Lauren Oliver

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Depeeka. It can be painful to release a story and let it be seen and judged, yes. But it also drives me to continue writing, to continue making new worlds that can be private safe havens for me.

<Caroline McLean> Haha. Oh my gosh, does that mean we get to see Hana again? Lena's bbf. I loved the character of Hana and felt she is an untold story in herself.

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 I think fan fic is great! Creative--and I emphasize creative--fan fic can be a great way of expanding a writer

<[G]Lauren Oliver> 's natural voice.

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Caroline Not saying! (But maybe) ;)

<anna8> bec: for the upcoming movies, which I'm sure many will be excited about... how are you going to decide which plot elements and details to include and which to eliminate and do you think that watching the movie will change the way we read the book or extend and develop our understanding of its thematic elements.

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @bec... The script for the movie is not my responsibility, and I actually don't have very much control over which elements to include, although I do get to comment on and approve the final script. Film is a visual medium, though, and I'm not a visual thinker, so I'm primarily happy to align myself with great and brilliant people and then leave it up to them!

<anna8> Hey it's QQ. Have you ever written in a guy's point of view? Cos' seeing as we're girls, do you have any advice for writing from a guy's perspective, or do you think we should kind of avoid it..

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @QC...yes! I'm writing in a guy

<anna8> Liana: have you ever thought of collaborating with other authors?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> 's POV right now, in my new book. My advice is: keep it simple. Boys are pretty, um, how do I say this nicely? Prehistoric. :P No, but they do tend to think in ways that are more direct, less emotive and subtle. These are obviously massive generalizations.

<[G]Lauren Oliver> They tend to SAY less and ACT more. Also, they think about girls' butts a lot, just fyi

<anna8> How do you find the words to describe something? do you often use a thesaurus etc. and do you find it easy to illustrate something that is going on in your mind? any tips for those who find it difficult to put down onto paper what they're thinking?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 I definitely do NOT use a thesaurus and in general hate them except in very, very rare circumstances. If you don't easily have access to a word, you shouldn'

<anna8> I have to ask this as I have been wondering all the time while reading: are you team Alex or team Julian? I can't quite figure it out?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> *you shouldn't use it. The best writing is the simplest. The only way to improve your vocabulary is to read widely, at which point words will become absorbed into yoiur mental schema and you won't NEED a thesaurus

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 I'm Team I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU :P

<anna8> Hi It's Kalina here c: How do you avoid predictability and cliches yet make characters interesting and relatable?

<TheGirlWhoLived> Hi I was wondering what you would do if you wrote a manuscript that you think is really good, but nobody wants to publish it?

<Caroline McLean> Team Alex!

<anna8> Do you find it hard to write a character that you can't relate to? So for example write about the feelings of an elderly person (when you are not an elderly person)? :D

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Kalina. I think predictability and cliches UNDERMINE making characters relatable. For example, I'll bet your bffs are all kind of special and weird, but that's WHY you love them. Like, one of them might be gorgeous but also really goofy. She might always have exactly ONE pimple. One of them might be really smart but also really into, I don't know, wrestling. Real people are strange and complex and bizarre. That's what makes us love them. It what makes us connect to them

<Caroline McLean> When you were writing PANDEMONIUM and DELIRIUM did you have a set plan that you stuck to or do you just write and as new ideas come up you incorporate it into the plot?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8. I can pretty much relate to everyone, because all people are basically the same. Everyone wants to feel loved, feel like their life has had meaning, feel special, and feel safe. That's pretty much it. Young, old, girls, boys...poor, rich. That's the general emotional arc of every single living person on this planet

<anna8> Bec: even though you and your Dad's styles of writing differ greatly (as you explained he writes about mass murderers...) has he read many of your books and what is his opinion of them?

<anna8> What was the most mortifying experience that you had as an author?

<TheGirlWhoLived> Also how do you make emotions and things like love appear real in your books?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Caroline. I had a pretty firm idea of what I wanted to happen, but there were definitely ways in which the books departed from the outline, as characters began to assert their wills!

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @ Bec. Yes, I read my dad's books and he reads mine!! We are very proud of each other :)

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 Eep!! Luckily, none so far :) But my career is still young

<Glo97> Hello... this might be a bit random, but what music do you like?

