The brand new World Book Day App is available now for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch on the iTunes store, the low, low price of absolutely FREE!
http://www.worldbookday.com/the-world-book-day-app/
It includes six brilliant short stories written especially for World Book Day by some of the best Young Adult authors in the world! Find out about the stories and browse and buy books by their authors:
Whenever it’s just him and me hanging out, he doesn’t say very much. Actually, he ignores me completely and writes in his notebook or something. I have no idea what people see in him.
Okay. Think how awesome you imagine Stephen King might possibly be.
He’s more awesome than that.
She’s her ever-so-many greats grand-aunt, I think. And she’s a several more greats grand-aunt to Daisy Hempstock in Stardust.
There’s a short picture book for little kids (pictures by Adam Rex) called Chu’s Day coming soonish.
There’s a book called Fortunately The Milk that’s written and with publishers. It’s a short book, but it’s a proper book.
Then there’s the thing I’m writing right now, which may be called Lettie Hempstock’s Ocean. And I’ll find out this afternoon if it’s going to be a children’s book or not when I write the scene in which our seven year old narrator sees some stuff that he shouldn’t.
Please celebrate Leap Year Day in the traditional manner by taking a writer out for dinner.
It’s been four years since many authors had a good dinner. We are waiting. Many of us have our forks or chopsticks at the ready - some of us have had them ready for days. We will repay you by drifting off while the food is being served and then suddenly scribbling something down on a scrap of paper and asking whether or not you think “passionate” could validly be said to rhyme with “cash in it”, then absent-mindedly drinking too much and trying to recite the whole of Clive James’s “The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered” from memory.
Feed us.
I got up this morning, and read the thirty or so questions that people had left in the last 8 hours. And apart from the few that wanted to tell me that, honestly, there’s nothing in the whole world like a photo of a gentleman holding a small yellow chainsaw, most of the rest of them were writing questions, about how you start writing and how you continue, and how you keep going when people criticise you and so on. And I thought, all this is stuff I’ve covered so extensively over on my blog at neilgaiman.com… and 90% of the answers were probably in one post. It was called On Writing.
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2004/02/on-writing.asp
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2004
POSTED BY NEIL AT 8:01 PM
I really don’t want to sit here giving you my life story. It’s boring and too long for me to write or for you to sit and have time to read. I was just told by a graduate school that because of my shabby GPA - a 3.07 - (not my writing sample)that I wouldn’t be admitted to their creative writing program. Anyway, with my writing, it’s just seemed like one thing after another, and I have no one to give me input on any of it since I, quite literally, come from a family of engineers, all very concrete thinkers. My question is this: when do you just give up? I don’t want to but it seems like the only logical thing to do. I’m so tired and frustrated with being deemed a failure. The one week I was actually able to give up writing was the most miserable week of my life. I know you’re busy and I really don’t expect you to answer this email. I just thought it might be nice to talk to someone who might just be able to understand, even if - at this point - I’m just sending a message out into the ether.
Jarett Underwood
I’m not sure what getting into a creative writing program has to do with being a writer. Go and look at Teresa Nielsen Hayden’s list of the 14 things a slush-reader or editor is looking for , and whether you’ve done a creative writing program, have an MFA in writing, or are in fact currently teaching a course in creative writing isn’t on the list.
(For the record, I’ve never been involved in a creative writing program. In my case, that was mostly because I knew I wanted to be a writer, and had enough hubris to know that I’d rather make my mistakes on the job. It was also because I had a vague suspicion that people in authority might suggest that I should write respectable but dull fiction, and then I’d be forced to kill them, and it would all end in tears or in prison. Many of my friends have enjoyed creative writing programs no end. Some of them teach them.)
As for giving up, well, sure, if you want to. Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins. It has no job security of any kind, and depends mostly on whether or not you can, like Scheherazade, tell the stories each night that’ll keep you alive until tomorrow. There are undoubtedly hundreds of easier, less stressful, more straightforward jobs in the world. Personally, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do, but that’s me.
If you want to be a writer, write. You may have to get a day job to keep body and soul together (I cheated, and got a writing job, or lots of them, to feed me and pay the rent). If you aren’t going to be a writer, then go and be something else. It’s not a god-given calling. There’s nothing holy or magic about it. It’s a craft that mostly involves a lot of work, most of it spent sitting making stuff up and writing it down, and trying to make what you have made up and written down somehow better.
I think for me the tipping point was when I was a very young man. It was late at night, and I was lying in bed, and I thought, as I often thought, “I could be a writer. It’s what I want to be. I think it’s what I am.” And then I imagined myself in my eighties, possibly even on my deathbed, thinking that same thought, in a life when I’d never written anything. And I’d be an old man, with my life behind me, still telling myself I was really a writer — and I would never know if I was kidding myself or not.
