Will Grayson, Will Grayson Questions
Q. Which chapters did you write and which did David write?
A. I wrote the odd-numbered chapters and David wrote the even-numbered chapters.
Q. So Tiny Cooper is your creation?
A. That is correct. We like to say that I birthed Tiny Cooper, but he was raised by two dads.
Q. What was the experience of collaborating like?
A. It was great. One of the things I find difficult about writing is that it can be extremely isolating: Ultimately, it’s just you in your head trying to make a story for people who will not see that story (even in the best case scenario) for years, and who may very well never see the story. Collaboration in writing is fun for me because I know that someone will see what I’m working on with each chapter that I finish, and there’s also something very invigorating about working with a writer you admire, and I admire David very much.
Q. Did you plan the ending or anything?
A. No, we didn’t plan out much in advance. When we decided to try this story with two-guys-with-the-same-name, we picked a name (David picked Will, I picked Grayson), David picked a time of year (late February, early March), and I picked a location where the two guys would meet (Frenchy’s). Other than that, nothing was planned. We did, however, spend more than a year revising the book.
If you have more questions, leave them in comments!
{ 85 comments… read them below or add one }
What was Tiny Cooper’s real first name?
His real first name was Tiny…
No cause David’s Will Grayson asks Tiny if that’s his real name, and Tiny tells him it’s irony, but never tells him a real name.
But if it’s irony, then wouldn’t that mean that his name is actually Tiny?
No, it’s just irony because Tiny is huge.
It was Anderson, I believe. Page 147.
No, that’s referring to Anderson Cooper, who, despite sharing a surname with Tiny, is someone else entirely. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anderson_Cooper
Or at least, that’s what I gathered. I could be misinterpreting.
I think his real name is Billy (page 287)
No actually that is the person up to bat. don’t think it ever reveals his real name.
When it comes to working with eachother to keep on the same page,
would you ever argue or get frustrated with how the other was not writing
what you were hoping to happen ?
Why do your other books all have cars with names in them (Blue Citrus, Satan’s Hearse, RHAPAW, etc.) but not WGWG?
I’m just gonna guess that because it took place in NYC they didn’t need cars…
Actually it took place in Chicago :)
Don’t forget the Dreidel! :D
Was it unsettling to not be able to write the ending and put the stamp of conclusion on the book?
Will we ever see recorded versions of the Tiny Cooper musical songs? I think that would be pretty awesome. :)
One day, in Nerdfighteria… it will happen.
oh you know it
If you listen to the audio book they have semi-sung versions of the songs. Also you can hear the Will Grayson 1 vrs Will Grayson 2 voices which I found fit quite nicely.
I think MTV would make a Book-to-Movie adaptation of this. But it would either A.) be really good and bring the story to life OR B.) it would be really terrible and make a mockery of this book(It is MTV afterall, must we forget Laguna Beach?) Either way, if this does ever get picked up to be a movie I hope you and David write the screenplay. By the way I loved the book, it was the first book of the summer for me.
What song from Spring Awakening did Ethan audition with?
It’s been killing me ever since I read it.
Or, did you just choose a current musical at random?
I always thought the song he sang was All That’s Known from Spring Awakening, but that’s just what was in my head.
I thought of Touch Me, but mainly because, taken out of context, someone singing that song is kinda amusing.
I was just about to ask that! Like Torrey, I thought (or really just hoped) that it was All That’s Known.
I keep flip-flopping between Mirror Blue Night and Don’t Do Sadness because I can’t decide if he’s a Melchior or a Mortiz.
I think it has to be Don’t Do Sadness because it talks about him belting, and the only real belting song for Melchior is Totally F***ed and I don’t imagine that happening during a school audition.
But then again, they live in a magic school where language isn’t an issue :D
I’d have to agree with Bradley- unless, of course, said magic school didn’t allow swearing. But they allowed a musical that was about gay love, so they were probably cool with it.
