Author Discusses Development of Her YA Novel

Gitty Daneshvari Discusses the Evolution of School of Fear

Sep 20, 2009

Author Gitty Daneshvari discusses how her YA novel School of Fear evolved - and will keep evolving - after Warner Brothers optioned its film rights.

In part one of this interview with author Gitty Daneshvari, Ms. Daneshvari discussed how working at an entertainment agency and being a Director of Development for Contrafilm helped her write books with an eye toward how they might play in film or television. This approach paid off with her YA novel School of Fear when Warner Brothers optioned film rights to the novel based on her book proposal.

In part two of this interview, Daneshvari reflects on how School of Fear continued to evolve after film rights were optioned and offers advice to writers interested in becoming novelists. The following is edited from a September 15, 2009 phone interview.

S101: Was the School of Fear story outlined in the book proposal different from the one that was finally published?

GD: Huge changes were made. Part of what I was discussing yesterday with my editor – her name is Nancy Consecu of Little, Brown – was I will usually write an entire draft and then realize where things go astray and I’ll rewrite large portions.

I wrote the first draft of the book based on the proposal and then I saw where things weren’t working and I didn’t like the pacing, so I actually scrapped a lot of what happened in the second part of the book and re-worked that. There were characters in the book who don’t exist in the book anymore.

At the end of the day I’m always open to revising – I just want it to be the strongest piece I can produce at this point in my life with the circumstances I have, and the time frame. I’m always open to notes – if my editor says, “This doesn’t work” I will go back and really think about it. I don’t always agree with everything, but I do agree with her big notes.

S101: Will the movie version of School of Fear be based on your original book proposal?

GD: It won’t be so much the original proposal. There are always liberties taken when you translate something to the screen. You have to be in some ways bigger and more cinematic. So I assume the tone and the characters will sort of remain the same but they may change things and I completely expect that. You just cross your fingers and hope that it works.

S101: A lot of screenwriters say living in LA is necessary to write movies. Do you recommend that people live in LA or New York if they want to be novelists?

GD: No I don’t think [living in LA] is necessary for book publishing at all. I do think that’s true, to a certain degree, for screenwriters and TV writers because most of the work is there and it helps if someone calls and you can do the meeting the next day. And it’s nice that I live in New York because I can see my editor and have a relationship with her. But I could essentially do this anywhere. I definitely don’t think to be an author you have to live in LA or New York.

GD: As far as the books being sold to film – no, because you’re not really a part of that process. The producers update me and they’re really sweet and I’ve had dinner with them a few times and I do really like them. But no, you have to trust that they know what they’re doing and go from there.

S101: You’re going to be appearing at Changing Hands Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, to promote School of Fear. How important are independent bookstores in book marketing?

GD: I think [independent bookstores] are incredibly important because people really trust their taste. You can go in and ask, “What are you reading?” “What do you like?” “I have a ten-year-old, what should they be reading?” And I also think they’re nice because some of the areas of interest they cover, maybe you wouldn’t find in a big retail giant. And I like anything that’s unique – and they’re unique.

GD: The one thing that I would say is you should never be discouraged by rejection letters. Because everyone gets them. I remember being rejected by agents even after I sold School of Fear to Warner Brothers. So never be disappointed by rejection – it’s just part of the business. It’s all about finding the person who’s going to champion your book and help it find the course it’s meant to have. Nobody enjoys rejection letters, or emails, but I think it’s just part of it and not to be taken too seriously.

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