03/14/06, interview
YAW: Thanks for taking the time to interview with YAW. First off, who is your favorite young adult author?
NV: Oh, the definition of "young adult author" is so confining. I think that Stephen King might be my favorite young adult author, seeing as I read him when I was in about seventh grade, made a strong connection, and still enjoy his work a lot. The Great Gatsby is read in nearly every junior high in America--does that make it a young adult novel? However, if we're going by the strict, traditional definitions, then Gary Paulsen is my favorite, with Judy Blume and William Sleator close behind.
NV: Haagen Daaz used to have a flavor called cappuccino, which was my favorite dessert. They soon replaced it with "Cappuccino Commotion," which was cappuccino with all this other stuff thrown in--nuts and chocolate and chocolate-covered nuts--and that ruined it; it was too much. But the cappuccino ice cream itself was fantastic. I wish they still made it. It was only around for a year or two.
YAW: When did you start writing?
NV: I started writing professionally (getting published) when I was fifteen. I started writing for myself in about 2nd grade.
YAW: When and why did you start trying to get published?
NV: I found something that really inspired me--a local, alternative newspaper called New York Press. I wanted to be a part of it and so I sent them my stories. This was about ten years ago, when I was 15. I was surprised and thrilled when they decided to publish me.
YAW: What type of novel do you prefer to write or publish?
NV: I prefer to write one kind of novel: the good kind. I prefer to write the kind that has a central plot that people can understand, not the kind that you need three weeks to explain, but that may change in the future. I like telling stories, and I like using my own life to try and connect with people. So first person, humorous novels with real-life drama thrown in are the ideal.
NV: The best thing that has happened to me since I started writing is that I received a letter from someone who told me that she and her friends would camp out under their blankets and read my first book. That's the sort of connection you don't expect to have with people. I've had people tell me that they didn't have any friends and my book was their friend. Being able to help young people and to affect the way people live their lives is something greater than I ever imagined.
NV: I would wish to go back in time. I would wish to never get depressed. And I would wish for strength for everyone I've hurt in my life. (There have been many, some intentional, some not.)
YAW: A lot of writers are friends with other writers, like Tolkien was friends with CS Lewis. Are you friends with other writers of any age and if so, how does having other writers in your life influence your own writing?
NV: I am friends with Marty Beckerman and a young writer named Nick Antosca. More than anything else, my friendships with other writers, young and old, have given me strength when I've gotten down on myself. They will look at my stuff when no one else wants to. And their tireless work ethic motivates me to keep working myself.
YAW: A lot of people think that young writers don't have enough life experience to write well. They think that young writers are a gimmick. As someone who has been published young, what is your response to those people?
NV: Yes, I'm a gimmick. I have always been a gimmick. I was a gimmick when I was seven and I wore the clothes my mother told me to wear to look like a little man in a suit. I was a gimmick when I gave you a flyer for my book and asked you to read it. But gimmicks grow up. And then have to live out their whole lives. And if you think that I'm still a gimmick, take a look at my writing now--would a gimmick write it? If so, later I'll be a 30-something gimmick and then a dead gimmick, and all along I'll have been going through more horror and pain than you can imagine. So, hopefully that gimmick appeals to you.
YAW: Do you tell new friends about your books right away or wait until you know them better?
NV: I don't usually tell people that I meet about my books right out. I tell them about my day job. But I find that that bores them so much, I've started telling them about the writing instead. Usually I don't get the chance to say it first, though--someone else in the group does and then we go from there.
YAW: Do your girlfriends think it's cool that you're a published writer or does it not really mean much to them (is it just another part of who you are to them)?
NV: I pretty much exclusively date women who don't care about, or who don't like, my writing. No, I'm just kidding--it's just part of who I am to them.
YAW: A lot of young writers look up to young published authors, because you represent the hope that adults will take young writers seriously. What is one piece of advice that you would give to young writers?
NV: To young writers: don't ever lose confidence. That's what's most important. If you don't think your work is good, no one else will think anything of it. Remember that energy that comes from looking up at the establishment, at published authors, at your favorite books, and thinking I can do this. If you lose that confidence, you're lost.
YAW: Have you ever had someone walk up to you randomly and know who you were when you weren't at an event? If so, what did you do?