(I come from a town where we weren’t allowed to do Grease because it was “too racy”. The concept of Tiny Dancer being allowed to be put on, even in a ficticious book, blows my mind and makes me incredibly happy simultaneously)
In all of your other books, I felt like the themes were incredibly bold and strong. I could talk for days about the thematic depth in Looking For Alaska, for example. Will Grayson, Will Grayson puzzled me, though. I know what the book is about, but I don’t really understand what it’s *about*. Could you provide some enlightenment on the subject so that I don’t feel like such a fail nerdfighter? :)
For me I felt it was about not being afraid anymore to be yourself.
Both of the Wills kind of keep themselves shut in without letting people in close.
Straight Will does it by indifference, gay Will does it by being mean to those who come too close to them.
But for both of them, Tiny kind of pries that away from them, forcing them to just be them and stop hiding who they are.
So for me the message was don’t live on the sidelines, live life to the fullest, laugh, cry, love, etc because you’ll never be happy isolating yourself from the world.
For me it was about identity, about finding who you are and how that changes in the context of others. Will and will had the same name and were pulled together by Tiny, but were they similar? Not really. Of course, there were basic and important similarities, but the Wills would not become what someone you would think to be conventional friends with common interests and etc. Also, the identity of others: Isaac’s identity was strong and alive, but he was not real. He wasn’t a person.
I think it was also about love, about how it’s okay to have love OTHER than romantic love, that you don’t need to be IN love to love somebody.
the whole idea of love being wrapped up in truth did it for me. gay will grayson (i hate saying that but it’s the only way i can think of to differentiate the two) thought he was in love with isaac when the whole time isaac was just a fraud (ps i wanted to brutally murder maura after i found that out). and straight will grayson lives by the mantra to “shut up and not care too much” which is restricting feeling therefore being dishonest with one’s self. i love the scene in the middle where jane and will go on a walk and are completely honest for ten minutes. being honest is one of the most powerful things one can be, even if it’s only for ten minutes.
I always thought it could be basically summarized as “It’s not about me. It’s about love.” I think WGWG about how important it is not to be totally wrapped up in how hurt and lonely and whatever you are, and to remember that there are people you love and who love you, even if (/though) you’re a miserable person. But I also have the very unpopular opinion that its not really about the Wills, but instead about Tiny, so I might be interpreting differently than most people.
I too wanted to kill Maura. I wanted to just like go into the book, kill her, and marry gay-Will.
The moral of the story is that Tiny Cooper is fabulous.
I feel like the moral is that you can interperet a book whatever way it moves you. Personally, I felt the moral was it’s okay to love, and be loved, and that you are always loved in ways you don’t expect. But after reading the previous comments, I realized that John and David wrote this book in a way that allows the reader to give it their own meaning. Not a lot of books do that- It’s really amazing.
Why Frenchy’s?
Maura picked Frenchy’s as cruel twisted joke to play on gay-Will. I assumed she did it because she was “in love” with him, and was hoping that he could “love” her because she was Isaac.
But, it was quite creative that both the Wills meet there. Straight-Will is there buying Spanish Porn as a joke, the other is there to make his not-so-real boyfriend.
What was Tiny Coopers Real First name, and who gave him the name Tiny?
So John, I’ll be in Chicago in August. Can you give us a list of real locations so I can walk by and have a Tour de Grayson this summer for all my nerd friends?
so yeah i just finished reading wgwg, and i throughly enjoyed it. this is one of those books that i hate see come to an end, but the ending was great btw. so i just wanted to say i appreciate you guys for writing the book. it has also inspired me to stop slaking, and get seriously working on my writing that i have been putting off.
Why Holland, 1945? Is there some sort of significance or just a song by a band that’s been inactive for a while?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCjpbjCH5L0
Holland, 1945 by Neutral Milk Hotel.
Look up more from this band. It will change your life.
John,
So if you chose Frenchy’s… then well… how and why?
if there is a symbolic meaning to that PLEASE let me know. ;)
I assume it’s because it is an incredible song by an incredible band.
