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Interview: Veronica Roth talks sophomore slump and breaking away from ‘Divergent’

Dystopian young adult novels are getting an extension of their time in the spotlight thanks to Chicago-based writer Veronica Roth.

With her “Divergent” trilogy wrapped up—and making its way off the big screen to a TV movie for the last film adaptation—Roth is moving out of post-apocalyptic Chicago and on to bigger universes in “Carve the Mark.” With one series already under her belt, the Northwestern alumna is hoping to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.

“I think I learned a lot from the first [series],” said Roth, who grew up in Barrington. “Things that work, things that don’t work, things I should do better on next time.”

Alongside the pressure of following up her best-selling blockbuster series, Roth found herself walking the tightrope of carving out a unique universe for “Carve the Mark” and its successor while still maintaining a sense of familiarity to bring “Divergent” fans into the fold.

“There’s always pressure when you write a follow-up, no matter who you are and what kind of books you write,” she said. “Am I going to give people what they want? Will they like it? Will it be too different or too similar? You could get lost in these questions.”

While “Divergent” took place in a semi-recognizable Chicago, “Carve the Mark” exists in a galaxy of Roth’s own creation, though some remnants of her hometown wove their way through her new universe.

“I take a lot of inspiration without really meaning to,” she said. “Living in Chicago in the winter made it easier to write about a snow- and ice-covered planet, the idea that there are these really special things that can only grow there.” Too real.

It was that aspect of Chicago that she, perhaps inadvertently, captured in this new universe.

“People say, ‘Why would you ever live in Chicago?’ Well, you don’t get it,” she said. “There’s something special in it, and that’s what I tried to capture, at least in that kind of environment in the book.”

“Carve the Mark” was a few years in the making, according to Roth, who spent time toying with the idea of the story throughout her time working on the “Divergent” series before settling in to give it another go this time around.

“I had learned so much from just writing myself into corners in ‘Divergent’ and having to write my way back out of them,” she said. “I was up for the challenge of like, ‘Let’s see if I can create this world and make it feel detailed and interesting.'”

@shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com