LiveWorld Transcripts

Borders.com presents

Joyce Carol Oates
Author of "Blonde"

April 21, 2000

NetCafeLive presents award-winning author, Joyce Carol Oates, who discusses her new novel, “Blonde.” Based on the tragic life and times of screen legend Marilyn Monroe, the author traces the actress’s roots from her Norma Jeane days to revered Hollywood icon.

Page 1 of 6

NetCafeLive: Welcome to NetCafeLive! Tonight we are chatting with author Joyce Carol Oates who will discuss her latest novel "Blonde". NetCafeLive is presented by Borders, Inc. and Talk City, Inc. Welcome!

Joyce Carol Oates: I'm very pleased to be here.

Rayanne: At what age did you know you wanted to be a writer and how did you know?

Joyce Carol Oates: I was writing when I was in high school, very seriously, but probably never really believed that I would be a "writer.” I still have difficulty believing that I am a writer.

IvySue: What do you like most about what you do?

Joyce Carol Oates: That's a good question! I enjoy many facets of writing. There's the preliminary planning stage, in which I spend a good deal of time walking, and running, and daydreaming. The second stage, I begin to take notes. (These notes accumulate for months, and sometimes before writing a novel I will have as many as 1000 pages in longhand.) The third stage is beginning to be more formal. I begin outlining and actually writing chapters, and I continue through the novel in this manner with continuous revisions. I become very obsessed with revising, rather like my character Norma Jeane/Marilyn Monroe, who became virtually compulsive about doing scenes over and over again in her movies. But I do enjoy revision. Then the final stage of a novel, for instance, allows me to revise virtually the entire manuscript. I revise constantly, in different parts of the manuscript, for instance if I'm writing on page 500, I may go back to page 75 and revise a chapter. In that way, I maintain a consistent style. But the most enjoyable part of writing is reading what one has written for the final time before sending it out. The process can be very arduous, but ultimately exhilarating.

Sigmagirl: Who first encouraged you to write?

Joyce Carol Oates: My grandmother, who gave me a typewriter when I was 14. And some teachers in grade school and junior high. They were always encouraging.

StoneFree1: Was it difficult to get your book published?

Joyce Carol Oates: That depends on which book you mean. My first book was a collection of short stories, which was actually accepted by the first publisher I sent it to, so I was very fortunate. I was about 22 years old (but that was just luck!). Since then, I've always had a publisher who has been very supportive of me. In all, I've had about five publishers.

WookieNumbers: How did you research for this book? Did you look in libraries, previous books?

Joyce Carol Oates: My research was varied. I read two biographies of Marilyn Monroe that were published in the decade following her death. I didn't take fastidious notes, because I didn't want to be burdened by specificity. The most enjoyable research was watching Marilyn Monroe's movies, from “The Asphalt Jungle” (1951), through to “The Misfits” (1961) which was her last movie. I was able to see the unfolding of a young actress who was very talented and who in fact had a much greater gift for acting than most people would acknowledge in her.

Page 1 of 6