What was it like for you to write about gay characters and gay issues? I realize that might sound kind of homophobic, but what I mean is, you seemed to be fairly aware that you were writing from a place of privilege as a non-gay person, and that there was potential for you to therefore maybe inadvertently do some not so good stuff, and that writing good pro-gay portrayals is about more than teaching a Very Special Lesson about the poor oppressed gay guy (I’m thinking of Jane’s praise of Tiny’s musical during GSA, which, as I think Gary points out, is technically kind of straightsplain-y, but which is also really important and true and thank you for that), and that homophobia can be, as I say, inadvertent, and not just “ew I hate gay people” (and here I am thinking of your Will asking Tiny if “Tiny bats for the White Sox” is homophobic, which was another thing I was really happy to see, because a lot of people need to learn that “I have gay friends” is not a get-out-of-homophobia-free card).
Anyway! Basically what I mean is, issues are complicated! And I would guess that you encountered some kind of difficulty or uncertainty at some point (because I think I would have, in similar situations) and could you maybe talk about that, and I would totally not judge you if you happened to talk about things that maybe are not your very proudest moments, because I have totally had unproud moments of that kind. …Sorry, that sounds like I expect you to confess to big terrible secrets or something. All I really mean to say is, identity politics is interesting and I am interested in hearing you talk about that.
I second what she said. She has a wonderful Idea, in which I mean that I would love to know what was going through your mind when writing some of the more gay-sensitive parts. I know (from a writers point of view) that writing isn’t easy, at least for me it’s not, as I don’t expect it to be. Especially when you’re writing about something you have no experience in. Now I can’t say whether or not you have experience in this field or not, that’s only a question you can answer, but if it’s not to personal of a question, I would love to pick your brain on how you went about writing a book such as this.
Will there maybe be a sequel?
The ending of Will Grayson, Will Grayson left me with so many questions…
What kind of questions? It wasn’t that confusing of a book. If you’re still confused, I recommend you read it again. It might answer a lot, and you’ll enjoy it all over again.
I think I might be right here. I’m thinking the song “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John gave you inspiration. I mean, look at the lyrics.
“Tiny Dancer” – Obvious; it’s the original name of Tiny’s musical
“Hold Me Closer” – The revised name of Tiny’s musical, also a lyric in the song.
And “Blue Jean Baby” – Tiny’s chat username
All lyrics in this wonderful song.
And also quite funny, because I remember Will saying to someone in the book, I forget who, that “Elton John sucks”.
This book made me super happy. And I would love to think I made this big discovery that this song made a huge play in your book. I must be right. Right?
not a big discovery, just common sense
of course that was the source of all those things in the book
And it was Phil Wrayson singing that Elton John sucks if I recall correctly
I love this book so much! It was such a great book! i loved everything about it. :) I bought it at first because it was shiny and i love shiny things , but once i started to read it i couldn’t stop! i was addicted! great job! love your books :)
What was the song that Jane liked by Neutral Milk Hotel? I knew about NMH before I read the book, and it’s been bugging me for ages. I may be going insane from the lack of that particular piece of information, *cries*.
Wasn’t it Holland, 1945?
No, that was Will’s.
She didn’t have a favorite- she just said that she liked their less-accesible stuff
Are you guys planning on making a movie ? I think that it would be really great !
I know this may seem like a really odd question, but what race was Tiny Cooper meant to be? I also pictured him as being white, but a lot of other people I know saw him as black. It’s actually become somewhat of a heated discussion, even though it’s such an insignificant fact of the book.
I know this may seem like a really odd question, but what race was Tiny Cooper meant to be? I also pictured him as being white, but a lot of other people I know saw him as black. It’s actually become somewhat of a heated discussion, even though it’s such an insignificant fact of the book.
I noticed somewhat of a continuity error between writers
The Frenchy’s night is definitely a Friday according to John Green, as it’s the night of the MDC’s, and he allows time for a weekend to have passed after it.
But in Levithan’s chapter, Will says that he goes to school the day after the Frenchy’s night. Which would mean that he went to school on saturday…
Thomas, I thought the same thing! I kept re-reading to see if I was missing something, but yeah, I think that they were at school on Saturday. Surprised that more people have not picked up on this!
do you think that you two will ever write a sequel? theres a lot to work with!
