BEDA 9: Your Q's; My A's.
Leave me questions for Friday! On Saturday and Sunday, I will do like actual non-Q&A blog posts. Now, your questions:
Q. Can Liverpool come back in the away leg at Stamford Bridge?
A. (Non-fans: Liverpool lost 3-1 at home in the first leg of the Champions' League quarterfinal to Chelsea.) No, of course not. It is impossible to beat Chelsea 3-1 in their home stadium. But the problem with being a Liverpool fan is that because this happened, you spend the rest of your life assuming that the impossible is not only possible but probable.
Q. Reams of literary criticism for high school students? Ridiculous suggestion. It's not an either/or proposition with what do you think v. what the experts think.
A. Well, reams means, what, a minimum of a thousand pages? I don't think it's ridiculous to read 1,000 pages of criticism over a high school career at all. But we can be friends regardless! (I agree with you re. the either/or proposition and did not mean to imply otherwise in my previous post.)
Generally, it's no secret that I favor the you-shut-up-and-write-notes-while-I-talk style of teaching to the let's-discuss-this-as-if-your-opinion-mattered style of teaching, but I realize that this belief is out-of-favor and quite possibly a character flaw.
(Also, and most importantly, I am not an educator and don't know anything about education except for this super-thin slice of the pie known as my own experience and a bit of highly selective reading. All I was trying to say in my earlier post was that students who distrust their English teachers are generally wrong to do so.)
Q. When you first began writing, did you ever struggle with feeling wildly inferior to all the great writers that have come before you?
A. Yes, and I still struggle with it, because I am wildly inferior to all the great writers who came before me. On some level, one has to say to one's self: Given that The Catcher in the Rye and A Separate Peace have already been written, my work is sort of irrelevant. Like, at best (and this would be a very big achievement, indeed), anything I do will be redundant.
But but but but but: Even though this may feel true, it actually isn't, at least not in the lives of readers. So finally these great writers are not mountains in whose dark shadow we must labor. These great novels are lions in our path. (Yes, I did steal that from Shelby Foote. I am not a great writer, but I am a good plagiarist.)
Q. How DO you pronounce Michael Chabon's name? And who is Michael Chabon?
A. I have been told that it rhymes with radon, but I don't know that for a fact, and anyway, if it is true I still find it only marginally helpful. Maybe MC will comment and let us know.
Michael Chabon is the massively important author of such hugely brilliant novels as The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, The Amazing Adverntures of Kavalier and Clay, and The Yiddish Policemen's Union. He might be my favorite living writer. (When I was 17, I read The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and it kinda changed my life and made my life as a writer possible and etc.
Q. Super Mario Kart- Great game, or Greatest Game?
A. This is a very, very difficult question, because of Tetris and Wii Sports and Doom and Super Mario Brothers and everything. But I'm going to say it: Greatest Game.
Q. Who's your favorite superhero?
A. Spiderman.
Q. you are an avid reader and a successful writer; which is more fun?
A. I certainly find reading more fun.
Q. You often quote poetry. Do you write any of your own? Have you ever?
A. No. People often say of poetry that everyone is writing poetry but no one is reading it. Well, I'm trying to restore balance. I love to read poetry and read it daily. And I love what poetry gives me as a reader. But I have no ear for writing it, and no desire to write it, either.
Note: This might change if poetry were to become lucrative.
Q. In 2006, you said that you were working on a book about whether or not the future exists; is this still something that may happen?
A. That book was Paper Towns. I have returned to the question of whether the future exists, which by the way I find disproportionately interesting, in the screenplay. I will probably cut it again.
Q. In Paper Towns one of the main themes is how Margo (and other characters) are misinterpreted. So I guess my question is, do you have any specific experience with this, that you don't mind sharing?
A. I think the specific experiences of this are far too numerous to share, because I am so busy being the center of my own skull-sized kingdom and everyone else is so busy being at the center of their skull-sized kingdoms that it's extraordinarily difficult for anyone to ever imagine anyone else with any complexity whatsoever. (And yet I think that imagining others complexly and empathetically is precisely what we are called to do as human beings.)