NV: I was recognized once, on the street, in Brooklyn. It felt a little strange and I denied who I was. It's the sort of thing you fantasize about, but in real life it's not all that appealing. You feel... guilty, somehow.
NV: I wish that I hadn't stopped writing the weekly column that I was working on when I devoted myself to producing my second book, Be More Chill. I had a steady job writing about nightlife and events every week and I never should have given that up! Steady gigs are few and far between in the writing world. Part of me wonders if I would have finished Be More Chill if I still had the column--after all, that's why I stopped writing it--but now I wish I hadn't left that world. I'm trying to get back in there writing for newspapers and websites and magazines.
NV: I hope that the reason my books appeal to readers is that they're written from a down-to-earth, authentic perspective that touches on common experience. I hope it's not how they smell.
YAW: What has it been like being a young adult while also being a published author? How have things changed, or not, with your friends, family, and co-workers?
NV: It's been very difficult to be a young, published author. I have concerns that a lot of people don't understand. They are trying to make their way into careers that pay them weekly. I am trying to keep myself from going nuts while producing work that has to be better than the work of thousands of other talented people. There's a limited market for what I do and, by many measures, it's getting smaller all the time. Because of the pressure that I put on myself, I tend to neglect social obligations, and when you do that enough, you put yourself in a place where you have no friends, no family, and no co-workers. So, overall, it's been rewarding but incredibly hard. And I wish I could say different, but I have to be truthful.
YAW: If you were being stranded on a desert island, what three things would you take with you?
NV: I'm assuming that the desert island has no "magic" electricity. So no iPod, laptop, etc. I'd bring a V7 Precision black pen, a mead notebook, and a copy of Walden. That should be able to help.
YAW: You've said that your columns caught the attention of your publisher, so that means you didn't have to soliciting agents or editors to publish your first book. What did you have to do for Be More Chill and your upcoming novel It's Kind of a Funny Story?
NV: I met my agent at a wedding--I didn't actually meet him there, I met one of his coworkers who soon introduced me to him. I met him because I had one of my flyers with me--I always walk around with flyers for my work. I gave him a flyer, he seemed intrigued, and a few months later I had representation. My agent took care of the Be More Chill and It's Kind of a Funny Story book deals.
YAW: Speaking of your upcoming novel, I haven't been able to find too much about it. Care to give a little synopsis and what inspiration struck you to write It's Kind of a Funny Story?
NV: I've been working closely with Steve Pink, the Be More Chill screenplay writer, as he comes up with the movie script. It has been really exciting and cool. Steve has great ideas for the movie -- including some that are different from the book -- and I support him with those. I think that what works for a book doesn't necessarily work for a movie and I understand that some things need to change. The movie version of Be More Chill remains very true to the heart of the book and I'm really proud of how it's coming together.
YAW: You do writing workshops and presentations. What is the most rewarding part of this? The most frustrating?
NV: Interacting with young people who want to be writers is about the best thing I do with my time. It inspires me. I can't say there's anything "frustrating" about these workshops and presentations, and the rewards are getting ideas from students, getting inspired by their enthusiasm, and being able to help them develop their work. I love workshops! Anyone who would like to book me for one, please go to www.nedvizzini.com! Thanks!
NV: The editor of The Jealousy Book was also my editor for my first book, Teen Angst? Naaah... (the Random House edition). She approached me and asked me to be involved, and I was honored to be a part of it. Once you've published a few books, you do get offers to be in anthologies and they're very flattering.
NV: Oh, that koala was great experience. That was on my Australia trip. I went to Australia a little over a year ago with my former business partner. Had an absolutely wonderful three weeks. The koala was peaceful and more than a little smelly. I think that counts as the strangest animal I've ever held--someday, I'd love to hold a squirrel-rat: http://www.the-wick.com/feature_archive/2006-03-11_rat-squirrel.htm.
YAW: [I’d seen an article about that! Those guys are really odd looking.] Well, that about does her! Do you have anything else you'd like to say to YAW readers?
NV: Yes! Please go to www.myspace.com/ikoafs to hear the first chapter of my new book It's Kind of a Funny Story! If you like it, you can friend me, msg me, throw snowballs at me... well... virtual snowballs.
YAW: Thanks very much, Ned! It's been an honor and a pleasure. We are all looking forward to It's Kind of A Funny Story in April, and wish you continued success in your writing career!
----Interviewed by B.
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