So I thought it might be better to go off and be a writer, even if what I learned from the experience was that I wasn’t a writer. At least that way, I’d know.
If it’s input you need, find a helpful bunch of likeminded people, either in real life or on the web. And, as mentioned here before, there’s Clarion and Clarion West and Viable Paradise among others for the would-be SF-Fantasy writers. The SFWA has a list of workshops and groups, both virtual and visitable at http://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/links-to-writers-workshops/.
It does help, to be a writer, to have the sort of crazed ego that doesn’t allow for failure. The best reaction to a rejection slip is a sort of wild-eyed madness, an evil grin, and sitting yourself in front of the keyboard muttering “Okay, you bastards. Try rejecting this!” and then writing something so unbelievably brilliant that all other writers will disembowel themselves with their pens upon reading it, because there’s nothing left to write. Because the rejection slips will arrive. And, if the books are published, then you can pretty much guarantee that bad reviews will be as well. And you’ll need to learn how to shrug and keep going. Or you stop, and get a real job.
Over 20 years ago, in an issue of Sandman, I wrote a story set at a Serial Killers’ convention. And the only women who got to speak at the convention were on a panel on “Women In Serial Killing”. I thought it was a funny and ironic commentary on something that, I was fairly certain, would change very soon. Certainly in the next 20 years. And in SF and Fantasy, it has. In comics, not so much.
And while I don’t attend many comics conventions these days. I think Paul Cornell’s Panel Parity is very wise and sensible…
Si shares the reasoning behind his decision to participate in “panel parity.”
[I]n an industry composed entirely of freelancers, without Shareholder-Meetings, Executive Boards or even Watercooler Moments, panels are very much the public face of our tribe.
I do. I love Marmite (the UK kind, not the sweet New Zealand version) and Vegemite.
My wife sings about this personal failing on my part at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJhDV0MMPAs
Yes. Keep writing.
You don’t “fall victim to drawing”. Pens don’t leap out at you and force you to use them to draw with or terrible pen-inflicted things will happen to your loved ones. What you are doing is, you stop writing and you start drawing.
So what you should do is, don’t do that. Instead, keep writing. (I sometimes draw on manuscripts while I’m working, pictures of characters or places to keep them in my head. But I don’t stop writing…)
I’m afraid not. That would tantamount to aiding and abetting cheating. Sorry.
No, I usually have several things on the go. That way if I get stuck on something I have something else I can work on.
I don’t think those three characters are anything at all alike. Jessica is a monster; Victoria is a really sweet, sensible young lady who makes a foolish agreement and is very willing to sacrifice her own happiness to fulfill her promise; and Rosie’s a dear, albeit wrong for Fat Charlie.
It seems to be going really well right now. I’m starting to get into a rhythm, I’m making my word counts, and I’m surprising myself with what I’m writing. So yay.
I was writing today in a coffee house that was playing Regina Spektor, which made me happy. (She’s an amazing talent and a really lovely person.)
And tonight I learned from Amanda that Regina has a new record coming out. Here’s the first song…
It’s probably just a sign that you’re about 2/3 of the way through the book, and having that drop off that happens around then. As I explained in my NaNoWriMo pep talk…
By now you’re probably ready to give up. You’re past that first fine furious rapture when every character and idea is new and entertaining. You’re not yet at the momentous downhill slide to the end, when words and images tumble out of your head sometimes faster than you can get them down on paper. You’re in the middle, a little past the half-way point. The glamour has faded, the magic has gone, your back hurts from all the typing, your family, friends and random email acquaintances have gone from being encouraging or at least accepting to now complaining that they never see you any more—and that even when they do you’re preoccupied and no fun. You don’t know why you started your novel, you no longer remember why you imagined that anyone would want to read it, and you’re pretty sure that even if you finish it it won’t have been worth the time or energy and every time you stop long enough to compare it to the thing that you had in your head when you began—a glittering, brilliant, wonderful novel, in which every word spits fire and burns, a book as good or better than the best book you ever read—it falls so painfully short that you’re pretty sure that it would be a mercy simply to delete the whole thing.
Welcome to the club.
That’s how novels get written.
Read the rest of it at http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/pep/neil-gaiman
Then stop grumbling, roll up your sleeves, and finish your book.
From http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool_Stuff - the first chapter of STARDUST, a book by some British guy.
Read by, er, some British guy.
In which I am interviewed by Maddy Gaiman, aged (at the time) about 10.
I made up the Corsair. The box is from the end of the last Patrick Troughton series called THE WAR GAMES.
I trust that you’ll get in touch with that person and let them know about rates of pay, then, which is what they were asking.
I write books by me. That’s what I know about. I suggested writing non-ghostwritten books, because I can talk about that. From my perspective, it seems easier and less likely to cause sorrow in the long term to write books you can tell people you’ve written.
