Darren Mitton
asked
Jason Pargin:
I just recently discovered your work & am overwhelmed in the best possible way. What was YOUR favorite?
Jason Pargin
I always avoid this question in interviews or Reddit AMAs because it bothers me when other creators answer it. Whenever they reveal the movie/album/novel of theirs they're most proud of, it's never my favorite, as a fan, and it makes me feel like I'm enjoying their work wrong. Or if they do the opposite, like if there's some song that changed my life as a teen and the lead singer does an interview like, "Oh, yeah, we were surprised that was a hit, that was just a throwaway track we added to the album at the last minute. Basically Steve came up with this guitar riff and I just made up some words, we recorded it in 20 minutes."
This may seem weird but just in general I'm really cautious about saying something about my own work that may make people enjoy it less, or make them feel like their interpretation of it was wrong. Even when talking about the process I try never to say things like, "Well I considered killing off this character but changed my mind" because I think the reader prefers to think of these stories as being "true" in the sense that they couldn't ever exist in another form, and it messes with that when you talk about what went into a specific decision etc. It kind of ruins the magic, I guess.
Usually instead of saying all that I'll just say something like, "They're all my favorites!"
This may seem weird but just in general I'm really cautious about saying something about my own work that may make people enjoy it less, or make them feel like their interpretation of it was wrong. Even when talking about the process I try never to say things like, "Well I considered killing off this character but changed my mind" because I think the reader prefers to think of these stories as being "true" in the sense that they couldn't ever exist in another form, and it messes with that when you talk about what went into a specific decision etc. It kind of ruins the magic, I guess.
Usually instead of saying all that I'll just say something like, "They're all my favorites!"
More Answered Questions
Jérôme
asked
Jason Pargin:
Hey Jason! I wanted to know what the inspiration was for the Soy Sauce. Have you ever experimented with recreational psychedelic drugs like LSD, DMT or psilocybin or was this just an idea that popped up in your head and made for a good book plot? Love the JDatE series, they turned into some of my all time favourite books. Take good care of yourself
Erich w/ an h
asked
Jason Pargin:
Hey Jason! You've mentioned that your upcoming novel ("I'm Starting To Worry About This Black Box Of Doom") is a standalone. When coming into this novel, did you decide first that it was going to be a standalone, or did you have a plot that wasn't working within the JDatE or Zoey universes?
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