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Guest Chat with Jennifer Weiner

Wynelda Shelton

Recently, members of WVU had the pleasure of meeting author Jennifer Weiner. Her novel, Good in Bed, was on the NY Times Best Seller list and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by Barnes and Nobles. Following are excerpts from the chat.

Background Of A Best Seller

Janet: Were either of your parents writers?

Jennifer Weiner: Neither of my parents are writers, but both of them were great readers. I grew up being read to, a lot, and I grew up in a house full of books.

Janet: What did you like to read when you were little?

Jennifer Weiner: Oh, I read all kinds of things when I was wee. Shel Silverstein, Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins, Little Women and Huck Finn and The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. Lots of children's collections of poetry and mythology, too. My Dad was prepping me for the SATs, I think...

benning: How were you as a student?

Jennifer Weiner: I was a disgustingly overachieve-y student. You'd have stuffed me in a locker in elementary school if you'd known me.

Janet: Did you enjoy your time at Princeton?

Jennifer Weiner: Hmm. I got a great education at Princeton, and I got to study with some amazing people, but socially, I didn't fit in very well. Like Cannie, I thought when I got to college I'd find lots of unapologetically nerdy kindred souls. Instead, I found girls who were not only smart, but beautiful, and fashionable, and well-groomed, too. Being none of those last three things, it was all a little daunting.

texasjim: Did you have success in promoting admittance of females at Princeton?

Jennifer Weiner: Oh, Princeton admitted its first women twenty years before I got there. However, I did a lot of agitatin' trying to get the eating clubs -- Princeton's substitute for frats -- to admit women. There were two all-male clubs when I joined, and they both went co-ed by the year I left!

benning: What was your major?

Jennifer Weiner: Yeah. It was cool. I was an English major, of course!

Good In Bed Goes Paperback

Jerry: Jennifer, I hate to say this, but I'm not familiar with Good In Bed. Can you tell us the story line?

Jennifer Weiner: Sure, Jerry. Good In Bed is the story of Cannie Shapiro, a journalist at a large East Coast newspaper who opens a women's magazine one day to learn that her ex-boyfriend has been chronicling their ex-sex-life. The book is the story of a year in her life -- how she comes to terms with being so publicly exposed, how she makes peace with her family, all that good girlie stuff...

Janet: I was just reading your WEB LOG, Jennifer, and you are so busy!

Jennifer Weiner: Yeah, it's a busy time, getting ready to go on the road again in support of the paperback.

benning: How many appearances?

Jennifer Weiner: I'm going to nine cities, doing readings in each one, plus whatever television and radio my publicists can arrange.

texasjim: Jennifer, where will your next trip take you?

Jennifer Weiner: TexasJim, if you go to http://www.jenniferweiner.com, and follow the "on the road" link, you'll find out every place I'm going this spring.

Janet: Congratulations on the big stacks of paperbacks in the stores.

texasjim: I'm glad you mentioned that BN has stock. My local said sometime in April, so I went to BN and got two copies.

Jennifer Weiner: Oh, good! You've seen them! Not all the stores have them out yet, so I'm always encouraged to hear when somebody spots them.

Research

benning: So you didn't need to do too much research? Having worked at a paper?

Jennifer Weiner: In terms of research, no, I didn't have to go very far to learn what it was like at a big-city paper. I did, however, have to do research about pregnancy. Poor Adam really freaked the night I came home with What To Expect When You're Expecting. I had to tell him it was research!

Janet: LOL Jennifer! Pregnancy is scary.

Wyndie: LOL Did he believe you?

Jennifer Weiner: Yes, he believed me. And pregnancy is scary, but reading about difficult pregnancies was really, really scary. I actually hung out in chat rooms for people with premature babies. It really opened my eyes.

On Writing

Janet: Do you write every day, Jennifer?

Jennifer Weiner: Pretty much. Especially because I left the Philadelphia Inquirer, so now novel-writing is my full-time job, and I am wracked with guilt on days I don't work!

Wyndie: Do you have a set schedule for writing?

Jennifer Weiner: I have sort of an unofficial schedule. In the mornings I read my email, talk to my editor and my agent, go to the gym, do lots of thinking. In the afternoons, I lug my laptop to the local Starbucks, and work until the battery power runs out -- about four hours. Sometimes I'll put in another hour or two at night, but that's generally it. I know there are writers who can do eight-hour stints in front of the keyboard, but I'm not one of them. Also, I think the time you spend thinking -- and daydreaming -- about your work is just as important as the actual-writing time.