Q. I know in the video where we got to see you work in the hotel with the other YA writers you mentioned that everything you just typed would probably be re-written later. How much do you (rough estimate) actually revise?
A. I wrote about (there is no way to be sure) seven or eight hundred thousand words while writing Paper Towns. So on average I guess I save 10% or what I write? I mean, that's a very inexact calculation, but I suspect I deleted at least 90% of the first draft of Looking for Alaska, and probably a similar percentage for my other books. But I don't know.
Q. What are your expectations or hopes for the Cubs this season?
A. My expectation is always--always--that the Cubs will win the World Series.
Q. It it a violation of copyright law if I make a button that uses a quote from one of your novels, let's say "I smoke to die." or something equally memorable, and sell said button?
A. I believe you'd have to cut me in on the proceeds from the button, or at least ask my permission. (And I probably would not allow the decontextualized use of that particular quotation, because it has a perverse way of glorifying smoking cigarettes and/or self-destructive behavior, which I don't want my work to do. Unless you gave me like a huge percentage of the royalties. Just kidding. I would never sell out my readers. Not for button money, anyway.)
Leave your questions in comments.
posted by John Green @ Thursday, April 09, 2009
70 Comments
70 Comments:
On average, about how many hours a day, not including signings, touring or anything of that nature, do you spend writing?
Oh, darn. I almost made first comment ...
Do you think it's possible for an author to write, or at least begin writing, a novel with a question or theme that they themselves are still looking for the answer to? Or do you think that an author needs to figure out some sort of thesis to prove (or, what they want to say with their book) before they start writing?
Some questions inspired by the comment from that journalist in Holland who told you that Paper Towns is much funnier in Dutch:
How much do you know about the qualifications of your English-Dutch translator? Awhile back you got the bright idea to turn to Babelfish to translate your Dutch biography (in Looking for Alaska) back into English - with ridiculous results. One imagines that was all Babelfish's doing, not the English-Dutch translators'. But what if that's a misassumption?
I mean, if the Dutch version of Paper Towns is funny in Dutch in the same way that, say, "all your base are belong to us" is hilarious in English, then you can see why Paper Towns sure would be a fun read in Dutch (though it probably wouldn't be assigned often in Dutch high schools.)
On the other hand, assuming that your English-Dutch translator is highly competent, and therefore that Paper Towns must be funnier in Dutch for reasons other than hilarious garbling, then what do you think would happen if an equally fluent translator - but one who has never read Paper Towns in English - were to faithfully translate the Dutch version back to English?
Would this result in a book that is inherently funnier in English than your original?
Could this process ever result in a book that's better than the original?
How many back-and-forth translations (always by new translators who had never read any previous translation of the book, of course) might it take until the book is so changed - in meaning or plot or themes or style or cadence or otherwise - that it is essentially a different book?
Would you still be the author of that resultant different book?
How much do you think translators' own ideologies, cultural knowledge or lack thereof, etc. make it into and reveal themselves in translations of "your" books?
What are the implications of this type of presumably-unintentional-but-unavoidable-subtle-change-in-translation to meanings and moods, with respect to old and oft-translated books such as the Bible or Pippi Longstocking?
I'll include the actual question part of this comment at the bottom so that you don't have to quote me babbling all over your blog, but I feel the need to put my thoughts in order before I ask and I think that if you skim said ordering process you might understand what I'm trying to put into a question a little better. Alright, so talking about teaching Literary Crit to a high school student, which is something that I am interested in as an English major going into secondary education with the express purpose of teaching High School level English classes, I question what you would define as literary criticism. While I can see the benefit of teaching lit crit to a reader as they are reading, wouldn't it be easier to teach the different critical approaches to the student and then let them read the books with those critical approaches in mind? I didn't get introduced to literary criticism until I stepped into a college classroom. To be frank, I don't know if I would have understood critical theory before college. (Such as the close reading approaches, Marxist approaches, Eco-crit and etc). However that could just be because I was never exposed to literary articles before college and after all, if you don't know its hard, chances are you won't be intimidated by what is being asked of you.