I’m sorry my opinion hurt you. Perhaps if you ghostwriters talked more, and talked more loudly, about what you did and the joy you got from it, writers like me would find ourselves recommending it to young writers, rather than suggesting that, in the long term, they might be happier writing their own books.
Edit to add, Actually, if there are resources you can link to for ghostwriters, send them along and I will happily post them. And note that my original comment was to someone who wanted to know how much to charge to ghostwrite a novel - not someone who wanted to help a celebrity with a biography, or similar.
And if you think I am not encouraging enough to would-be young work-for-hire writers… I’m not. I’ve known too many writers who were angry with their younger selves for signing work-for-hire contracts, or for writing books they could not admit to. I’ve watched writers getting fired off series they created and ghost writers brought in, and did not feel thrilled for the ghostwriters or for the fired writers.
How odd. I was talking to a checkout girl at a supermarket yesterday, and she told me that all the questions on Tumblr are randomly generated by computers to distract authors from writing books.
We should introduce our checkout girls. Between them, they must know everything.
I do not know which title I would like.
But whatever the book in question would be, I would like it very much to be tattooed on Amanda Palmer’s back.
They do classes on this stuff? I thought it was just a way to kill time when I ought to be writing.
I don’t ever remember stumbling about blindly. I’ve written for a living all my life. It’s how I’ve fed myself and my family, paid my rent, bought shoes, all that, since I was a 22 year old journalist. And no, I never took any classes, although I did buy a copy of THE WRITER AND ARTISTS’ YEARBOOK.
It’s true. It’ll be directed by the very wonderful John Cameron Mitchell.
I talked about it on my blog at http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2010/12/in-which-john-cameron-mitchell-meets.html
I think you may have meant to leave that at http://whatshouldieatforbreakfasttoday.tumblr.com/
I don’t know, I’ve never been, or ever paid, a ghostwriter.
Why don’t you write your own novel instead of ghostwriting someone else’s? You get to keep all the royalties, and have it published under your own name. I recommend it.
I have no idea. I googled “Which Neil Gaiman Book Should I Read First” and found myself on http://gracelefay.wordpress.com/tag/which-neil-gaiman-book-should-i-read-first/, which makes some suggestions.
I don’t. My only part in the WorldBookDay app was giving them a story…
The World Book Day App will be available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch coming soon to the iTunes store and for the low, low price of absolutely free!
This brand new App features exclusive new short stories from Malorie Blackman, Neil Gaiman, Charlie Higson, Anthony Horowitz, Sophie McKenzie and Rachel Vincent!
And as if that wasn’t enough (well, you can never have too much great writing) there are also fantastic sample chapters of from some of the best Young Adult writers around today, plus news, videos and extras.
The App will be updated with new samples, news, videos andspecial offers throughout the year.
English National Opera announces Mini Operas, a world-wide, online search for composers, writers and film makers that will seek out emerging opera talent of the future from across the world. Three competitions to find future stars of all the components of creating an opera will be launched online allowing everyone to submit entries for one or more categories.
Live from 26 March 2012, this groundbreaking and innovative worldwide search for new talent will seek to create the future of opera. The hunt for exciting visionaries will take place entirely online in conjunction with Mini Operas partners: Vimeo, Soundcloud, BFI, British Council, Classic FM, Sound and Music and The London Film School.
The competition will run in three rounds dedicated to each discipline with renowned talent judging the entries. Artists with strong connections to ENO; Will Self, Terry Gilliam and Nico Muhly, will judge submissions for each relevant category. One participant will provide inspiration for the next as each round will be activated by ten final entries from the previous stage.
Existing and budding writers will be invited to create a script based on three example story lines, provided by Will Self, AL Kennedy and Neil Gaiman. Later in the year, the ten scriptwriter finalists will be put forward and composers will have the opportunity to compose an original score to these unique stories. From here, ten composer finalists will be picked by composer Nico Muhly and ENO Music Director Edward Gardner. The competition will then open up for film makers to construct their vision for the complete Mini Opera. The film section will be judged by film legend and director of ENO’s The Damnation of Faust, Terry Gilliam.
Terry Gilliam said, ‘Opera is really, really hard to do well. I know. I want people to find it out for themselves. I’ll be judging, and I want to find future stars who can work with this ridiculous, stupefying, insane, wonderful artform. Good on ENO for trying to find anyone mad enough to have a go.’
