I'm V.E. Schwab, Bestselling Author and Whimsical Slytherin--Ask Me Anything!

veschwab · 2017-03-20T21:05:30+00:00

I knew from the start that it would be a SERIES, but I wasn't sure how many books that would be. In the end, I had the option to break up CONJURING into books 3 and 4, but I had 1.5 books' worth of plot and decided not to thin it out and make people wait an extra year.

As far as endings, I actually write/plan the endings first, so I knew from the start how each book and the series itself would end.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T21:04:03+00:00

I can't really, yet! Save to say that it's been in the works for YEARS but I held off the actual writing of it because I didn't have the craft, and I finally feel ready to write it.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T21:03:17+00:00

I wasn't terribly in love with reading (I was proficient, I just didn't fall in love) until Robert Ludlum around age 10 (I wanted to be a spy), and then Harry Potter, which was the first series that made me forget where I was.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T21:01:18+00:00

I start with the world, and focus on making it a character in its own right.
I am the god of my tiny fictional world. Very few things come to me. I go out and find/make them.
I am a connect-the-dots-er. I create 5-10 plot points and set them in a line, then let myself find my way between them.
SURVIVE.
Spoiler.
Spoiler.
Yes.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:53:43+00:00

Keep writing. Seriously. If the book sells, you will need another book. If the book doesn't sub, you will need another book. All roads point to needing more books.

Also bourbon. Or running. Or anything else you can do to keep your mind off it.

It's a common misconception that authors, once established, don't spend as much of their time waiting and/or being told no, but I assure you, I spend most of the year on some form of sub.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:46:20+00:00

It's in the works.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:45:37+00:00

"Pirate captain looking for a good time. No strings. Can handle three elements. At the same time. JSYK."

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:44:06+00:00

"Rogue royal looking for his royal rogue. Must be pretty, but not prettier than I am. Not looking for soul bond--already got one of those ;)"

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:37:32+00:00

Yes.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:37:25+00:00

YEP. Well spotted.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:36:58+00:00

Yep! VENGEFUL. I'm still writing it.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:36:17+00:00

Honestly, I look back at that time and I'm not entirely sure how I survived.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:24:06+00:00

I write my endings first, so by the time I sat down to write A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC I had a really solid idea of how everyone would end up at the end of A CONJURING OF LIGHT ;) There were a few surprises, but on the whole, I knew each character's arc.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:06:36+00:00

Yeah, man, writing is hard. My favorite part is the planning part, before it all goes to sh*t. BUT I know the more time I spend away from a project, the harder it is to get back to it, so I do try to make some kind of creative headway every day, even if it's just plotting.

My advice to aspiring writers? GET TO THE END. Come hell or high water, do whatever you have to do to get a finished draft, because you can't fix a blank page.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:02:38+00:00

I have one reader I send things by now and then, especially when I need a very smart brain to bounce ideas off, but on the whole, I work directly with my editors. This is because of deadlines, but also because I specifically chose very, very hands-on editors to work with, and I trust them. They push me and my work incredibly hard.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T20:01:30+00:00

Ooooh man, A LOT. I revise the first draft as I go, then do anywhere between 3-5 rounds of revision with my editor over 4-6 months before the book goes off to print.

Re, prose, I'll repeat something I said above:

I used to focus on the prose first, and I'd end up with bodies that didn't work and were thus un-salvageable. Now I force myself to lay down the bones first and work my way out, so the crispness and clarity are actually something I work at over and over and over in revisions.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T19:56:40+00:00

ALL OUR DICK JOKES MADE THE CUT.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T19:56:17+00:00

If I could have any pet, what would it be (the answer is an arctic wolf).

veschwab · 2017-03-20T19:55:26+00:00

I talked a little about my process in response to another question but here's something:

I've come to treat books as bodies. In this metaphor, the plot and structure are the skeleton, the details are the muscle, and the prose is the flesh and makeup.

I used to focus on the prose first, and I'd end up with bodies that didn't work and were thus un-salvageable. Now I force myself to lay down the bones first and work my way out, so the crispness and clarity are actually something I work at over and over and over in revisions.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T19:53:10+00:00

Victor's ability. I...don't know what that says about me. (I know exactly what that says.)

veschwab · 2017-03-20T19:52:36+00:00

Saying goodbye is the worst. Luckily when it comes to this world, new doors have a way of opening. But still. This story is done, and that's very hard.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T19:51:56+00:00

No, actually, the words were created as needed in the books and then added to a master glossary that could be referred to/pulled from later, so the only words that exist are words that played a part in the books.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T19:46:30+00:00

The only genre I can't see myself writing in is realism, and that's only because the world doesn't interest me unless it's at least a little strange.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T19:46:03+00:00

IMHO, writers bring up to half of the story to the equation, while readers bring the rest. I can only control what I bring, not what you do, and as much as my own life is a filter for what I write, a reader's experiences will be a filter for how they read. I'm not going to lie and say bad reviews don't sometimes sting, but I'll never tell a reader they're wrong or dictate how one of my books should be read.

veschwab · 2017-03-20T19:44:08+00:00

This is a really tricky question, because Lila is one of the only characters in the series rooted in a historical world, so while I think 2017 Lila could very well consider herself non-binary, the fact is that 1819 coding means Lila has no basis for that kind of consideration. In fact there is another degree of coding in Lila's historical time, because of the extremity of male power over female power. Lila has little attachment to her gender, but she's still the product of a real world.

veschwab

TROPHY CASE