So the true question that results from all the above babbling is Do you think it would be more useful to teach Critical Theory with explanations of most critical approaches at a high school level with the primary source material OR do you think that it would be more useful to teach the primary source material while using secondary source material (such as an article by a literary critic) as enrichment studies for the first novel?
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It's Shay-bon. (Here, you can hear him saying it! Around five minutes in, haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldq10VQD3Io&feature=related The interviewer's kind of awesomely awkward. The New York Times says so, too, in case you don't want to go clicking through a video. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/books/29pcoh.html)
I love Michael Chabon. Kavalier and Clay is one of my favorite books ever. I'm reading Maps and Legends right now. What's your favorite Chabon book?
would you ever write a prequel to Looking for Alaska?
What do you think of this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG3PnQ3tgzY
Are you still planning a trip to Australia? Is it going to be a book tour/nerdfighter thing or a holiday?
Who is your favorite antihero?
If you could get two famous literary characters (from different books) to meet, whom would you choose?
What's your favorite punctuation mark?
What's with procrastination?
1. When you sit down to write is there a specific process you go through?
To clarify, what do you think of first when writing (the plot, the beginning, the end, the title, etc)?
2. Its been said before that brotherhood 2.0 was your idea, but what actually gave you the idea?
DFTBA
Tenley Nadine
Do you set a goal for yourself on how much you will write a day?
Love these question days. They're awesome.
Is it weird for you that people find your answers to the questions fascinating?
Kavalier and Clay inspired me in a way of writing I've never experienced before. Michael Chabon is amazing.
What are your feelings about American Idol and the effect it may or may not have on American culture?
Would you die for your country? I personally wouldn't...It sounds selfish but I feel like everyone would save their own lives over anyone elses, in the end. What do you think?
How do you feel about Twitter morally? Like, do you think it feeds on our self-obsessions and our obsession with celebrities? Or is it a valid form of communication....?
I just purchased your book Paper Towns yesterday and while reading it I came across the word "pseudovision" and I'm not entirely sure what it means. I suppose I fail at googling because I cannot find out. Please elaborate?
Could you give your analysis on books more often? I very much enjoyed hearing your opinion on Catcher in The Rye.
I know you don't read much science fiction or fantasy, but is there any you would recommend?
I would like to pose one of my favorite debate questions from my lit. theory class: Do you think that our experience of the world is limited by language, or do you think it is possible to think and experience something we cannot verbalize?
In your opinion who is a betetr writer: J.K Rowling or Stephenie Meyer?
I personally think that Meyer can't even come close to Rowling's awesomeness.
i would love it if my english professors would one day come to class and begin to lecture, instead of slumping down in a desk, arms crossed, and casually asking what we thought of King Richard III while lighting a cigarette.
What are your favorite books?
If an author hand wrote his first draft, would he/ she have to type it up when he/ she sends it for publication?
Yeah! Go cubbies! *happy dance* That's always my expectation as well.
I've asked this before, but I thought I'd give it another shot:
Do you believe in ghosts?
And a new one:
What is your favorite dinosaur?
I think you may be underestimating students. Or maybe I've just lucked out with really intelligent peers. Whichever the reason, whenever we had round-table-style discussions in my high-school English classes, the students essentially got it right. And we'd know because after discussions, we'd either read criticisms or listen to a lecture from the teacher.
Maybe I just had really good teachers, I don't know. But the discussions, in retrospect, taught us HOW to think analytically and not just to do it.
And in regards to the feeling inferior as a writer thing, I read this quote somewhere by Jonathan Littell (author of The Kindly Ones,) who was asked how he felt about his book being constantly compared to War and Peace. He said (I can't remember it verbatim) that a book shouldn't be compared against another book, but rather against itself and all it hopes to achieve.
I just read poetry, too. Mainly because if I ever try to write any it's always shitty. But I read a lot of poetry.
So...
Who is your favorite poet? What is your favorite poem?
How awesome is glam rock?
How awesome are guys who sing falsetto?