Janet: Starbucks is one of my favourite places to write. :-)

Jennifer Weiner: I like Starbucks, too, but I always feel like such a poser when I'm there! I wish I had a little sign that said something like "Yes, I Really Get Paid to Do This."

Wyndie: Do you find that "background" noise helps you write?

Jennifer Weiner: Yes, the background noise helps. After ten years in a newsroom, I can't write when it's too quiet!

benning: White noise?

Jennifer Weiner: White noise, exactly. Except I've gotten to the point where I know every song on the Starbucks tape loop. I hope they change it soon...

Wyndie: Do you ever miss the newsroom?

Jennifer Weiner: Yes, I do miss the newsroom a lot. Especially when a day will go by and I realize that the only conversation I've had has been with the girl behind the Starbucks counter. But it came down to trying to do two full-time jobs at once, and I knew there was no way I could do that without giving one or both jobs far less attention than they deserved.

Janet: Did you enjoy writing columns for magazines?

Jennifer Weiner: Yes, Janet, I like writing for magazines, but it's so much different than writing fiction. Like, they want it to be true! Who knew?

Wyndie: So have you outlined this novel, or do you write out the story first? (I have a horrid time outlining... sigh...)

Jennifer Weiner: I've got kind of an outline in my head. As I get going on the first draft, I'll chart out the plot a little more clearly. Right now I've got 150 pages of the beginning written. I have a sense of what happens in the middle. And I know what happens in the end. So there you have it....

Wyndie: How many manuscript pages do you generally have at the end?

Jennifer Weiner: Right now, In Her Shoes is about 540. My editor wants it at 450. We're compromising at 480.

benning: How many words is that?

Jennifer Weiner: I'm sorry, I have no idea how many words that is. A lot? I actually remember when I was writing Good In Bed, I was re-reading Stephen King's Different Seasons, where he talks about crossing the magical 10,000 word mark from novella to novel. I remember shooting for 10,000 words. Of course, I way overshot it!

Janet: Do you ever change course as you are writing, Jennifer?

Jennifer Weiner: Sure. In Good In Bed, I'd initially thought that Maxi Ryder was going to be much more villainous than she was.

Jerry: Do your characters tell you what to write in the story?

Jennifer Weiner: Yes, I think that characters do start dictating the story. I thought that was absolute bunk when I first heard writers say it -- "Your characters start talking to you!" I'm like, "Look, I can't get regular real-life guys to talk to me half the time, how am I going to get fictional characters to start talking?" But that's really what happens.

Rita: The problem I am having is that my novel has been critiqued ­ which is a good thing, but the problem is, somewhere along the way the book became the critiquers' novel and not mine. Do you have your books critiqued by fellow writers and when?

Jennifer Weiner: Hi Rita. I have a few trusted "first readers" whose opinions I really trust, and whose advice I usually heed. My agent is one, my editor's another, and I work with a freelance editor whose help is invaluable. But I'm pretty choosy about who I let see those first drafts. My agent sees chunks of things as they're coming along. The editors don't see anything until I'm done with the first draft.

benning: So you pretty much do it and then ask for opinions?

Jennifer Weiner: Yes, that's right -- I Just Do It. Then I let people see.

Wyndie: Are there any points that aren't negotiable for you when editing one of your books?

Jennifer Weiner: Not really. Maybe it's my background in journalism, but I've never been one of those writers who says, "My work is sacrosanct! Nothing can be changed! Do not tell me to change it! Do not even gaze upon it too long!" The way I work, I'll write something, and then I'll set it aside while people are reading it, and then I'll read it again, and read what they said, and then make my own decisions. I try not to get too attached.

benning: Jennifer, how long was the idea for Good In Bed in your head?

Jennifer Weiner: Hmm. I think I had the voice of the character in my head for a long time -- it's sort of a smarter, sharper version of my own voice, so that wasn't hard. In terms of the plot, well, it took getting my heart broken before I could put that in motion.

texasjim: Jennifer, do you ever feel you need to walk away from your writing for a spell?

Jennifer Weiner: Yes, I absolutely walk away from what I'm working on for a few days or a few weeks. You need to take a break sometimes, and come back with fresh eyes.

The Business Side Of Writing

Janet: When is your next book, In Her Shoes, slated to hit the shelves, Jennifer?