The finale to the contest will take place at the BFI, in autumn 2012. Terry Gilliam will pick one winner from each category. Selected films, scripts and soundtracks will be showcased at the event, and one person from each category will be chosen to be mentored by leaders in their field: BAFTA Award winning composer, writer and director Jeremy Sams, who has worked extensively in theatre both in the UK and New York and whose credits include Chitty The Musical, Amour, and The Water Babies; Composer Nico Muhly, whose opera Two Boys was premiered at ENO last year; and Leo Warner, whose productions include Waves and War Horse at the National Theatre and who has also produced work for the National Theatre of Scotland and the Metropolitan Opera.
I think that’s the most wonderfully sensible treatment of a book that scares you I’ve ever heard of.
PEN New England & The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
cordially invite you…
February 26, 2012 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
PEN New England and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum cordially invite you to the 2012 Awards for Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence presented to Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen.
Seats are limited to two per person. Doors open one hour before the program begins. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Once the main hall is full, the event will be streamed live in an overflow theater
Not unless the people can also send along the time in which to read them.
Well, in 1887 a man named Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the first of his Sherlock Holmes story. It was called “A Study in Scarlet”.
Back in 2002, when I came to write my Holmes/Lovecraft story, I used elements from Conan Doyle’s tale to make “A Study in Emerald”. When Steven Moffat wrote his updated Sherlock Holmes story, he used elements from “A Study In Scarlet” to write “A Study In Pink”.
That’s the story with that.
“All poets and story tellers alive today make a single brotherhood; they are engaged in a single work, picturing our human life. Whoever pictures life as he sees it, reassembles in his own way the details of existence which affect him deeply, and so creates a spiritual world of his own.”
-Haniel Long, Notes Toward a New Mythology.
There are millions of competent writers out there. There are hundreds of thousands of good writers in the world, and there are a handful of great writers. And this is me, late at night, trying to figure out the difference for myself. That indefinable you-either-got-it-or-you-ain’t spark that makes someone a great writer.
And then I realise that I’m asking myself the wrong question, because it’s not good writers or great writers. What I’m really wondering is what makes some writers special. Like when I was a kid on the London Underground, I’d stare at the people around me. And every now and again I’d notice someone who had been drawn - a William Morris beauty, a Berni Wrightson grotesque - or someone who had been written - there are lots of Dickens characters in London, even today. It wasn’t those writers or artists who accurately recorded life: the special ones were the ones who drew it or wrote it so personally that, in some sense it seemed as if they were creating life, or creating the world and bringing it back to you. And once you’d seen it through their eyes you could never un-see it, not ever again.
There are a few writers who are special. They make the world in their books; or rather, they open a window or a door or a magic casement, and they show you the world in which they live.
(The rest is over at http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/02/who-is-jonathan-carroll-and-why-should.html)
Yes. Go and read http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/12/my-new-year-wish.html and then reflect that the advice is good for everyone, fictional and otherwise.
Michael Chabon and Neil Gaiman will receive two of Fall for the Book’s major festival awards at the 14th annual festival—taking place September 26-30 at George Mason University and in venues throughout Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland.
Michael Chabon (photo: Jennifer Chaney)
Michael Chabon will receive this year’s Fairfax Prize, honoring outstanding literary achievement and presented by the Fairfax Library Foundation, and in doing so, joins a distinguished list of previous winners including Amy Tan, Ann Patchett, E.L. Doctorow, and Michael Cunningham.
Neil Gaiman has been named the winner of the 2012 Mason Award, recognizing authors who have made extraordinary contributions to bringing literature to a wide reading public; previous recipients have included Stephen King, Sherman Alexie, and Chinua Achebe.
Neil Gaiman (photo: Sophie Quach)
“Both of these writers have had extremely successful writing careers that have made them favorites among readers,” said William Miller, executive director of Fall for the Book. “In addition to their excellent novels, Chabon and Gaiman have written children’s and young adult books, and it is rare to have authors who have found success with both adult and young audiences. Both of them have also worked with comics and comic books, and as graphic novels continue to grow in popularity and maintain a place in the literary world, it is important to look at writers who are pushing the boundaries of traditional fiction.”
If that was actually happening a lot, yes it would be crazy. But apart from two cases of stupid/evil/crazy* people suing J. K. Rowling, both of which cases were thrown out of court and thrown out hard (and both of which cost the people who were suing a LOT of money), I don’t know of any cases in which people have tried it. And I try and keep up on copyright-based news.
You can’t copyright an idea. You can only copyright the specific expression of an idea.
Which is to say, I know people who have had books plagiarised, but their books were actually plagiarised - someone went through taking big chunks of their words and only changing the names of the characters. The people who did it got into trouble and their books have never been seen again. Also, they’ve become unpublishable.
Which is to say, without wishing to cast aspersions on your teachers, if ever you are a successful enough author that stupid-crazy-evil* people try and come after you for a slice of your insanely successful series of books, you can worry about it then. In the meantime, you are better off worrying about being struck by lightning, or the time you are losing messing around on the internet.
* your call