How awesome is glam rock combined with falsetto?
I had an English teacher who had us read Catcher in the Rye but never once taught us anything about reading critically or literary analysis or anything on that subject really. That was the only book we read that year. The rest of the time she tried to either teach us history or improper grammer. (She told us the proper use of the word stole was stoled) You said students who distrust their English teachers are generally wrong to do so." Was I wrong to distrust her?
I'm a library student and I have to do a book talk in a high school tomorrow and I'm really nervous.
Any tips?
Oh and also-- I'm a big fan of your dumper/dumpee theory. Any hope that a dumper can change their ways? What if I find someone who's an even more vicious dumper than I? Are you going to ignore my questions on principle because I just said I was a dumper? :(
What is your "default setting?" Or is it possible to have more than one?
(My captcha here is "modinge." I love these things.)
Spider-Man. There's a hyphen.
I have been a nerdfighter for a while. Last month, I spotted one of my good friends carrying Paper Towns into 3rd hour. I ran up to her yelling "OMG NERDFIGHTERS! I LOVE JOHN GREEN!" She had no clue what I was talking about since she hadn't checked out Brotherhood 2.0, so I told her (and another friend who I discovered had read Paper Towns) to check out Brotherhood 2.0 on youtube. We are now all bonded in nerdfighteria. How awesome do you find this?
I find it comforting when a writer whose work I admire admits that he's intimidated by those who came before. Thanks for that (although I hate that it plagues so many of us!).
Also, Super Mario Kart: Greatest.
How do you pick the questions for both these blogs and the ones on question Tuesday?
Do you think peeps would taste better or worse once they were put in a vacuum?
http://www.peepresearch.org/vacuum.html
Also, 2 of your favorite things combined (conjoined twins and peeps):
http://www.peepresearch.org/surgery.html
if poetry were to become lucrative
Ahahahahaha!! *wipes eyes* Thanks for the laugh, John
Have you read "The Time Traveler's Wife" and if so where would your chronic time travel syndrome take you to again and again?
I went into a Borders today to get a copy of Paper Towns for my younger cousin, and there was a nerdfighter note inside. Which I, of course, left there. (My cousin is not currently a nerdfighter. There's a chance she might even be a decepticon. Which I am trying very hard to rectify.)
I looked, and there was one inside a copy of Looking for Alaska, but there wasn't one in an Abundance of Katharines, and so I, of course, left one. It made me happy.
My questions are: Does the sheer number of people in this little niche of awesome that you've managed to amass humble you, frighten you, surprise you, make you feel old? Do you feel responsible for it? Do you realize the potential power that nerdfighters really have?
I don't remember if you said this on youtube or Maureen posted about it on her blog or you posted about it on your blog but I believe that the two of you were on a cooking show together. Can you provide footage?
What do you say to the fangirly Nerdfighters who think they are in romantic love with you?
Perfect answer: Super Mario Kart is currently getting me through college.
Seriously.
Meanwhile, since you answered that question, I'll move on to the one that made me think of that (the connection will be obvious if you've watched much of the following pregames)-
Do you watch any of the "fake news" shows like the Daily Show or the Colbert Report?
What effect do you think these types of shows have on the way this generation looks at news (and politics)?
Erm... the comment above should read "programs" not pregames?
... it's 2:30 in the morning and I've spent all day at an intercollegiate legislature.
My typing and lucidity are a little under the weather.
John, will you be in Azkatraz? I'm traveling to the US for it, and it would double awesome if you'll be there.
The only thing I want to be is a writer, but I rarely write and I am not very good at it. Why is that, you think?
I have always liked making up stories and I just have a strange urge to get them down on paper. Is that a good enough reason? In your opinion what should I do?
Thanks.
You seem to like naming cars.
Does your car have a name? What is it?
I am so glad that you are taking questions, because I think if anyone would have an answer to this, it would be you.
I've given too much thought to the term "meme" for all of those internet surveys. At first I thought it was the traditional idea of a meme (it is after all, passed from one person to another). Then I thought, "No, you are being too geeky," and decided it was more like, "Me! Me! Me!" Finally I thought perhaps it was a double entendre. What do you think?