I had been subscribed to the vlogbrothers for a long time before me and my fellow nerdfighter bestfriend were at the library , we were in the young adult fiction section or somthing like that because, I was scanning through all the books that had somthing to do with somthing nerdy , we had a huge pile of books and were about to go check them out when I saw somthing shiny.. I sat down and pulled the book from the shelf , IT WAS WGWG!! I screamed and showed her , I got up and started hopping up and down because Im a huge nerd. And we checked it out :D. When I finished it I was slightly sad, but only because it ended! The ending was great. But now I cant find any of your other books , We requested them at the library but theres always some complication, Can I read it online anywhere?
I mean any of your other books :D (Forgot about that) k thanks :)
Did your masterful editor ever name her daughter/son Will Grayson?
I sort of have to know now after seeing it mentioned in the acknowledgements.
I loved this book and everything that happened I brought it up in my book club and its gotten around school thank you for writing this both of you.
I loved this book! We made it our first teen book disccussion pick for 2011.
Teen Librarian
This is a question anyone with a copy of the book can answer for me, and I will be most grateful. On the acknowledgement page, the very last thing was something beautiful about being made in God’s image. I meant to write it down. How did that go?
“We acknowledge that being the person God made you cannot separate you from God’s love.”
Thank you so much, Kristen!
I just listened to the Audiobook of Will Grayson, Will Grayson over a 4 day period. It has been an incredibly emotional 4 days for me. Two of those days I was in such a dark, depressed state and only came out of it this afternoon as the book transitioned out of the dark, depressed state of its characters.
I cannot say this of most of the books I have come across, but I can say that for four days I feel like Will Grayson, Will Grayson allowed me to live another life through each of the characters. When the characters were happy, I was happy. When they were mad, I was mad.
That is the highest tribute I can give to you. You made them all so real that I felt everything they felt.
Thank you!
Are there two different perspectives in this book? Because when the two wills meet, when they’re on the phone, one of them is talking to maura and one is talking to tiny.
Any possibilities that this book might be turned into movie? Would you entertain the idea?
I was glad to see this book get published in Australia where I live (so many US titles are not). Loved the book even if the climax was a bit OTT (could so many people come so far in such a short time even if they could be talked into it – that kid should go into politics if his powers of persuasion are so good). Could relate to elements of both Will and will (here’s another question: why did Tiny never refer to his “best friend” by his first name? Seemed a little distancing, like something you’d find at a British boys’ school).
ron
Other things I really liked: no sex scenes (gay or straight, movies or TV, most sex scenes are tedious and grind the story to a halt) and the fact that one of the things the book was about was friendship – an interesting topic esp. re male adolescents who are seldom so “feelingsy” to use a Tiny coinage.
ron
Will grayson will grayson, unlike many of his other books (i.e Paper towns and Looking for alaska) seemed to have no real purpose or meaning other than two people with the same name whose lives happen to collide. Explanations anyone? :)
I love this book. I enjoyed every part of it. Sadly, gay-Will reminded me of my ex-boyfriend, I will not read it again. But, it was such an inspiring book. And to me, this book about finding out who you really are, who you want to be, and loving yourself. I loved all the characters (even Maura, and I wanted to kill her!!!!!!!!!!!). I’ll never love another book as much as this one.
I thoroughly enjoyed Will Grayson, Will Grayson! Like other books that I have read with John Green’s name attached to them, I read it in a very short amount of time!
The only real question that has been eating away at me is whether or not Tiny and lowercase will grayson got back together? I like to imagine that they did.
Also, I would like a little more clarification on the idea of Schrödinger’s cat?
Thanks. WGWG was… A delicacy of the sorts.
But it helped me. It helped me get through absolutely nothing and absolutely everything.
Keep reminding other people to Not Forget To Be Awesome. It makes them think.
Thank. You. DFTBA.
What was the song that Jane liked by Neutral Milk Hotel? I know it was a previous comment, but it was never really answered… It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t remember, and the library is all out of copies!!
It was called Annus Miribalis
Are there any movie deals in your future?
yah i’m waiting for the movie!
Chapter 15 is sooooo taken out of the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off movie! It’s like a summary of all the good parts!
Discuss the significance of Tiny’s musical production of Hold Me Closer; in what ways does sharing his personal experiences through this play allow Will and Tiny to evaluate their friendship? Predict how their relationship will evolve after the production.