Skip to content

My New Book, Marriage Advice, and Hamilton: 50 Snapchat Questions Answered!

2016-03-29 · Q&A · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Books & writing) · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: recurring series, self promotion

In a rapid-fire Question Tuesday, John answers 50 Snapchat questions: recommendations, hints about his new book, the refugee camps, marriage advice, and many punning non-answers.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; Question Tuesday: 50 real Snapchats from real Snapchatters

  • ★★ John announces a Question Tuesday answering 50 real Snapchats from real Snapchatters, which he does in four minutes. — 00:00:00 · Question Tuesday

00:00:06 — Indianapolis, TV and film recommendations, why he writes, the lesson of the refugee camps, ten years from now, a 2016 YA debut

  • ★★ John names The Americans his favorite TV show: not just the best show about spies on TV but also the best about marriage. — 00:00:08
  • ★★ John recommends the films Dope and The End of the Tour, saying he really loves both. — 00:00:17

  • ★★★ John says he loves writing because it is his number one way of escaping the prison of his consciousness. — 00:00:21

    “the number one way of escaping the prison of my consciousness”

  • ★★★ John says the refugee camps taught him the horror of dislocation: trauma within your own community differs from loss in a place that isn't yours, among strangers. — 00:00:25

  • ★★ Asked where he'll be in ten years, John says he doesn't know but knows what he wants to be doing on Tuesdays. (hedged) — 00:00:39 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ John names Spontaneous, not yet out, his favorite YA debut of 2016 and the best book about spontaneous combustion you will ever read. (playful) — 00:00:43

00:00:51 — His new book (the White River, not this year), Hamilton, a character named Avery, abundance of Katherines

  • ★★★ Asked for hints about his new book, John says it concerns the White River. — 00:00:51
  • ★★ John says he doesn't know when the new book will come out, but not this year (2016). (hedged) — 00:00:54
  • ★★ John calls Hamilton astonishingly good, nuanced and rich, with catchy songs; he is especially fond of the cabinet meeting rap battles. — 00:00:56
  • ★ Asked to name a character in his new book Avery, John first refuses, then says he kind of likes the name; maybe. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:08

00:01:18 — Security-question dodge, dream job, Indianapolis murders, his La-Z-Boy, The Fountainhead, sporks, Trump, music and the Mountain Goats, Hank, the Looking for Alaska movie

  • ★★ Answering how he would get away with murder, John says 40% of murders in Indianapolis go unsolved, so apparently it is not that difficult. (playful) — 00:01:28 · Indianapolis
  • ★★ John says his favorite furniture is his La-Z-Boy, where he wrote part of all his books, described by The New Yorker as grubby and oatmeal-colored and by The Wall Street Journal as tan. (playful) — 00:01:34
  • ★★ Asked whether to read The Fountainhead, John replies that there are so many good books, implying it is not one. (playful) — 00:01:52
  • ★★ Asked his honest opinion of Donald Trump, John quotes Cyrus Ching: never wrestle with a pig; you get filthy, and the pig likes it. (playful) — 00:02:00 · Donald Trump
  • ★★ John says he usually writes in silence, occasionally to The Mountain Goats, his most-listened band, followed by Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers; his favorite Hank song is Strange Charm. — 00:02:09
  • ★★ John says there is sadly no news on the Looking for Alaska movie. — 00:02:26

00:02:29 — Doctor Who spin-off by Patrick Ness, his high-school fuchsia-plum hair, a barfing sloth, Macbeth, tree and season puns, cooking channel, games, Willy

  • ★★ John says he is very excited for the new Doctor Who spin-off series written by his friend Patrick Ness. — 00:02:29
  • ★★ John says he shaved his head in high school, dyed the regrowth fuchsia-plum, reacted badly to the dye and got fuchsia-plum dandruff, which stressed him out. (playful) — 00:02:34
  • ★ Asked how Willy is, John says he is so good, but cannot say hi because he cannot talk. (playful) — 00:03:13 · Willy

00:03:18 — Marriage advice (mutual generosity), Spanish, braces, drinks, Crash Course literature this summer, VidCon, Starbucks order; sign-off

  • ★★★ To newlyweds asking how to build a strong marriage, John passes on his parents' two words of advice that have helped him: mutual generosity. — 00:03:18
  • ★★★ John says there will be more Crash Course with him: more literature this summer, and they are reading the books now. — 00:03:37 · Crash Course
  • ★★ John says he is very excited for VidCon, less than ninety days away. — 00:03:45 · VidCon

Humor (significant)

  • Asked whether to read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, John dodges with a dig. — 00:01:52

    “But there are so many GOOD books.”

  • Asked 'who the eff is Hank?', John treats Hank as a 2005 young adult novel, echoing questions about his own book adaptations. — 00:02:20

    “Unfortunately, I have no control over the movie rights to Hank.”

  • Asked how to survive reading Macbeth, John answers about the character instead of the play. — 00:02:54

    “I think you have a much better chance of surviving it than Macbeth does.”

  • Asked his favorite season, John names a person called Season instead of a time of year. — 00:03:01

    “Oh, definitely Season Kent”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

People: Cyrus Ching · Donald Trump · Season Kent · Tree Rollins

Projects: Crash Course · VidCon

Works: An Abundance of Katherines · Doctor Who · Dope · Hamilton (musical) · John's novel in progress (2016) · Looking for Alaska (film) · Macbeth · Paper Towns (film) · Scrabble · Spontaneous · Strange Charm · The Americans · The End of the Tour · The Fault in Our Stars (film) · The Fountainhead

Organizations: La-Z-Boy · Orlando Magic · Snapchat · Starbucks · The New Yorker · The Wall Street Journal

Groups: Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers · The Mountain Goats

Rituals: Question Tuesday

Concepts: refugee

Places: Indianapolis · White River (Indiana)

Events: Indianapolis 500

Products: Diet Dr Pepper

animal: Willy

Only in the description or credits: Patrick Ness · Rosianna Halse Rojas

← Previous: Snapchat Question Time! · Next → Loving Loving Things in Los Angeles