After college, Clements went to work for a publisher in New York where, as editorial director, he got to work with many authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators—and try his hand at creating his own picture books. But it was only in 1990 that he began trying to write a story about a boy who creates havoc by coming up with a new word for "pen." Published in 1996, that book, Frindle, became his first and most popular novel, launching his career as full-time children's book author.

Clements has written over 60 books for children and young adolescents—from readers to stand-alone novels to series like Jake Drake and Pets to the Rescue. When kids ask how he's been able to write so many books, his answer is simple: one word at a time.

"You don't have to do everything at once," he says. "You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. And growing up, it's the same way. We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life."