the right place and again I will wake with a perfectly turned phrase in my mind, to be remembered and written down next day . . .

From THE SELECTED LETTERS OF LAURA INGALLS WILDER by William Anderson Copyright © 2016 by William Anderson. Reprinted courtesy of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.