The Creation of Pretty Little Liars
Hello PLL fans!
As you might or might not know, Sara Shepard is the author of Pretty Little Liars. But what caused her to start writing the series, and what were her inspirations? That’s what I'm going to go through today.
Sara Shepard has always been creative and started writing stories as a child with her sister when she was eight. They would draw and come up with stories together which eventually led to her writing her first book when she was ten.
“I wrote my first book–it was really just a short story–when I was ten.”
Source: Interview with Sara Shepard, Goodreads, June 10, 2013.
She took a freelance job for Alloy Entertainment in 2002 working as a ghostwriter and got offered to start writing her own series–which ended up becoming Pretty Little Liars–in 2005.
“I was approached by Alloy to develop my own series, which became Pretty Little Liars.”
Source: Sara So What Do You Do, Sara Shepard, Author of Pretty Little Liars?, Mediabistro.
She’s shared in many interviews that the setting for the series was inspired by her hometown in Philadelphia's Main Line as she felt the idyllic setting was the perfect cover for the secrets in Pretty Little Liars.
“There was as much turmoil going on in the perfectly manicured lawn houses as there is anywhere else. It seemed like the ideal setting for this type of book.”
Source: Sara Shepard: Interview, @Slayground on Livejournal, December 25, 2007.
Each of the main characters have a bit of herself in them, she says in an interview with Faze. Spencer and her Type-A personality and Hanna’s obsession with labels and her struggle with an eating disorder. In her younger years she was also like Emily, swimming and wondering why she was doing it, and like Aria who she shares her artsy nature with.
“Each of the main characters have a bit of me in them.”
Source: A chat with author, Sara Shepard, Faze.
As you can probably tell from the above, the Pretty Little Liars book series was written with a lot of heart and personal experience behind them—well, except for all the stalking and murder.
I hope you enjoyed learning a bit about Sara Shepard and the creation of Pretty Little Liars with me. Please comment or reach out if you have questions or ideas for more topics.
- A (...a much friendlier PLL fan)
Sources:
• Interview with Sara Shepard, Goodreads, June 10, 2013
• So What Do You Do, Sara Shepard, Author of Pretty Little Liars?, Mediabistro
• Interview: Sara Shepard, @Slayground Livejournal, December 25, 2007
• A Chat with Author, Sara Shepard, Faze
All quotes are used for commentary and informational purposes. Sources are credited above.
