Nicholas Sparks spoke with Hypable about his writing career, what it’s like to produce movies, and his upcoming projects which include a TV movie for Lifetime and a new novel.
Hypable spoke to Sparks to celebrate the release of The Nicholas Sparks Limited Edition DVD Collection, which includes a special postcard set with images from each film and a letter from Nicholas Sparks. Movies in the collection include Safe Haven, The Lucky One, Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, A Walk to Remember, Message in a Bottle, and The Notebook. It can be purchased over on Amazon.
Tell us about your journey to becoming a writer. style="color: # FF0066;">
I wrote my first novel the summer after I’d been sidelined from the Notre Dame Track and Field team by an injury. I’d been sulking around the house when my mom suggested I get up and do something. “What?” I asked, and she answered — flippantly, I may add — that I should write a book. Well, I did, and it wasn’t great. That unpublished manuscript is still in my attic somewhere, collecting dust, as is my unpublished second novel. The Notebook, the first of my novels to be published, came many years later, after I’d met and married my wife Cathy, after we’d moved to the Carolinas, and after I’d taken a job selling pharmaceutical products. I was in my mid-twenties, and I decided I wanted to give writing a serious go, so I wrote The Notebook, set it aside while we moved from North to South Carolina, and then sent it out to agents. That was almost twenty years ago.
What is a day in the life of Nicholas Sparks, the writer, like? The producer?style="color: # FF0066;">
I truly enjoy my time at home with my wife and family — that is where I’m happiest. I wake up before my family every day, because I get my best work done in the morning. First, though, I have my morning workout routine (and I power-up with a protein shake), and then I begin to write. I try to complete two thousand words a day, four to five days a week. Then, it’s onto breakfast with the family, and we send the kids off to school. Things can come up throughout the day, depending on what I’m working on: calls with movie studios and producers, delivering notes for screenplays, phone interviews — but otherwise my day is pretty normal, really. Time with my family. Chasing the dogs around the house. Sorting through the mail. Nothing too unusual.
How has the writing process changed for you now that so many novels have become movies? style="color: # FF0066;">
The way I conceive a story has changed, because I now have to make sure the story will work well both as a novel and as a film before I begin to write. Once I start writing, however, I only think of it as a novel. I still have to do the research, and it is still a matter of discipline — sitting at my desk each day and writing my two-thousand words.
Out of all the adaptations, do you have a favorite? One that represented the book how you imagined it?style="color: # FF0066;">
I can’t really choose one, as I think the directors and cast for each film have done a great job. I think the one most likely destined to be a classic would have to be The Notebook.
Why do you choose to write about love? style="color: # FF0066;">
For me, writing is primarily about honesty: creating authentic, universal characters with original voices. It’s about creating characters whose stories are relatable to any reader, and part of achieving this is evoking genuine emotion, such as love. In the end I think readers enjoy a high quality, well-written story. Obviously, that can be in any genre, not just love stories, but as my editor has always said: “In the end, readers chose.”
Many of your novels deal with love and terminal illness or death. Why are these topics important to write about?style="color: # FF0066;">
More than anything else, I try to write novels that evoke the entire range of human emotions. To me, this makes the characters feel real and adds authenticity to the story. It makes the novel memorable. Unfortunately, sadness and tragedy are part of the human experience, and they are a part of love. I’d be writing fantasy if I disregarded this.
What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? style="color: # FF0066;">
I try not read the reviews, whether they are good or bad. Instead, I know better than to take anything for granted, and I’m grateful for every single reader who decides to buy one of my books. This includes the critics. I have always written, and will continue to write, stories for myself and for those who enjoy my work.
What has been the best compliment?style="color: # FF0066;">
I’ve never had a problem chasing a dream, whether pursuing track and field, starting a company in my early twenties, or writing a novel. But when you put so much hard work into something and a complete stranger simply says thank you — that’s a great feeling.
What is easier to write: The first line or the last line?style="color: # FF0066;">
Both. Or neither. The creative process still begins with an idea that catches, and I still have to spend countless hours in my office, pulling out my hair and writing every day until I’ve turned that idea into a fully-formed novel, start to finish.
What are you working on now? style="color: # FF0066;">
I’m hard at work on my next novel, but, as always, the plot remains secret until the novel is complete. My TV production company also recently wrapped filming of Deliverance Creek, a TV movie (and possibly a series) that will premiere on Lifetime, hopefully later this spring. Plus, two of my novels — The Best of Me and The Longest Ride — are in the process of being adapted for the big screen for a release at the end of 2014 and in 2015, respectively.
Be sure to check out the Nicholas Sparks Limited Edition DVD Collection, available for purchase now!
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