Advent Calendar Doors 10,11,12 and 13!

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry about not keeping on top of the advent calendar. I promise it'll be easier from now on and you should be able to expect daily updates! Anyway, behind the doors today is an interview with the author of All the Bright Places, Jennifer Niven. I will also be taking part in a blog tour for this book, so look out for that!

1. What gave you the idea for the title of your book?

The book was originally titled You Make Me Lovely, but Random House worried that the word “lovely” might not appeal to male readers. When they asked me to change it, I began searching for a new title in lines of poetry—I read everyone from Lord Byron to E.E. Cummings. I kept a very long list of possibilities, and was taking a break from my search when I spied Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go! on my shelf. As I read through it, I came across these lines: “Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.” And I thought about how that stanza related to Finch and, particularly, Violet. So my thought process went something like, “Bright Places… Find the Bright Places… The Bright Places… All the Bright Places.” It really grew on me, and I added it to my list, which I forwarded to my editor. Random House conducted an in-house poll, and that was the overwhelming favorite. In retrospect, I’m so happy we changed it!

2. Did you draw much from your own experiences?

Very much. I wrote All the Bright Places the summer of 2013, following the death of my beloved literary agent of fifteen years.  The last time I saw him, I was nearing the end of a series of books I’d begun writing in 2008 and was feeling depleted and ready—creatively— for something new and different. He told me, “Kid, whatever you write next, write it with all your heart. Write it no matter what. Write it because you can’t imagine writing anything else.”  Years ago, I knew and loved a boy, and later I lost him. The experience was life changing. I’d always wanted to write about it—I just wasn’t convinced I would ever be able to. But that summer of 2013, I thought again about this boy and that experience, and I knew in my heart that it was the story I wanted to write.

3. How do you gather material for your books?

The simplest answer is: I gather it from life. My greatest material comes from observing people, from listening, from interacting, from engaging. Beyond that—depending on the book—I find resources online, at libraries and archives. Sometimes I visit those libraries and archives in person. I try to talk to people who have lived the experiences I’m writing about. A friend calls me a method writer. When I can, I also like to try to experience some of the things my characters experience, and I keep myself open to possibilities because you never know where an idea will lead you. Many times in my research I’ve set out to study one thing, which has led me to another. I go off on tangents because there is so much to discover. You have to let yourself do this, but also know when to rein yourself in. The same applies to the writing. I almost always outline before I begin, but I do this knowing that the outline will change—like any good journey, there will be unforeseen detours along the way.

4. To what extent can you relate to the characters?

Weaving my family and friends into the books in some way (particularly the novels) makes my stories resonate even deeper with me and for me—it makes me feel even closer to the characters and makes me feel even more a part of the journey. I love to sit back and look at each book and see parts of my history in there—things no one else might recognize— and fragments of the people I love. I am also—deep in my core where I’m still seventeen—a lot like Violet, my heroine in All the Bright Places, who hates her small Indiana hometown and doesn’t feel as if she truly fits in and sometimes keeps her feelings too bottled up because she is always trying to be perfect. Not to mention, of course, her experience with loving and losing Finch.

5. What can we, as readers, expect from the book?

Almost everyone who has read it so far has mentioned the need to arm yourself with tissues and chocolate (or some sort of comfort food) as you’re reading. You can expect to cry and, hopefully, to laugh. One girl wrote to tell me that as soon as she read it, she ran downstairs and hugged her mother. I hope that the book inspires more of that. And I hope it inspires more people to talk about suicide. We need to make people feel safe enough to come forward and say, “I have a problem. I need help.” If we don’t talk about suicide or depression or mental illness, how can we expect anyone to reach out for help when they need it most? I want readers to know that help is out there, that it gets better, that high school isn’t forever, and that life is long and vast and full of possibility. 

6. What bonds develop between your characters?

I describe the book as being about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die. Violet gives school “freak” Theodore Finch a chance and discovers someone real, someone who treats her with love and respect, despite his own pain. Around her, Finch can be himself in his weird, funny, loud, not-really-a-freak-after-all way. Around him, Violet stops counting the days till she can escape Indiana, and instead starts living again. They are both struggling, but together they look for—and find—the brightness in everything around them, including each other.

7. Can you give us a little exclusive information on behind the scenes?

I always “cast” my books when I’m writing them because it helps me picture my characters. When I cast All the Bright Places, the person I pictured as Violet was Elle Fanning. I had a photo of Elle on my computer as I wrote Violet’s chapters. Now the book is being turned into a movie, and Elle is attached to play Violet!

8. What advice would you give aspiring authors?

Write. Read. Write. Read. Work hard. Remember to enjoy it. Don’t forget to play and have fun with your words. Don’t get hung up on making it perfect, because there’s no such thing. Don’t be afraid of writing garbage, or twaddle, as Katherine Mansfield said. “But better far write twaddle or anything, anything, than nothing at all.” Learn to love editing, or at least accept it as one of the most important parts of the process. When I was first starting out, the actress Madge Sinclair told me, “Writing, like any art form, takes soul stamina. You have to be prepared to commit to it, want it more than anything, honor your gifts, and stick it out through thick and thin.” I was lucky enough to grow up with a writer mom, so I saw firsthand how difficult and stressful and unpredictable the business was. I also saw the commitment it took. I’m grateful for that because I think so many people go into the business of writing with unrealistic expectations—not realizing that it is, in fact, a business, and that you have to be ready and willing to do it in spite of everything else. My other advice is to write what inspires you. Write the thing you’re burning to write. Write what you love.

9. Has your writing always been centred towards young adults?

Even though I love reading YA, this is the first young adult novel I’ve written. I began my career writing adult nonfiction—back-to-back books about historic and tragic Arctic expeditions. I’ve also written a memoir and four historical novels for adults about a girl named Velva Jean Hart. The Velva Jean books have a strong YA following, and my memoir takes place during my high school years, but now that I’m officially writing for young adults, I am the happiest I’ve ever been creatively. I’m at work on my second YA novel now!

10. What was your favourite experience when writing All the Bright Places?

Hearing from early readers who have opened up to me about their own stories of depression or mental illness or loss, and who are letting me know that my book, in some way, is making a difference in their lives or in the lives of people they know.