“When I first thought of the idea for 'Sweet Valley High,' I loved the idea of high school as microcosm of the real world. And what I really liked was how it moved things on from 'Sleeping Beauty'-esque romance novels where the girl had to wait for the hero. This would be girl-driven, very different, I decided - and indeed it is.” WorldFirstsIdeasDifferentRealWould BeSchoolRomanceGirlWaitingSleepNovelSweetHeroHigh SchoolDecidedMovedDrivenReal WorldValleysRomance NovelMicrocosmSleeping Beauty Author:Francine Pascal
“A screenwriter heard me read from my novel 'The Wishbones' when it was still in progress and mentioned me to some producers in Hollywood. They called, and I told them I had a novel in my drawer about a high school election that goes haywire. They asked to take a look, and my life changed pretty dramatically as a result.” LooksStillsSchoolResultsNovelProgressHeardChangedHigh SchoolHollywoodElectionProducersLife ChangingScreenwritersDrawersWishbones Author:Tom Perrotta
“The thing is that my first novel, which was basically a mystery adventure story, won quite an important award in Spain for young adult fiction, and because of this it became a very successful book, and right now it's some sort of a standard title, it's read widely in many high schools in Spain, so I think, in a way, I was a victim of my own success in the field of young adult fiction, because it was never my own natural register. I never intended to write that kind of fiction, but I became very successful at it.” ThinkingWayWritingFirstsKindImportantBookStoriesSchoolYoungNaturalMy OwnFictionNovelSuccessfulMysteryFieldsAdventureRight NowStandardsHigh SchoolAdultsVictimYoung AdultTitlesAwardsSpainRegister Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon
“Back in high school, I wrote a novel about a character named Bart Simpson. I thought it was a very unusual name for a kid at the time. I had this idea of an angry father yelling "Bart," and Bart sounds kind of like bark - like a barking dog.” KindIdeasCharacterKidsSchoolFatherNamesSoundNovelDogHigh SchoolAngryUnusualBarkYellingBarking DogsUnusual NamesBart Simpson Author:Matt Groening
“I developed a mania for Fitzgerald - by the time I'd graduated from high school I'd read everything he'd written. I started with 'The Great Gatsby' and moved on to 'Tender Is the Night,' which just swept me away. Then I read 'This Side of Paradise,' his novel about Princeton - I literally slept with that book under my pillow for two years.” YearsTwoBookSchoolNightSidesNovelWrittenHigh SchoolMovedParadiseTwo YearsPillowMoved OnManiaPrincetonTender Is The Night Author:A. Scott Berg
“I was heavily influenced by my first attempt at a novel. I started a fantasy novel back in high school, and... well... it really sucked. It was a plotless, clichéd mess.” FirstsWellsSchoolFantasyNovelHigh SchoolMessFantasy Novels Author:Patrick Rothfuss
“I'd written my first novel for adults, which was called Basic Eight and was set in a high school, and we were having a devil of a time selling it. It ended up in the hands of an editor of a children's publishing house, for which it was entirely inappropriate. She said, "Well, we can't publish this, but I think you should write something for children," which I thought was a really terrible idea.” ThinkingShouldWritingFirstsWellsChildrenSaidIdeasHandsSchoolHouseNovelWrittenTerribleHigh SchoolDevilAdultsEightSellingEditorsPublishingPublishInappropriatePublishing House Author:Daniel Handler
“I think there's a real connection between acting and writing novels because the way I write characters has a little bit to do with the method acting that I was taught in high school and college.” ThinkingWayWritingLittlesRealCharacterSchoolBitsActingNovelTaughtCollegeLittle BitHigh SchoolConnectionsMethodMethod ActingReal Connection Author:Jeffrey Eugenides
“It was just such a complete shock to turn on the news one day and see someone that you know, someone you have passed in the halls of your high school. It got me thinking, 'Well, what are some novels that are about female sexual psychopaths? I really didn't have many references for that, and I felt like that was a void in transgressive literature that I wanted to fill.'” ThinkingKnowsWellsWantedSchoolTurnsLiteratureFeltNovelOne DayNewsHigh SchoolFemaleShockHallsVoidTurn-onPsychopath Author:Alissa Nutting
“Until I was a junior in high school, I was a "boy scientist" type and expected to go into chemistry. Then I discovered the humanities. I read the plays of Shakespeare voraciously, some novels, such as Pasternack's Dr. Zhivago and Sinclair Lewis' Main Street, and I got into philosophy by reading Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.” PhilosophyPlaySchoolHumanityReadingBoysNovelStreetsTypeHigh SchoolScientistExpectedChemistryDrsJuniorsMain Street Author:Allen W. Wood
“I first told the idea to an editor I had met who, after reading one of my novels for adults that was set in a high school, had an idea that I might write something for children.” WritingFirstsChildrenIdeasMightSchoolReadingNovelMetsHigh SchoolAdultsEditors Author:Daniel Handler
“As a kid, I dreamt of becoming a writer. My most exciting pastime was reading novels; in fact, I would read anything I could find. I never thought I would pursue mathematics until my last year in high school. I grew up in a family with three siblings. My parents were always very supportive and encouraging. It was important for them that we have meaningful and satisfying professions, but they didn't care as much about success and achievement.” ImportantCareKidsSchoolReadingParentNovelAchievementHigh SchoolExcitingMathematicsProfessionMeaningfulSupportiveSibling Author:Maryam Mirzakhani
“I was writing novels in high school and apprenticed myself in a way both to Faulkner and to Hemingway.” WayWritingSchoolNovelHigh School Author:Joyce Carol Oates