Thanks!
P.S. I also love Michael Chabon, and think that Summerland is underrated and never found its audience.
Favorite movie growing up? Are there any movies you loved when you were young but realize now how terrible/terribly made they were?
And same questions, but instead about books, too.
Ok. Cool. Should I officially ask your permission now, or should I wait till I actually start making buttons? I mean, you're a busy guy with lots of other questions to answer.
Yeah, after I posted my question I realized that "I smoke to die." was not a good choice quote-wise, but it was the only one I could remember without looking through the books. I didn't mean to decontextualize it's meaning. I promise I'll choose better quotes when I make the buttons. Like, "Quand je vais dans le métro, je fais aussi de la musique de prouts." My favorite from AAoK.
I never would've taken you as a Doom fan.
Decontextualize or dermabrasion?
Do you think it would be a bad idea to use the plot line of a dream to produce the plot line of a novel?
Q: Do you have any recommendations of blogs that I should read?
what is your favorite flavor of ice-cream
Hey John, Will you comment on Mitali Perkins' recent School Library Journal article on race in children's and ya fiction? Paper Towns is mentioned.
I've heard you're officiating Alex and Kristina's wedding - will you officiate mine?
Someone already answered this question, but I thought I'd share these links - which have helped me with many author's names - since it comes up often in my line of work.
Public figures incl. lots of authors (incl. Michael Chabon), used by Library of Congress Talking Books readers:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/wolfner/SayHow/
Children's and YA authors in their own words (incl. John Green!): http://www.teachingbooks.net/pronunciations.cgi
Last year, Michael Chabon was a speaker at the American Association of Museum shindig in Denver. It was pronounced SHAY-bun (or SHAY-bon) there.
Kim
should i spend $18.45 (+ shipping!) to pre-order "the selected works of t. s. spivet" from amazon? it looks compelling--have you read it?
What did you major in?
I've never read the great Gasby or Moby Dick. Does this mean I won't enjoy Paper Towns as must as I could?
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I've noticed that the characters in your books seem to do a lot of the same things. They climb through windows, lay down in grass with a girl, describe food with emotions, name their cars, create nicknames for fast food restaurants, etc. Why is that? Do you just think these are things teenagers often do, or are these fond memories from your own young adulthood?
Regardless of the fact that Paper Towns took you 3 years to write, did you find writing the screenplay for it to be easier or harder?
I only understand this comic because of you
http://xkcd.com/45/
Thanks for making my life so much nerdier :)
"The problem is that it became literally impossible for me to read all the stuff I was being asked to read (I am a slow reader) and still write books and make videos and watch enough soccer to feel sane and etc."
I expected this answer, so I'm not too disappointed.
I hate that it makes you feel like a failure for not reading more. Anyone who respects your work enough to ask you to read would never begrudge you the time it takes to write. In fact, whenever your next book comes out, I plan to claim my five favorite pages. As I read them I will tell myself, John Green wrote these while he wasn't reading my book :)
Plus, on a practical front, you've already done so much for those of us who write for the nerdy kids. You made geek stories cool. I doubt my book would have been published had your books not existed.
Darcy of Charity and Darcy
Have you seen this video? Do you think technology is making it easier or harder to imagine other people as complex and real?
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What is your view on the trial of thepiratebay.org (as an author) and their view on copyright (it destroys culture, and the MPAA's as that it rewards content producers? Would you be happy with you books being released with creative commons licenses or being released from copyright after ten years, or even having no copyright and trusting people to buy it, or even just being happy that people are willing to download it/read it/distribute it?
Actually, John, what you said about the you-shut-up-and-write-notes-while-I-talk style of teaching holds up for me, too. I'm seventeen, and I've learned the most in my AP lecture classes than in any regular discussion classes. Most of the information that is provided in class discussions is either made up on the spot, or just plain false. It's misleading.
What effect would a Cubs/White Sox World Series in your lifetime have on your capacity to define what is possible in the world?
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