John Green, an American writer, Producer, Novelist, Critic and YouTuber, has gained immense popularity in regard to his writing and videos. He is a motivated writer despite his own illness. He has produced some great novels which have motivated and instill the aura of life in its readers. He is the writer of young-adults and they pay him great reverence for his skilled and artistic writings.
Green creates a world of characters that are filled with enthusiasm and zeal for writing. His characters are taken from real life based in the society and culture John Green lived in.They struggle for life in a medically threatened world of diseases.
He is not only a successful writer but a successful Vlogger as well. Besides his writings and videos, he has been in limelight for his charity works in different areas and different domains.
A Short Biography of John Green
John Michael Green is a popular name of young adult fiction. He is an American author; YouTube content creator, actor and producer. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on 24th August 1977. Besides writing novels, he creates many educational online videos.
He is a passionate author who talks and discusses the people in real situations. He is the writer of the characters who are loaded with emotions and sentiments for life and other people around them. He embodies life and the struggle for life.
He is the son of Mike and Sydney Green. When he was born, his family moved from Indianapolis to Alabama and then they got settled in Orlando, Florida. He went to Glenridge Middle School and then to Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, Florida. He spent his life in misery and difficulties because he was constantly bullied by his schoolmates in his school life. He completed his graduation from Indian Springs School located on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama in 1995. He also got his graduation in English and Religious studies from Kenyon College in 2000.
He served as a student chaplain after his graduation in Nationwide Children’s hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He served for five months in the hospital. At that time he got enrolled in University of Chicago Divinity School but he never attended it. His first aim was to serve as a priest. When he worked in the hospital and encountered different children with various threatening diseases he changed his intentions. He decided to become a writer and then wrote his novel The Fault in Our Stars.
He worked as a publishing assistant for Booklist. It is a review journal of books. He completed his first novel Looking for Alaska in 2005 and published it in the same year as well. This book won American Library Association Michael L. Printz Award in 2006. His time in Indian Spring School became a major source for this novel.
He wrote the second novel Abundance of Katherines in 2006. This novel was also well received and it became runner up for the Printz Award. It also became the finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His third novel Paper Town was published in 2008. In 2009, Paper Town received the Edgar Award in the category of Best Young Adult Novel. It also won the Corine Literature Prize in 2010. In 2008, he left his job as publishing assistant for Booklist because he decided to continue his writing career.
In 2010, John Green and David Levithan collaboratively published a novel Will Grayson, Will Grayson. It won runner up awards for Stonewall Book Award and Odyssey Award for Excellence.
His highly received and celebrated novel The Fault in Our Stars came in 2012. It was the New York Times Best Seller. It was adapted into a film in 2014. In 2017, Green`s next novel appeared with the title of Turtles All Way Down.
At present he lives with his wife Sarah Urist Green in Indianapolis, Indiana. They got married on 21st May 2006. They live with their two children Henry and Alice. He suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. He talks about this disease in public and calls it a part of his life. His latest novel Turtles All The Way Down is simply based on the theme of this disease.
John Green’s Writing Style
Creation of Characters
Green stated that before making characters he considers what a character resembles and what her characterizing qualities are to be added to a character. He says that he thinks about what makes a character fascinating, what makes a character exceptional and which qualities of a character will lead to the contentions throughout his/her life. He also makes an effort not to overlook that characters are made of language, and the author should be mindful of that. Thus, a good number of the characterizing qualities of characters in his books are language-driven.
He says that whenever he wants to think about character, he likes to think about them in relationships with each other. Similarly, he believes that is the means by which people are at last characterized. We are our connections with each other. What’s more, a great deal of what is intriguing about people occurs with regards to others.
He likewise attempts to think about clashes. A great deal of what sort of characterizes character are tough situations. Like one hears that in difficult situations one discovers who his companions truly are and one discovers the genuine character of individuals. He believes that it is somewhat overstated. But the facts confirm that contention does from various perspectives characterize people and characterize their encounters.
He likewise said that while characters should be genuine to the readers, they don’t really should be genuine to the creator. Because he thinks that the characters remain in development. In any case, he should be sympathetic toward the characters in his novel. Even on the off chance that he doesn’t care for them or he doesn’t concur with the decisions that they make. He says that he has to comprehend the estimation of those decisions.