<anna8> Do you need to do a lot of research when it comes to writing about something you have little experience about? (for instance, if your book was set in Siberia, and was about a Siberian fishermen family) How much research do you do, and where?

<anna8> How much will be involved in the film adaptations of your books?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @TheGirlWhoLived specificity is KEY. Real things are very distinct. For example, notice how in your dreams you are never wearing a real outfit...that is, not one you can identify and remember the next day. Bad writing is like that, where as REAL experiences can be scene, smelled, tasted...they're localized in a specific place, etc

<cento96> Hi Lauren this is Stephanie. Which book of the ones you have published would you say you are most proud of and why?

<Me Gusta> What would you do if you wrote a manuscript and you think it's really good but no one wants to publish it?

<anna8> What are you reading now?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 sure, research is great! I researched Portland, Maine when I was writing Delirium, and I'll be conducting lots of interviews about life in the last century when I write my adult book

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @cento96 I'm proud of all of them! All of my books represent the best I could do at the time, ya know? Liesl & Po is probably the one most personal to me, though

<oneofthehelens> hi it's helen again; Are there any other YA fiction books out there that you feel are particualrly compelling? Do you feel as though so often YA fiction is sometimes just so angsty and blown over the top?

<Glo97> Do you think YA fiction gets a bad rap?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Me Gusta that has happened to me several times...although I don't actually in retrospect think the books were very good. But if you have a great book and can't find a publisher, go ahead and self-publish!

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @oneofthehelens well, teen life is kind of angsty and over the top! I like Maggie Stiefvater

<anna8> The structure of Pandemonium is different from the first volume, why did you change it and will you change it again in the third volume? and by the way when is the third volume coming out?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> 's The Scorpion Races, and I really like realistic teen fiction by John Green and E Lockhart

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Glo97 a bad rap from whom? Some teen books are good. Others are bad. That's true of adult books and children's books, too, so it's kind of hard to generalize

<Caroline McLean> An extension to Anna8's question, will there be more than three books?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8. The next book, Requiem, comes out in March 2013...and no, it will be the final book in the series! I changed the structure of Pandy (and yes, I change it again in Requiem) so I could keep challenging and pushing myself as a writer in order to keep the books fresh and dynamic

<TheGirlWhoLived> This is Rebecca: Do you think since you like challanges and trying out different genres, you'll ever write a kids picture book?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @GirlWhoLived YES! I have a great idea for a picture book but I've tried to write it several times and so far no luck. But it will come.

<anna8> who would you pick to illustrate it or would you do it yourself?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 omg I am the world's worst artist! The writer typically does not pick the illustrator; that's an editor's job! But I love Maurice Sendak, of course, altho he only illustrates his own work.

<oneofthehelens> So you feel like sometimes as a writer you just want to give up because of the deadlines and consequent pressure that editors/agents may or may not impose on you?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @oneofthehelens. Yes. Writing is very exhausting. But it's also the thing I love to do most. I feel like giving up right now after a month straight of touring! But it's what I love, what I must do. And you can always choose not to publish.

<TheGirlWhoLived> DO you find that if you imagine a character and then you see them in a movie, that it changes the way you imagine the character in your mind?

<anna8> Which of the characters in the Delirium trilogy has the most of you?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @TheGirlWhoLived yeah, totally. I wonder if that will happen with my own characters, tho...that's kind of an interesting thought.

<Glo97> Out of all the books you have written, who is your favourite character?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 I'm kind of a combination of Hana and Lena

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Glo97 hmmm...probably Po, Mo, or Bundle, from Liesl and Po!!

<anna8> Each of the volumes so far has a very distinct theme: love in the first one, rebellion on politics int he second one, will the third have the new theme or will you bring it all together?

<TheGirlWhoLived> Do you ever find that people close to you think characters are based on them? And what would you do if they got offended by the character?

<TheGirlWhoLived> And on that note, do you ever base characters on people you know?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 That's not deliberate...I think the third does raise questions of freedom and obedience and loyalty...but it also all (or almost all) comes together!

