Trust Exercise

Choi said that the book's setting was not as important as its location. She chose a "sprawling sort of suburban-style American city",[10] similar to areas that she grew up in, such as Houston, Texas.[10] She elaborated on the location to Bookish:

The other thing was that I wanted the characters to be in a place that isn't a cultural capital, or at least it isn't at the time of this story. It isn't a New York or a Los Angeles, and because they're aspiring performers they're acutely aware of being from a place that's not a cultural capital. They're always yearning for and aspiring to go where the bright lights are. That describes the place where I grew up, but it also describes so many other places. I wanted to generalize the specificity.[10]

Choi further commented about the writing process saying, "I'm conscious of having been so mad during so much of the writing of this book ... . Like really mad."[11] Choi explained that when she was writing this book, Donald Trump had just been elected and she was also going through personal issues stemming from her separation with her husband.[11] Choi tapped into the reaction following the publication of the Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape, realizing that discussions about sexual abuse and harassment had taken on a new urgency.[11]