Ask the Author: Gillian Flynn
Answered Questions (5)
Gillian Flynn
Hi Bo,
Great question. I've learned that you can't worry and write at the same time. If you let yourself go down that road, then what you do (and believe me, I've done this) is write with a little nagging angel on your shoulder, who's wringing her hands and worrying that people might get upset. It's not a good way to write well. So I put everyone out of my head and write the story I need to write. Then I have a very important and useful conversation with those close to me. For instance, the mother in Sharp Objects is nothing like my mom and my husband and I are nothing like the Dunnes, but I think it's completely viable for them to ask me any questions they'd like—and I certainly want to know if they feel I've mined something unfairly from our relationships. (I try very hard to avoid the autobiographical, and if a character starts feeling too much like someone I know in real life, I take that as a sign I'm being lazy.) Thankfully I happen to be blessed with friends and family and a husband who love books and love that I'm a writer and respect that my imagination can take me to some very unsavory places that have nothing to do with them.
thanks,
Gillian
Great question. I've learned that you can't worry and write at the same time. If you let yourself go down that road, then what you do (and believe me, I've done this) is write with a little nagging angel on your shoulder, who's wringing her hands and worrying that people might get upset. It's not a good way to write well. So I put everyone out of my head and write the story I need to write. Then I have a very important and useful conversation with those close to me. For instance, the mother in Sharp Objects is nothing like my mom and my husband and I are nothing like the Dunnes, but I think it's completely viable for them to ask me any questions they'd like—and I certainly want to know if they feel I've mined something unfairly from our relationships. (I try very hard to avoid the autobiographical, and if a character starts feeling too much like someone I know in real life, I take that as a sign I'm being lazy.) Thankfully I happen to be blessed with friends and family and a husband who love books and love that I'm a writer and respect that my imagination can take me to some very unsavory places that have nothing to do with them.
thanks,
Gillian
Gillian Flynn
Hi Dominic,
I think the short answer to the first question is: My brain goes very easily into the darkness. It always has. There are people who like to see what's under the rock and people who don't, and for some reason I've always been one of those to say, "Hey, let's flip over that rock."
Pulling back out is the trickier part. I had to first actually acknowledge that writing toxic stories can infect my mood (it seemed a little too "writer-y" to admit that at first). But especially during the darker scenes for Gone Girl, I would catch myself bringing the nastiness upstairs with me and inflicting it on my poor husband. So I learned to give myself about 15 minutes at the end of each day to purge myself of the foul mood. I usually play a video game or pull up a really great musical dance number on my computer. I dare anyone to watch the Moses Supposes dance number from Singin' in the Rain and not be blissfully cheery by the end of it. So it's become a very healthy habit—I even have a plaque on my desk that reads: "Leave the crazy downstairs." Very good advice.
I think the short answer to the first question is: My brain goes very easily into the darkness. It always has. There are people who like to see what's under the rock and people who don't, and for some reason I've always been one of those to say, "Hey, let's flip over that rock."
Pulling back out is the trickier part. I had to first actually acknowledge that writing toxic stories can infect my mood (it seemed a little too "writer-y" to admit that at first). But especially during the darker scenes for Gone Girl, I would catch myself bringing the nastiness upstairs with me and inflicting it on my poor husband. So I learned to give myself about 15 minutes at the end of each day to purge myself of the foul mood. I usually play a video game or pull up a really great musical dance number on my computer. I dare anyone to watch the Moses Supposes dance number from Singin' in the Rain and not be blissfully cheery by the end of it. So it's become a very healthy habit—I even have a plaque on my desk that reads: "Leave the crazy downstairs." Very good advice.
Gillian Flynn
Hi Ivan,
I LOVE Jeff and Greta and I love Amy's strange holiday with them in the Ozarks and the nasty turn it takes. I originally, in a very early draft, had Jeff and Greta return to the story near the end, but it just didn't feel right. But I do like the idea that Amy, somewhere in the back of her mind, is planning her revenge. Of course she is.
I LOVE Jeff and Greta and I love Amy's strange holiday with them in the Ozarks and the nasty turn it takes. I originally, in a very early draft, had Jeff and Greta return to the story near the end, but it just didn't feel right. But I do like the idea that Amy, somewhere in the back of her mind, is planning her revenge. Of course she is.
Gillian Flynn
Michelle,
I think my favorite Amy moment was her Cool Girl diatribe. I think that's when you hear her voice at its most bold and angry and viciously precise yet...somehow relatable (although your friends may disagree). People have asked me quite a bit about my unlikable characters, and my answer is basically: We all read for different reasons. I personally never read or watch a film in order to find a friend or a hero in a character. I want to be intrigued by a character, invested in a character and perhaps even startled by the person's point of view. So I'm glad you appreciated Amy in all her complexity (a very kind way of putting it, thank you!). I certainly found her an endlessly fascinating character to write.
I think my favorite Amy moment was her Cool Girl diatribe. I think that's when you hear her voice at its most bold and angry and viciously precise yet...somehow relatable (although your friends may disagree). People have asked me quite a bit about my unlikable characters, and my answer is basically: We all read for different reasons. I personally never read or watch a film in order to find a friend or a hero in a character. I want to be intrigued by a character, invested in a character and perhaps even startled by the person's point of view. So I'm glad you appreciated Amy in all her complexity (a very kind way of putting it, thank you!). I certainly found her an endlessly fascinating character to write.
Gillian Flynn
Hi Nate,
I knew from the beginning Gone Girl would start from the man's point of view and initially the whole first part was written entirely from Nick's point of view. It wasn't difficult for me to write from a man's perspective. For one thing, Nick has my basic biography: We are both kids from MIssouri who went to New York (with a bit of a chip on our shoulders) to break into magazine writing; we both wrote about pop culture (I was on staff at Entertainment Weekly for 10 years) and we both got laid off. I wrote Gone Girl in the few years after my layoff from EW and I channeled all my angst directly into Nick.
I also made sure I never treated the idea of writing Nick as "writing like a guy." I think that leads nowhere good—you can tell when authors are uncomfortable writing from the point of view of the opposite gender. It feels like they're trying too hard. I wrote Nick from the point of view of Nick and who he was, rather than Nick the Guy.
thanks,
Gillian
I knew from the beginning Gone Girl would start from the man's point of view and initially the whole first part was written entirely from Nick's point of view. It wasn't difficult for me to write from a man's perspective. For one thing, Nick has my basic biography: We are both kids from MIssouri who went to New York (with a bit of a chip on our shoulders) to break into magazine writing; we both wrote about pop culture (I was on staff at Entertainment Weekly for 10 years) and we both got laid off. I wrote Gone Girl in the few years after my layoff from EW and I channeled all my angst directly into Nick.
I also made sure I never treated the idea of writing Nick as "writing like a guy." I think that leads nowhere good—you can tell when authors are uncomfortable writing from the point of view of the opposite gender. It feels like they're trying too hard. I wrote Nick from the point of view of Nick and who he was, rather than Nick the Guy.
thanks,
Gillian
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