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2019-04-23 · letter vlog · John · 3:46 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Internet & YouTube) · mode: Personal update · tags: self promotion, civic or action cta, community lore

Helping Hank title his sequel, John admits he is terrible at titles and tours how each of his novels got (or nearly got) its name, from his perennial 'More Light Than Heat' to The Fault in Our Stars nearly being called 'The Sequel', then asks viewers for title ideas for Hank's sequel and the community's Partners In Health Sierra Leone project.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Hank's sequel needs a title; John has been terrible at titles since college

00:00:29 — How Looking for Alaska, Katherines, Paper Towns, Turtles and The Fault in Our Stars got their titles

  • ★★ John's friend Keir came up with the title Looking for Alaska because John's ideas, 'White Flowers and Warm Malt Liquor' and 'Famous Last Words', were so bad. — 00:00:29 · Looking for Alaska (novel)
  • ★★ Looking for Alaska was the first novel John tried to title 'More Light Than Heat', after a Hamlet line about love that blazes with more light than heat. (playful) — 00:00:29 · Looking for Alaska (novel)
  • ★★ With every book John at some point wants to call it 'More Light Than Heat', and his publisher Julie Strauss-Gabel says no. (playful) — 00:00:58 · Julie Strauss-Gabel
  • ★★ John quite likes the title An Abundance of Katherines, which he wrote before the story, though the Italian title, 'The Catherine Theorem', is much better. — 00:00:58 · An Abundance of Katherines
  • ★★ Paper Towns got an okay title only after John tried 'The Life and Hard Times of Margo Roth Spiegelman', 'The Copyright Trap' and 'More Light Than Heat'. — 00:00:58 · Paper Towns
  • ★★ John still likes the title Turtles All the Way Down, though it is slightly confusing for a book not about turtles but kind of about a different reptile. — 00:01:27 · Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★ John's kids joke that his next novel will be called 'Lizards All the Way Up'; maybe it will be. (playful) — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ The Fault in Our Stars was very nearly titled 'The Sequel' or 'The Sequels'; in April 2011 emails Julie told John, politely, that it was not a good title. — 00:01:27 · The Fault in Our Stars, Julie Strauss-Gabel
  • ★★ In one reply John wrote that the meaning of life is basically bearing witness to creation and its inhabitants: a nice sentiment, he says, but irrelevant to calling a non-sequel 'The Sequel'. — 00:01:56 · meaning of life
  • ★★ John was eventually convinced The Fault in Our Stars was better; as a play on a Shakespeare line it nearly quenched his thirst to call a book 'More Light Than Heat'. — 00:01:56 · The Fault in Our Stars

00:02:26 — Rosianna's titles, Life's Library slots, the title ask for the Sierra Leone project and Hank's sequel; sign-off

00:03:21 — P.S.: still off Twitter; Kaveh Akbar's poem The Palace

  • ★★ Still off Twitter, John says he wanted it only a few times in the last month, mostly to fret over football and to share Kaveh Akbar's new poem. — 00:03:21 · Twitter
  • ★★ John recommends Kaveh Akbar's new poem 'The Palace' (linked): a great title, and even people who don't like poetry will like it. — 00:03:21

Humor (significant)

  • John's college story title 'Things Remembered, Things Forgotten' meets his professor — 00:00:00

    “That's it, Green, we're putting a moratorium on your titles.”

  • Looking for Alaska is not about the state, so TV hosts open with — 00:00:29

    “When did you first visit Alaska?”

  • After signing off, John rushes back with title ideas for Hank's sequel — 00:02:55

    “Have you considered calling it the sequel? I mean, it is a sequel. Another idea, just gonna throw this one out, more light than heat.”

  • John keeps mentioning that he is not on Twitter — 00:03:21

    “It's the I went to Harvard of internet citizenship.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

People: Julie Strauss-Gabel · Kaveh Akbar · William Shakespeare

Projects: Life's Library

Works: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing · An Abundance of Katherines · Hamlet (play) · Looking for Alaska (novel) · Paper Towns · The Fault in Our Stars · The House of the Spirits · The Palace · Turtles All the Way Down

Organizations: Harvard University · Partners In Health · The New York Times · Twitter

Concepts: meaning of life

Places: Sierra Leone

Characters: Margo Roth Spiegelman

Only in the description or credits: Isabel Allende · Julius Caesar (play) · Keir Graff · Rosianna Halse Rojas

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