News and Reviews for the Youth Librarian is most pleased to present this conversation with YA titan Scott Westerfeld, whose new book, Afterworlds, publishes on September 23rd and has already garnered three starred reviews.
You have been writing for teens for nearly a decade. Why do you enjoy writing for the YA audience?
More than any other age group, teenagers are enthusiastic about language. They create more slang, use more nicknames, and memorize more song lyrics than adults do. And the readers among them spend more time writing blog posts, book reviews, poetry, and fan fiction. So writing for teenagers (and most older YA readers, frankly) is like playing music for musicians. They're the crème de la crème of readers.
Your new book, Afterworlds, tells the story of Darcy who is in the process of having her first book published. Why did you decide to write about the publishing industry?
I started to come up with the idea while on tour for the Leviathan series. Visiting bookstores, libraries, and schools and talking to hundreds of book lovers every day was such a weird and wonderful experience that I wanted to write about it. So I started collecting funny stories about touring, bookselling, and editorial conflicts, and began to listen to how writers talk to each other, which is pretty interesting in itself. Darcy’s half of Afterworlds is drawn from this set of observations. Almost everything that happens in her half of the book has a basis in truth.
How long did it take you to write Afterworlds?
It was about three years from the beginning of actually writing when I had my final draft done, which is longer than it usually takes me. Of course, it is two novels, so I suppose that makes sense.
Afterworlds is two stories in one—Darcy’s story and the book she is writing. Was it a challenge to write? Did you write it in alternating chapters or as separate stories you then combined?
I wrote the two stories at the same time, bouncing back and forth between Lizzie and Darcy. Sometimes one thread would get ahead of the other, because I was having too much fun with it, so I’d have to rein myself in until the other one caught up. I did this to make sure that the two novels influenced each other (sometimes in ways I couldn't detect myself), because of course Darcy’s rewrites would be influenced by her real life. For example, when Darcy learns a cool new word, it often shows up in Lizzie’s world a few chapters later (or sometimes earlier, because rewriting isn't linear). And as Darcy is learning about love and adult responsibilities, that also transforms her novel.
It could be said that Afterworlds is a tribute to the power of words. How have words and writing changed your life?
I’ve always made up stories in my head. They’ve always been my primary means of understanding the world and other people. But thinking a story and writing it down are two very different things, and that difference becomes even more pronounced when you publish a story. When thousands (or millions) of other people read them, your words take on their own life, and gradually grow another host of meanings. Having readers respond to those stories that used to live in my head has been truly amazing. It’s helped me see how big and diverse and weird the world is in a way that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
Afterworlds is a thriller and a paranormal romance. Your first series, the Uglies, was dystopian and the Leviathan series was steampunk. Do you have a favorite genre you like to read and/or write?
I like any book that makes me see the world differently. This usually means science fiction, alternate history (like steampunk), or any form of paranormal that upends “normal” in an unexpected way
Click here to watch a trailer for Afterworlds.
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