The Joseph Beth Rookwood Kids Team: Q&A With Veronica Roth

In the world of Divergent people are divided up into five societies (factions) that each holds a different core value. It must have been hard to choose only five. Were there any factions that were considered but didn’t make the cut?

No, actually! In fact, I originally came up with only four—Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite, and Amity—but the faction system is supposed to encompass a wide range of virtues, and I felt that one—honesty—was missing. Candor was my somewhat late addition.

Divergent takes place in a future Chicago. How did you decide to place your novel in a real setting vs. an entirely created world?  Have there been pluses or minuses to having to stick within the geography of the city?

I originally didn’t plan for Divergent to take place in an actual city, but after the rough draft I discovered that I, as a writer, found it more compelling when it was grounded in a real place. That real place became Chicago when I realized that I had already described it, in the complex system of above-ground trains that always seem to be running, and the immense building that would become the Sears Tower in my manuscript. I haven’t found many minuses to sticking to a city’s geography. Sometimes I have to do research, but even that helps me to get to know the city that I have lived so close to all my life, which is a definite plus. I also give myself the freedom to step away from reality when I need to, because the book is set so far in the future that the city has changed a lot from modern Chicago, and that allows me some creative liberties. 

Read the rest of the interview at Source