Characters of Sentiments
John Green uses an extremely unique kind composing style in the manner he imitates the considerations and sentiments of a withering young characters of his novels through cleverness and catastrophe. His characters are breathing and enjoying the whims of life. They bring about real-life situations. They talk about the common issues and common goals.
The general style of the novels is progressively changing as the novels advance, giving the readers the fantasy of destiny advancing up to the end of the books. An example of John Green’s composing style is when Hazel is portraying her entices in her care group: “When they tell you that you have say, a 20% chance of living five years, the math kicks in and you figure that’s one in five… so you look around and think, as any healthy person would: I gotta outlast four of these bastards” (Green 4).
Sentence Structure
John Green uses normally short sentences in his novels. Whenever there is something long to be explained, only then John Green opts for longer sentences otherwise he writes fairly short sentences. He does not write incomplete sentences rather he uses full sentences without any fragments or clauses. The greatest quality of his writing is that he remains focused to the topic in regards to his word selection. His sentences are not in digressions. He writes easy to understand sentences for his readers.
Pace
John Green invests a large number of his words on writing the details about his characters. He is very much descriptive in regard to his characters and their background. He is never in a hurry to complete his book without giving the deserving details to his characters and places rather he treats them in a balanced and informed way. He gives the physical as well as mental stature of every character that is in limelight because his characters are not just characters but his ambassadors.
Vocabulary
John Green uses very simple and ordinary vocabulary for the readers. He writes for young adults so he takes a good amount of care while selecting the vocabulary in his novels. He thinks that the vocabulary should suit the readers only then the readers will be able to read and extract meanings from the text. If bombastic vocabulary is there, his readers might get diverted from the intended meaning by losing interest in the text.
Informal Language and Slangs
Green`s language in his novels is mostly informal. He goes for informal usage of words. He also tries to utilize the slangs of local dialects. This gives the quality of reality to the readers and the readers also think that the characters are not fictional but they are the characters of this very world.
The readers think that these characters on the pages of the novel are the characters like human beings and they are not heavenly characters. The utilization of casual language and slight slang gives readers the impression of a youthful grown-up talking. The novels are loaded up with figurative devices, which enthrall the readers and hold them until the end.
Imagery
One of the major characteristics of Green’s writing style is his use of imagery. He makes the scene. He tries to refer to nature. He makes the characters feel in nature and then moves in the shadow of nature because it is nature that affects and motivates the characters for life. Another major effect of using imagery as a device is that this nature gives the sense of life to its characters because nature is not always favorable for humans as well.
An example of symbolism is when Hazel depicts her first experience with Augustus Waters: “Long and leanly strong, he dwarfed the shaped plastic grade school seat he was sitting in. Mahogany hair, straight and short.”
Allusions and Paradoxes
Green uses a number of Allusions and Paradox in his writings to beautify his writing as well as give something to the readers to ponder about. The allusion and paradox are used to give readers a sense of deep meaning because outwardly they are used to embellish the text but inwardly they carry deeper meanings. Hence, the reader is forced to look beyond the common meaning of the text and interpret the text according to his own intellectual meanings.
An example case of an allusion and paradox is Van Houten’s reference to Zeno’s tortoise, demonstrating that regardless of how far one moves, one has just shortened the lead of the tortoises. “Zeno gave us that a few boundless qualities are greater than different vast qualities.”
Pun
Green uses Pun in his novels as well. This pun is used to make the readers ponder about the contrasting ideas of whatever they are reading on the pages of the novel. Green does not make the readers simply read the text and understand it. He wants the readers to associate various meanings to the text and when the reader finishes the novel, he has something to think about and reflect.
A genuine case of a joke is when Hazel visits Isaac, who has of late experienced an eye expulsion medical procedure to free him of malignant growth: “And fourteen months isn’t so long, not in the plan of things. You’re simply beginning, mate. You’ll see”. The medical nurse is referencing how Isaac’s recuperation time will be speedy, however, coincidentally alludes to his visual impairment in a figure of speech. The utilization of the pun adds some silliness to this enthusiastic scene.