Skip to content

On the Movies

2017-12-05 · announcement · John · 3:39 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion, on location, timely hook

In Los Angeles, John restates that books belong to their readers but admits the author is present in the book and must decide on its behalf; recalling his fears and luck with The Fault in Our Stars film, he announces that the same studio and production company will try to make a Turtles All the Way Down movie.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Unscripted from Los Angeles: books belong to their readers, and two problems with that view

  • ★ In an unscripted video John says he is in Los Angeles for reasons that will become clear shortly. — 00:00:01 · Los Angeles

  • ★★★ John has often said that books belong to their readers: it doesn't matter whether an author intended a symbolic resonance if it is there, because we read the book, not the author. (hedged) — 00:00:05

    “books belong to their readers”

  • ★★ John says the author's voice shouldn't be privileged on matters outside the text, such as what happens to characters after the story ends; that is up to readers. (hedged) — 00:00:21

  • ★★ John says his books belong to him while he is working on them, and when he is finished they don't. — 00:00:32
  • ★★★ John says one problem with this view is that it is disingenuous to pretend the author isn't in the book, especially in a personality-driven culture and for an author with a public life like an 11-year video blog. (hedged) — 00:00:37 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★★ John says a second problem is that while the book belongs to the reader, the author must make many decisions on its behalf, even after it is published. — 00:00:53

00:01:01 — Almost not selling The Fault in Our Stars film rights; coded autobiography; the lucky outcome with Fox 2000 and Paper Towns

  • ★★★ John says he almost didn't sell the film rights to The Fault in Our Stars, partly after bad experiences in Hollywood and partly because the book was very close to him. — 00:01:05 · The Fault in Our Stars

  • ★★ John says much of what he enjoys in writing made-up stories is that they are a coded autobiography to which only he has the complete key. — 00:01:14

    “a kind of coded autobiography in which only I have the complete key to the code”

  • ★★★ John says The Fault in Our Stars held parts of him people knew about, like his friendship with Esther Earl, and parts of traumatic experiences he had never told anyone. — 00:01:22 · The Fault in Our Stars, Esther Earl

  • ★★ John says imagining a movie of his book was exciting but also scary, with some of that coded material on a big screen for many people. — 00:01:30 · The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★ Saying so much can go wrong, John jokes that they could have made Hazel an 84-year-old Titanic survivor, then admits the idea is not original. (joke) — 00:01:39 · Hazel Grace Lancaster
  • ★★★ John says he sold the rights and got very lucky: Elizabeth and Erin at Fox 2000 were perfect stewards, with amazing producers, screenwriters and cast, and a movie he really loved. — 00:01:54 · Fox 2000 Pictures, The Fault in Our Stars (film)

00:02:09 — Turtles as a quiet, non-visual novel about OCD, and the announcement that the same studio will try to make a movie

  • ★★ John says they did it again with Paper Towns, and he then thought that had been a good run, since Paper Towns made less money. — 00:02:09 · Paper Towns (film)
  • ★★ John says his new novel is extremely quiet and takes place almost entirely inside one person's head, which doesn't usually lend itself to film. — 00:02:15 · Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★★★ John says his big challenge in Turtles was using language to express obsessive thoughts directly rather than only through metaphor, giving a glimpse of what OCD is, a profoundly non-visual thing. — 00:02:24 · Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★★ Isaac, producer of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, pointed out that obsessive thoughts are also non-linguistic, which didn't stop John writing the book. — 00:02:43 · The Fault in Our Stars (film), Paper Towns (film), The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★★ After two months of talks on telling the story visually without the old OCD tropes, John announces that the studio and production company behind his earlier films will try to make a Turtles movie. — 00:02:51 · Fox 2000 Pictures
  • ★★ John says this doesn't mean there will definitely be a movie, only that there might be one. (hedged) — 00:03:06
  • ★ John says now is the time to start inundating him with casting suggestions, because no one ever reads his Twitter bio. (joke) — 00:03:10 · Twitter
  • ★★ John says he is really excited about the opportunity and the challenge of the Turtles movie, and hopes viewers are too. — 00:03:17

00:03:22 — Trust in the team, seven weeks as a No. 1 bestseller, a promise to listen; sign-off

  • ★★★ John says the book does belong to readers, but he had to make this decision on its behalf, and he really trusts the people working on it. — 00:03:22 · Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★★ John thanks everyone who has made Turtles All the Way Down a No. 1 New York Times bestseller for seven weeks straight. — 00:03:28 · Turtles All the Way Down, The New York Times
  • ★★ John tells readers who care about the book that he will try to listen to them throughout the process. (hedged) — 00:03:32

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: authorial intent · Turtles All the Way Down · Turtles All the Way Down (film)

Also: People: Elizabeth Gabler · Erin Siminoff · Esther Earl · Isaac Klausner

Works: Paper Towns (film) · The Fault in Our Stars · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

Organizations: Fox 2000 Pictures · The New York Times · Twitter

Concepts: obsessive-compulsive disorder

Places: Hollywood · Los Angeles

Events: Sinking of the Titanic

Characters: Hazel Grace Lancaster

Also centred on authorial intent: Dec 18th: The Project for Awesome and Question Tuesday!!! · The Education Continuum WARNER CHILCOTTED · Question Tuesday! Paula Deen Riding Me (and critical reading) · On the Death of the Author

Also centred on Turtles All the Way Down (film): An Amazing Day · Hello! Meet Daisy! · A Casting Announcement · Hello! Meet Aza! · Director Hannah Marks Is Nervous To Meet You · The Truth of How Books Become Movies

← Previous: Let's Talk About Stress! · Next → I Have (a little bit) HAD IT!