Marissa Meyer on Origin Stories, Fairy Tales & Wrapping Up a Series

Every year we get a new book (and this year, two!), and every year each book is longer than the last. Tell us, what is your writing routine like? Winter is an astonishing 800 pages! How do you do it?
It’s true—Winter is a beast of a book! I never would have expected to write a novel that was 800+ pages, but that’s what I ended up needing to tell the story. This series grew very organically as I was writing it. With every book we’re introducing new characters, and each character has their own problems being dealt with, their own romance, their own character growth. So by the time we get to Winter, there are a whole lot of subplots and story arcs all vying for page time. I wanted to make sure each character received their due in this finale and no one got left behind. It was a huge balancing act.
As far as writing process goes, I tend to think of each book as a puzzle. I have all these pieces (characters, scene ideas, plot points, reveals), and I have to arrange and rearrange them until they start to form a complete picture. I’m constantly moving things around. I’m a fan of the index card method, where each card represents a scene and you can shuffle them and reorder them until it makes sense. When it comes to looking at the big picture, it’s helpful for me to have something tactile, that I can pick up, write on, or shred to pieces if necessary.

It was a nice surprise getting Fairest in between Cress and Winter. What made you want to tell that origin story?
I wanted to tell Levana’s story almost from the beginning. I knew that the evil queen from “Snow White” was going to be my major villain of this series, even before I knew Cinderella was the main protagonist, so Levana’s story has been building from day one. I had so many questions about her. Why is she so vain? What’s underneath the glamour? Why does she hate Winter and Princess Selene and how far would she go, really, to be the Fairest of Them All? She’s been gradually revealing her story to me as I wrote the other books, but I still had some unanswered questions as I was writing Winter—the biggest one being What is under that glamour?? I still didn’t know!—and I kept running into road blocks because of it. So one day I decided to set Winter aside, which was tough for me because I was under deadline at the time, and write Levana’s story instead. And once I started, her story came pouring out, like it had just been waiting for me to give it the time. I wrote the book in a little over a week, and a year later it was published with very few changes from that first draft. And most important, I was finally able to push past all those problem spots in Winter and finish it! So it worked out.

With each new story, we’ve explored a new fairy tale. This time around, in Winter, we get Snow White. What about that particular fairy tale made you want to explore it? 
It was all about the queen. She’s been my favorite fairy tale villain for ages. I’m fascinated by the idea that a woman would place so much value on her physical appearance that she would do drastic and awful things in order to maintain her reputation of being the most beautiful woman in the land. The fairy tale gives her such a great downward spiral, too. At first, when the mirror is confirming she is the most beautiful, she’s all happy and content. But once Snow White starts coming into her own, you see this very clear descent into madness, as the queen becomes more and more obsessed with killing her stepdaughter.
I also was always curious about the Huntsman character. I think he’s so much more interesting than the prince, so I wanted to bring that element of the story into Winter and make that moment when the Huntsman spares the princess’s life a huge turning point in this book. That scene is now one of my favorite chapters of the entire series.

How does it feel wrapping up a series? Did you have the scope of the series plotted out when you were working on Cinder?
It’s incredibly bittersweet. I started writing Cinder on November 1, 2008—almost exactly seven years ago. That’s a long time to be hanging out in the same world with the same characters. I’ve come to love them all so much, like some of my dearest friends. I cried on the day when I turned in the final draft of Winter. I just couldn’t imagine I was saying goodbye to the story that had been such a part of my life for so long. (Of course, it’s not entirely the end—we still have Stars Above to look forward to, and I was so happy that my publisher allowed me to write just a bit more in this world!)
I did know from very early on how the major points of the story would play out. I knew the ending (at least the general scope of it), and I had each book outlined before I started writing them. But things have changed so much from that original plan. The story just kept growing, until it far surpassed what I’d envisioned from the beginning. Everything became so much Bigger and More Complex than I expected, and it was fun for me to release the reins and let it go. I haven’t felt in control of this story in years!

In between all the writing, what’s your reading been like lately? Any recent favorites?
My two favorite reads of the year have been Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo, which combines magic and heists—two of my absolute favorite things!—and Mortal Heart, by Robin LaFevers, which did a marvelous job of balancing history, fantasy, and one of the greatest romances I’ve ever read. I was able to read both of these books while I was traveling earlier in the year, which is about the only way I get to read anymore. With one-year-old twins at home, the only way I can read is via audiobooks while I’m driving around or doing dishes. (I’m currently listening to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—which is fun so far, mostly because the narrator sounds like Dumbledore.)
Winter goes on sale November 10, and is available for pre-order now.