Ebony-Rose Ellis

Ebony-Rose Ellis asked David Wong:

Yo, so I was wondering how you research for the books you're writing? Does it come from already existing knowledge or do you research as you go along? Wew. Also, JDatE was seriously life changing. I don't know what it is about it but it changed my perspective on a lot of things. I use brute force to get everyone I meet (including my mum) to read it and when they do, they love it just as much (also including my mum) <3

David Wong In terms of research, this is one place where having a job helps me a lot, I'm working for a website (cracked.com, for those who somehow don't know) that specializes in tackling hard subjects in a humorous way, so the day to day tasks there require me to A) stay on top of current events and B) to endlessly give myself crash courses in various subjects - one day I might be editing an article about the Civil War, then that night have to edit a profile of the furry porn community. So I have to get at least a surface level understanding of thousands of different subjects (though I'm not an expert in anything).

More Answered Questions

Chevy Rendell

Chevy Rendell asked David Wong:

Your blog posts often caution against essentialism (for example, the idea that all of the people who voted for Trump are hate-mongers). In John Dies at the End (a deliciously ambiguous title) the reader's assumptions are untethered (how reliable, for instance, is the narrator?); resolution is subsumed by acceptance that things (people/events) defy essential categories. To what extent, if any, was this deliberate?

Timothy Knutson

Timothy Knutson asked David Wong:

You have written three of my all time favorite books, and I think a huge part of why I love them so much is the characters, both main and secondary. Even just the characters who tend to wander in for a chapter seem fleshed out and funny. I was wondering how much backstory you personally imagine for your characters that doesn't make it into the book? Do you know their whole lives as you write them?

John Waring

John Waring asked David Wong:

David - Big fan and love all your work. A lot of writers have trouble getting started; the ideas are there but the fear of failure, etc. stops the actual writing. Did you ever experience this and, if so, what got you started?

All answers from David Wong…

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