Frequently Asked Questions
Jodi Picoult answers questions from her fans in Australia and New Zealand.
Do you write every day?
I don't work on weekends, usually (although I have been known to sneak up to an office when I'm in the middle of a chapter - I hate leaving my characters hanging!) But other than that, I'm a workaholic. I will start a new book the day after finishing a previous one. What you need to remember, however, is that there's nothing I'd rather be doing than writing. My kids know that I need it like some people need medication - as a preventative, because when I don't write for a few days, I get predictably cranky. They've become used to sharing me with people who don't really exist, but who are incredibly real to ME while I'm telling their stories.
Do you always know the end before you write it?
Let me put it this way - I think I do, and I'm usually wrong. When I start a book, I juggle a what-if question in my head, and push it and push it until I feel like I have a good story. I figure out what I need to know and do my research, via the Internet or email or in some cases getting down and dirty (more on this later). I start to write when I come up with an excellent first line. And then I keep going, chapter by chapter, exactly in the order in which you're reading it. Often, about 2/3 of the way through, the characters will take over and move the book in a different direction. I can fight them, but usually when I do thatthe book isn't as good as it could be. It sounds crazy, but the book really starts writing itself after a while. I often feel like I'm just transcribing a film that's being spooled in my head, and I have nothing to do with creating it. Certain scenes surprise me even after I have written them - I just stare at the computer screen, wondering how that happened. For example, the scene in The Pact where Melanie nearly runs Chris down with her car. Or in Keeping Faith, when Millie Epstein resuscitates. Or in Salem Falls, that last scene (don't you dare peek ahead). When I was writing Plain Truth, I called my mom up one day. "You're not going to believe what's happening to Ellie!" I told her. I think she said I was scaring her and hung up. I know it seems a little unnerving, but I love the moments when my characters get up and walk off on their own two feet.
Which of your books is your favourite?
In more than a decade, every time I've been asked this, I always have said, "Oh, that's like asking me to pick which kid I love the most!" or in other words, something I wasn't ever going to do. But right now, I do have a personal favorite - Second Glance. I think it's the most complex book I've written to date, and I am incredibly proud of the characters in there…some of whom I've never seen in fiction ever before. Plus, it addresses themes and concepts that are rarely discussed in fiction. There's a real tendency when you write to think that Shakespeare did it all, and that we just recycle it…so when you feel like you've broken new ground as a writer, it's a big deal. For all those reasons, I think Second Glance is my biggest accomplishment to date. However, The Tenth Circle absolutely blowsit away. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the field of fiction, and I’m really proud of that.
How long does it take to write a book?
Nine months. Stop laughing. I don't know why it takes me the same amount of time to deliver either a book or a baby, but there you have it. Sometimes the amount of research vs. rough-drafting varies, but it generally takes three-quarters of a year for my head to gel ideas into a cohesive story. Often, I work on more than one book at once. I may be touring for Perfect Match, for example, while editing Second Glance, and writing a new book. It's like Windows on a computer - several are open at once. It also means I'm usually about three books ahead of myself; I am currently writing the book that will be published in 2007.
Does anyone read your books while you're in the process of writing them?
My mom, my agent, some other writers who are friends. I take their comments and incorporate them into the next draft… and do a hefty edit. And another… and another…
Where do your ideas come from?
Usually, a what-if question: what if a boy left standing after a botched suicide pact was accused of murder? What if a little girl developed an imaginary friend who turned out to be God? What if an attorney didn't think that the legal system was quite good enough for her own child? I start by mulling a question and before I know it, a whole drama is unfolding in my head. Often, an idea sticks before I know what I'm going to do with it. For Mercy, I researched Scottish clans without having a clue why this was going to be important to the book. It was only after I learned about them that I realized I was writing a novel about the loyalty we bear to people we love. Sometimes ideas change in the middle. The Pact was not a page-turner when I conceived it. I was going to write a character driven book about the female survivor of a suicide pact, and I went to the local police chief to do some preliminary research. "Huh," he said, "it's the girl who survives? Because if it was the boy, who was physically larger, he'd automatically be suspected of murder until cleared by the evidence." Well, I nearly fell out of my seat. "Really?" I asked, and the character of Chris began to take shape. Sometimes I write books because other people make the suggestion: Plain Truth came about when my mother said I ought to explore the reclusive Amish. "If anyone can learn about them," she said, "it's you." And sometimes, ideas grow out of the ones I'm researching. That happened with My Sister's Keeper - information I learned while researching Second Glance was so fascinating to me that I stuck it into its own file and turned it into a story all its own.
Who are your favorite authors?
Alice Hoffman, Jo-Ann Mapson, Alice Hoffman, Anita Shreve, Ann Hood, Amy Tan, Diana Gabaldon, Alice Hoffman, Jacqueline Mitchard, Sara Donati, Alice Hoffman, Susan Isaacs, Elinor Lipman, Chris Bohjalian, Ann Tyler, and Jane Hamilton. Oh, and did I mention Alice Hoffman?