<anna8> When you start writing a book, do you aim for it to be a certain length, and think about that word limit as you write it, or do you just go with the flow?~

<anna8> How important are characters names do you think and how long does it take you to formulate the correct one? c:

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @TheGirlWhoLived nobody close to me has ever been offended by a character, although they DO sometimes think characters are based on them (which isn't true). Maybe my friends are just super narcissistic--any mention is better than no mention! But I know that that does sometimes cause tension between writers and their friends/family members

<anna8> Have you ever been so inspired that you spend a whole day writing?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @ anna8 I'm terrible at character names...I try to keep and consult a running list of names I like, as I do think they're important. Re: length, an average YA novel runs between 80,000 and 100,000 words, although mine are usually on the longer end. I don't plan for it; I just go and kind of naturally settle around 100,000 words

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 I never write more than 1250 words a day, even when I'm super inspired--writing for a whole day is an easy way to get burned out veeeeryyy quickly!

<TheGirlWhoLived> what would you do if your book is too short or long, lots of publishes will only look at a book if its between a certain length?

<anna8> hi it's liana here, jst wna ask, have you ever felt increasingly detached from a character you've created and abandoned him or her, only to continue that character's story years later?

<Caroline McLean> What other hobbies do you have beyond writing Lauren?

<oneofthehelens> So you say that you go touring quite often, what do you generally do when you tour? And is that something that is something you decide to do or something that your agent/editor does for you? Do you choose where you get to go?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @TheGirlWhoLived I would edit it! If it's too short I would try and figure out what elements of plot were missing; if it's too long, I'd look at trimming!

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @liana That's a really interesting question, and yes

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Caroline my hobbies are: reading, cooking, running, dancing, giggling like a maniac with my friends, travel, SLEEP, and shopping :)

<Me Gusta> Hi Lauren! Do you think chapter titles are good or is it fine to just number them?

<anna8> bec: so you are in Sydney right now.... is this your first time here? what do you think of it so far? have you been to Bondi Beach yet or are you mainly working?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @oneofthehelens when I'm on tour I speak to students, visit bookstores, do live chats, get sleep deprived, squeeze writing time in when I'm shuttling between cities...and yes, I have some say over where I go. Not necessarily in the states--my publisher decides--but I definitely get to pick my international schedule

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @ Me Gusta oh, numbers are totally fine

<TheGirlWhoLived> do you find it hard writing long books? You said you found it hard completing abook when you were young, what changed?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @ bec I'm SO mainly working...it's beautiful here and I'll definitely be back, tho! I did get to wander around a bit this weekend but typically my tour schedule has me doing appearances and interviews from 8:30 a.m. to about 8:30 p.m. or later. Plus I need to fit in writing and work time. So there's not a lot of free time.

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @TheGirlWhoLived practice! I actually find it harder to write short stories now. Writing is like drug use: you build up an increased tolerance for it. But don't do drugs. Write instead.

<oneofthehelens> Do you get to do a little sightseeing when you're away from America or as you have said, does your schedule really mean that all you want to do when you get back to your hotel or whatnot you just want to go to bed?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @oneofthehelens the latter, primarily, although it means that I can identify places around the world I want to return to on vacation! :)

<[G]Lauren Oliver> Like, for example, Sydney!!

<Me Gusta> Do you think spelling and grammar is important when you are writing your books?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Me Gusta yes.

<Me Gusta> If you are getting your book published, do you need to get in the country you live in?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> I think it's the equivalent of having an instrument tuned correctly before you begin to play. It's not impossible to generate something good with an out-of-tune instrument, but it's highly improbable

<anna8> You said you are not interested in genre but I have to ask do you have nay favorite dystopian novels?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @Me Gusta no, not at all. Plenty of international authors get agents in the US and get published there, for example

<TheGirlWhoLived> If you have a publisher in another country, how do you communicate with them?

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 I like Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @TheGirlWhoLived email, typically! That's how I primarily communicate with my publisher, even though we DO live in the same country :)

<[G]Lauren Oliver> Okay peeps I gotta run soon so finish up your questions if you have them!

<[G]Lauren Oliver> And THANKS FOR BEING HERE

<anna8> On behalf of the Reading Room we were thrilled to have you with us, many thanks and do enjoy a little bit of Sydney! and we are looking forward to your next book!

<[G]Lauren Oliver> @anna8 Thanks so much to the Reading Room for hooking this up! Okay all if there are no more questions I'm off like a prom dress!

<Caroline McLean> Bye Lauren!