Marie Lu Quotes

I had a lot of really emo stories as a kid. I wrote a lot of fan fiction.

I started writing seriously when I was a teenager, around 14 years old.

I’m not much of an outliner in general. I tend to wing my way through all my drafts, which means writing a series is a very chaotic and panic-inducing experience.

Writing the first draft of a new story is incredibly difficult for me. I will happily do revisions, because once I can see the words on the page, I can go about ripping them up and moving scenes around. A blank page, though? Terrifying. I’m always angsty when I’m working my way through a first draft.

I’ve seen fan art from readers that is professional-grade in quality.

Movies require so many moving pieces to align that it really is a miracle that anything is made!

Boys are different from girls, but boys are also different from other boys, just as girls are different from other girls. Calling a book ‘for boys’ or ‘for girls’ is well-meaning, but to me, not terribly helpful.

I have an obsession with describing hair. I don’t know why – hair is just really pretty.

On the one hand, I’m so relieved that I’ve actually managed to finish my very first series and that I’ve been able to see my characters through to the end of their journeys. On the other hand, I feel like how parents must feel when they send their kid off to college. It’s a bittersweet mix.

I remember my favorite books when I was a kid: ‘The Redwall Adventure‘ series, ‘Ender’s Game,’ things like that.

I write the story as it comes to me – YA is my natural voice, not a conscious choice.

I’m a big fan of the trope of ‘the poor boy meets the wealthy girl.’ I like the idea of this boy from the other side of the tracks who doesn’t have a lot, but he‘ll give that little bit that he has to you.

‘The Rose Society‘ was definitely the hardest book I’ve ever written, because it’s so difficult to stay in that dark space.

It feels like it’s the end of the world if you don’t do well on your SATs.

I had a wonderful fan who once sent me an alpaca hat all the way from Peru, where he’d gone to volunteer in a remote village because he was inspired by ‘Legend‘ to do good. That’s probably one of the sweetest fan moments I’ve experienced.

In general, I write for ages 12 and up – although I’ve received emails from readers between the ages of seven and seventy. My books are science fiction.

When I was young, I drew as often as I wrote.

When I was young, I couldn’t process emotions well.

I think I was always meant to write dark stories.

Writing is an extremely rewarding and humbling process, and I’ve learned to go with it, that even if it feels absolutely impossible, I will find a way to tell the next story.

For me, as a fan, when I read book series, I tend to be the most judgmental of the last book.

I don’t think anything really consciously went into ‘Legend’ that was influenced by videogames, but I’m pretty sure some of my experiences and love for gaming contributed to a few of the factors that are in ‘Legend’.

Before I ever begin writing a new story, I have to sketch my characters out on paper. It’s part of my process of understanding who they are.

My very first system was the Sega Genesis back when I was 7 or 8 years old. I played that into the ground. Like, my parents had to confiscate it and put it in attic, the whole thing.

I’ve always had this interest in sibling relationships because I don’t have any siblings. I’m completely a product of the one-child policy in China, so I always kind of wished that I had an older brother or a younger brother or sister just to have that bond, so I find myself constantly writing about that relationship.