Jenny Han on The Summer I Turned Pretty, Writing Process & Pleasing Her Fans
129When it comes to teen rom coms, one of the most prominent names of the subgenre has been Jenny Han. Her series To All the Boys I've Loved Before was made into a smash-hit Netflix movie back in 2018 and launched her into the pop culture sphere officially. Since then, she has been working not only on bringing the original To All the Boys spin-off, XO, Kitty, to life but also launching a new series, The Summer I Turned Pretty, based on her novel trilogy of the same name.
The Prime Video series has already been renewed for another season and sees Han as a co-creator alongside Gabrielle Stanton as well as one of the executive producers. The Summer I Turned Pretty follows the story of two women and their families. Susannah (Rachel Blanchard) and Laurel (Jackie Chung) have been best friends all their life and have stuck with each other through thick and thin. Every summer, they bring their kids to the beach house in the town of Cousins to have a memorable and magical summer.
This summer, things are changing, as Laurel's daughter Belly (Lola Tung) finds herself in the spotlight after growing up and blossoming into a young woman. She catches the eye of Susannah's sons Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), with the former being Belly's not-so-subtle, life-long crush. Things get complicated as secrets are revealed, love triangles are created, and the two families experience an unforgettable summer.
With all of Season 1 of The Summer I Turned Pretty currently available to stream on Prime Video, I spoke with Han about her time writing the series, a little about her inspiration and method, and telling a balanced story. Most book loyalists fall somewhere on the spectrum between wanting a completely loyal book-to-screen adaptation and being open to a completely original and different rendition.
For Han, it was about approaching her own novels through the eyes of her fans, she said:
I approached it like, what do I think are the most important elements of the story to keep? And what do the fans care the most about? I am able to pull from all the emails, letters, and comments I've seen over the years from fans, so that's how we looked at this adaptation. What do the original fans care most about? And then, also for me, what's going to be most like fun and exciting to explore? Because I think as a writer, you have to feel like you're doing something new in a way, too. That it's not going to be just the exact same thing, but what's the new approach? And how do I make this feel fresh?
The series certainly reflects that, taking what worked for the novel and reworking it for the screen while also making room for new developments made specifically to the series. She also explained what it was like moving into TV writing from her rather unconventional writing style when it comes to her novels. She said:
I think that in my novel-writing life, I don't outline, and it's very intuitive for me. Picture it like I am going through a forest blindfolded, and I'm feeling my way through, and I know where the finish point is, but it's kind of like, how am I getting there? I also don't write in order and I kind of see it when it's like 85%, 90% there, then everything comes into focus for me. I often picture like, I'm Iron Man. It was like click, click, click, all the pieces are coming together. That's how I see the story, and suddenly it becomes clear to me.
Given that TV writing is far more structured with page limitations and budgets, Han explained that she might try outlining her next book after this experience TV writing.
Having written the To All the Boys books, The Summer I Turned Pretty books, and with XO, Kitty on the way, Han has achieved a level of balance between telling authentic Asian American stories (especially through the lens of biracial protagonists) without leaning too far into the character's racial identity. When I asked her about how she achieves this balance, she said:
I approach it like, how can I write this character authentically and have it feel real and truthful to someone's lived experience? I don't think anyone's lived experience is wholly encapsulated by their racial identity. I think oftentimes, for me, as a writer, I'll be asked to specifically talk about being an Asian American writer and I love to talk about that, but at the same time, I also feel like that's not necessarily the most interesting thing about me, that identity. I think that everybody is made up of a lot of different things, and as a storyteller, first and foremost, I'm thinking about story and what feels really true to that story.
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