I’m so excited to bring you the September installment of Debut-to-Debut! Juleah del Rosario’s 500 Words or Less combines two things very close to my heart: poetry and college admissions essays. As a poet and former college admissions reader, my eyes bugged out of my head the moment Juleah’s deal announcement ran in PW Children’s Bookshelf back in January 2017. I knew I had to get my hands on this book as soon as humanly possible!
If you’re joining us for the first time, here’s what this series is all about: as a debut young adult author myself, (See All the Stars released from S&S/McElderry in August!), I found myself eager to start a conversation with a variety of authors in the debut year before, during, and after my own about their books, YA and the writing life more generally, and the experience of putting a first novel out into the world. I wanted their wisdom, and I wanted to share it with other authors, emerging writers, and readers. So each month, I chat with a fellow young adult debut novelist, and then I share our conversation with you. You can find all the interviews in the series collected right here.
I recently corresponded with Juleah del Rosario about her debut young adult novel 500 Words or Less (Simon Pulse, September 25, 2018).
From the jacket:
Nic Chen refuses to spend her senior year branded as the girl who cheated on her charismatic and lovable boyfriend. To redefine her reputation among her Ivy League–obsessed classmates, Nic begins writing their college admissions essays.
But the more essays Nic writes for other people, the less sure she becomes of herself, the kind of person she is, and whether her moral compass even points north anymore.
KIT FRICK: Hi, Juleah! I could not be more excited to chat with you today about your debut novel, 500 Words or Less. As someone who writes both poetry and YA fiction—separately—I’ve always been fascinated by verse novels and love to read them, yet the process of conceptualizing and writing one remains somewhat magical and mysterious to me. So, enlighten me, please! Can you tell us a bit about developing 500 Words or Less as a novel-in-verse and what your writing and revision process looked like for your debut?
JULEAH DEL ROSARIO: For 500 Words or Less, I didn’t know I was going to write a novel-in-verse when I began the original draft. In fact, I wrote the entire first draft in prose. But when I re-read early drafts, the emotional quality and feel I wanted in the novel wasn’t there.
So I started experimenting with form, and re-wrote a portion of the novel in verse form. When I started to experiment with verse, that’s when the story and emotional quality I was seeking really started to come through. It began to feel like the novel I had in my head.
Revising in verse turns out to be very difficult. The need to cut one word turns into rewriting an entire poem because the rhythm or lyrical quality no longer works when that one word is removed. This is something I didn’t fully realize when I started in on this project, and maybe would have scared me away if I had known. But I love the challenge, and each edit feels like a puzzle that needs to be solved.
KIT: Oh, yes. I know that revision dilemma well! (Dammit, poetry!) As part of the book’s text, we get (in prose) the drafts of the college admissions essays Nic writes for several of her classmates. Spoiler alert: as someone who has worked in university admissions and read hundreds of such essays myself, Nic’s are really good! Tell us about your research process, if you had one, for the college admissions aspect of Nic’s story and about drafting those essays for the novel.
JULEAH: The idea about Nic writing her classmates’ college admissions essays stems from a distinct memory I have of high school, overhearing a classmate talk about the “essay tutor” she had for her college applications. It also stems from reading a number of articles online with advice to applicants from those working in admissions about the types of personal statements that made their eyes glaze over. There was a sentiment among those in admissions that they could spot the essays that were “edited” by parents versus ones that were more authentic, from the voice of the teenager.
I thought that hiring someone who doesn’t know you at all to write your personal statement might result in something that sounds cliché, generic, and inauthentic. But hiring another teenager, particularly a classmate who has known you for 4-12 years, might be able to capture the raw authenticity people in admissions are seeking.
In addition, as a writing exercise, I practiced writing personal statements for characters based on essay prompts found on the Common Application or similar sources. I found the exercise to be a really productive way to get into the head of a character quickly and deeply.
KIT: That’s fascinating! I’m so glad what started as an exercise made it into the book—they’re so good! Now, tell us something about 500 Words or Less that isn’t apparent from the book cover or flap copy. We want the inside scoop!
JULEAH: There is a scene in 500 Words or Less that is about eating a sandwich, the best sandwich ever. Have you ever had such an experience? An unbelievable sandwich? I wouldn’t have ever thought it was a thing. It’s a sandwich, right?
But I did have one magical encounter with a sandwich, the original Paseo’s roast-pork sandwich from the stall on the side of the road en route to Golden Gardens in Seattle. It was bread and meat perfection.
The saga of Paseo is now legendary in Seattle as outlined in this Seattle Times article.
I don’t know if the new renditions of the Paseo roast pork sandwich are the same, or if they could ever live up to the original. But I think there is something worthy in pursuing that one experience with food, be it a sandwich or pizza or ice cream, where for the moment it transcends into something magical, memorable, and life changing.
KIT: I am so hungry right now. Brb, gonna go make a (surely inferior) sandwich… Okay, moving on. 🙂 What gives you the most joy about your life as a YA writer right now? What’s bringing you satisfaction at this moment in time?
JULEAH: I’m working on a new project and have hit the stage in the project where I’ve started to live with the characters for long enough that they feel like my new roommates. I’m enjoying getting to hang out with them.
KIT: The publishing journey is unique for every author, but it’s safe to say that the road to book publication is filled with surprises, twists, and turns for all of us. What has surprised you most about the process of putting a first book into the world?
JULEAH: When someone writes a review or pulls out a phrase and then says the exact thing I was thinking when I wrote the line or passage, it’s surprising every time, but also brings me so much joy. When I began down this road, I just wanted to write something that I needed to read, and I thought maybe someone else needs to read this too. What is surprising is being able to feel connected to people we don’t know, simply by reading and connecting with each other’s words. It’s humanity in action.
KIT: Drawing from your own unique experience, what advice would you to give to future young adult debut authors, or debut novelists in general?
JULEAH: What you truly only have control over is writing the best damn book you can. Marketing, moving the needle on sales, whether your book is a critical darling or NYT bestseller—all of these things are largely out of your control, with your influence making minimal impact.
There will be a reader out there who is waiting for the words that come out in revisions.
Photo credit Flor Blake
Juleah del Rosario currently lives a book- and mountain-filled existence as a librarian in Colorado. Her debut, 500 Words or Less, a YA novel written in verse about a high school senior who writes her Ivy-league-obsessed classmates’ college admissions essays, is out now from Simon Pulse.
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Kit Frick is a novelist, poet, and MacDowell Colony fellow. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, she studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. When she isn’t putting complicated characters in impossible situations, Kit edits poetry and literary fiction for a small press, edits for private clients, and mentors emerging writers through Pitch Wars. See All the Stars, her debut young adult novel, is out now from Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books and will be followed by All Eyes on Us in 2019 and Windermere in 2020. Her debut full-length poetry collection, A Small Rising Up in the Lungs, is coming from New American Press in fall 2018.
500 Words or Less is out now! Allow me to recommend your local indie, in addition to Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Stop back soon for future posts in the Debut-to-Debut Interview Series. I’ll be chatting with more fantastic authors throughout the year!