Jennifer Weiner: In Her Shoes is scheduled for publication next May. However, I'll have chapters up on my website in April. I'm pretty much done with it -- just polishing up a draft -- but it takes a year for a manuscript to make its way into print.

benning: A year seems so long.

Janet: Is it the editing process that takes so long?

Jennifer Weiner: Janet, the editing is a part of it. So is choosing a cover, sending around advance readers' copies, getting quotes (my least favorite part of the process).

Janet: So much work... after the work. :-)

Jennifer Weiner: In terms of advance copies...they get sent to reviewers at long-lead magazines, and to anyone you're soliciting blurbs from. In my case, I think we sent about five copies of Helen Fielding, of Bridget Jones fame. Never heard back from her, though.

benning: Betcha will next time

Janet: It will be her loss.

Wyndie: That's ok. Good In Bed was much better than Bridget Jones.

Jennifer Weiner: Oh, thank you!

benning: How many times did you submit a manuscript before you finally landed a nibble?

Jennifer Weiner: Well, I actually had a really fantastic submission process. I hooked up with my agent in February, and she spent months taking editors out to lunch, building the buzz. "I have three words for you!" she'd say. "Good In Bed!" And then she wouldn't tell them anything else. So by the time we were ready to submit, there were all of these editors walking around wondering "What is Good In Bed? How do I get Good In Bed?"

Janet: Great strategy! And...it worked.

Jennifer Weiner: Yeah. My mother got so overwhelmed I'd call to tell her what different houses were offering, and she was so completely flustered that she kept hanging up on me. And yes, it was very smart strategy. I've got a very smart agent. I'm lucky.

benning: And how long did it take to find that agent?

Jennifer Weiner: That wasn't quite as smooth. I sent out dozens of query letters in December and January, was briefly hooked up with an agent who didn't quite share my vision of the book. Then I found my fabulous agent, Joanna, after three months or so.

texasjim: I noticed your book became an international best seller overseas. Outstanding!

Jennifer Weiner: Yes, it's doing very well in England and Germany, and is coming out next month in France and Italy. I think that by the end of 2003, it will have been published in 18 different countries. Which is 16 more countries than I've ever visited...

Wyndie: Do you have a different agent for overseas sales?

Jerry: Congrats. Will they be published in the countries languages?

Jennifer Weiner: Thanks. Yes, I've got an agent who handles the domestic sales, an agent who handles foreign rights, and a film agent in Hollywood. And all of the books are being published in different languages, with different covers. It's all unbelievably cool.

Janet: A film agent! Are you thinking of making your book into a movie?

Jennifer Weiner: Hah! Yes, I'm thinking about it a lot. Unfortunately, Hollywood doesn't seem quite as taken with the notion as I am. But I'm still hoping...

benning: If Hollywood becomes interested, would you work on the screenplay?

Jennifer Weiner: No, I don't think I'd want to work on the screenplay. I've heard writers say that turning your novel into a movie is like trying to circumcise your own child -- a process best left to experts.

texasjim: Excellent analogy, Jennifer!

benning: Did you choose the cover? Or were you given choices?

Jennifer Weiner: In terms of the cover, I was given two choices. I loved both of them, and got to pick the one I loved the best. It was really a great experience, especially because I've heard so many horror stories of first-time authors who are stuck with covers they hate!

On Celebrity

Janet: I checked out my local library here in B.C. Canada for your book at first and I was put on a waiting list of 20!

Wyndie: Long waiting list here as well.

benning: Nice to have a waiting list! Hehehe

Jennifer Weiner: Yes, it's quite a thrill.

texasjim: Jennifer, how did it feel to suddenly become a celebrity... The CBS Early show, etc.?

Jennifer Weiner: Oh, gosh. I'm not a celebrity! I've never once been recognized in public! And not a single Jackson brother came to my wedding!

texasjim: Jennifer, you and I must be the same age....32. You have so much time in front of you to become even MORE famous!!

Jennifer Weiner: I don't know if I want to be any more famous than this. Too much pressure to look good in public.

The Web Site

Jennifer Weiner: The website is http://www.jenniferweiner.com. Please check it out...and please come to my readings, if you're in the neighborhood! If you go to the website and click on "on the road," it'll tell you everywhere I'm going -- Boston, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Cleveland, DC, LA, Phoenix and Philadelphia!

Once Again, WVU Thanks Jennifer Weiner for sharing her time with us!

THE END