~ Neil Gaiman
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Showing posts with label Neil Gaiman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Neil Gaiman. Show all posts
Monday, 10 February 2020
Thought for the Day
Monday, 2 September 2019
Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Warhammer Wednesday: How I Write OR Procrastination, Procrastination, Procrastination
Today I finished a short story. My fifty-ninth, in fact. And while I'm still high on the adrenaline rush of having finished, I thought it might be interesting to share my writing process with you.
The first thing you have to understand is that I am an inefficient writer. I have tried to changed this over the years, but in that time I have come to realise (and grudging accept) that this is just how it is for me. By the time I have finished the first draft of a manuscript, whether it's a novel, a gamebook or a story, it will be roughly 150% as long as the final draft will be.
Take, for example, the short story I completed today. It was commissioned to be 8,000 words long. The first draft ran to 12,000, but once I had finished editing it, it was just over 8,000. This is because I am very indecisive and my first draft is full of all the alternative ways of phrasing things that I could use, and which I don't finally decide upon until the final edit. My first drafts are also littered with notes, and prompts, and even ideas for other stories, which don't get taken out until the edit.
It can also take me a long time to finish a short story. For example, I started #59 on Monday 6th May and today is Wednesday 12th June. And here is a list of the days I actually worked on the story:
As you can see, I haven't worked on the story every day since 6th May, but I have been thinking about it a lot during that time. The trouble is, I never have just one project on the go at the same time. While writing #59 I have also been putting the finishing touches to my ACE Gamebook 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas, I've prepped and launched a Kickstarter for a role-playing game, I've been organising and promoting Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, I've worked on a proposal for something new, I've tinkered with some other ideas, and I attended the UK Games Expo. On top of all that, I'm also a Dad, with all the commitments that brings, and I have a part-time non-writing-related job.
When I start writing a story, it always takes me a while to get into it, to get to know the characters and feel the flow of the narrative, no matter how detailed a plot synopsis I have prepared before actually putting fingers to keyboard. At this stage of the process, I also find I get easily distracted. The Internet is great for research, but once I open a window to fact-check something for my story before I know it I'm on Facebook, or checking my emails for the umpteenth time, or tweaking my Twitter profile.
Procrastination is also a problem, because getting started is hard. I will sometimes put off writing to do something else, which maybe still needs doing but isn't actually as pressing, such as prepping updates for my blog. However, as you can see from the catalogue of days worked, once I get into the swing of the story I become much more focused, until by the time I'm working on the final edit I will work on nothing else until it is done.
You may be interested to know that I spent 18 hours writing Story #59 and another 11 hours editing (or re-writing, if you like), proofreading, and applying the final corrections before sending the story off. This means that before any royalties the story may earn in the future, I may not have earned big bucks writing it, but at least it's more than the minimum living wage.
Of course, the actual writing is only half the story. Rewriting, as much as I hate it sometimes, is key. As Neil Gaiman says in an advert for his masterclass that keeps popping up on YouTube whenever I try to watch anything*, "The process of doing your second draft is a process of making it look like you knew what you were doing all along."
As well as sorting out all the kinks in the story - discovering a character was carrying one type of weapon at the start, which magically transformed into an entirely different weapon halfway through - it's a chance to put in some foreshadowing, cool character traits, and even some red herrings, just to keep the future reader on their toes.
And I think this is why I feel such elation when I finish the spell-check and save the final draft, before submitting it. Because I don't particularly enjoy the process of rewriting, it feels like an achievement just to have got through it. And maybe it's also because by the end, I feel that I've written something that I think someone else will enjoy reading**.
To give you a better idea of my process, here is a single from Story #59 in all its many and varied forms, from first draft to final draft.
There will doubtless be revisions and re-writes to come, but for the time being I am enjoying the feeling of simply having finished writing something. And so tonight I am going to treat myself by starting work on a new project I've been dying to get my teeth into for ages!
* When I should be writing!
** In this case my fellow scribe Clint Werner in particular!
The first thing you have to understand is that I am an inefficient writer. I have tried to changed this over the years, but in that time I have come to realise (and grudging accept) that this is just how it is for me. By the time I have finished the first draft of a manuscript, whether it's a novel, a gamebook or a story, it will be roughly 150% as long as the final draft will be.
Take, for example, the short story I completed today. It was commissioned to be 8,000 words long. The first draft ran to 12,000, but once I had finished editing it, it was just over 8,000. This is because I am very indecisive and my first draft is full of all the alternative ways of phrasing things that I could use, and which I don't finally decide upon until the final edit. My first drafts are also littered with notes, and prompts, and even ideas for other stories, which don't get taken out until the edit.
It can also take me a long time to finish a short story. For example, I started #59 on Monday 6th May and today is Wednesday 12th June. And here is a list of the days I actually worked on the story:
Monday 6th May
Monday 13th May
Wednesday 22nd May
Thursday 23rd May
Wednesday 5th June
Friday 7th June
Saturday 8th June
Sunday 9th June
Monday 10th June
Tuesday 11th June
Wednesday 12th June
As you can see, I haven't worked on the story every day since 6th May, but I have been thinking about it a lot during that time. The trouble is, I never have just one project on the go at the same time. While writing #59 I have also been putting the finishing touches to my ACE Gamebook 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas, I've prepped and launched a Kickstarter for a role-playing game, I've been organising and promoting Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, I've worked on a proposal for something new, I've tinkered with some other ideas, and I attended the UK Games Expo. On top of all that, I'm also a Dad, with all the commitments that brings, and I have a part-time non-writing-related job.
When I start writing a story, it always takes me a while to get into it, to get to know the characters and feel the flow of the narrative, no matter how detailed a plot synopsis I have prepared before actually putting fingers to keyboard. At this stage of the process, I also find I get easily distracted. The Internet is great for research, but once I open a window to fact-check something for my story before I know it I'm on Facebook, or checking my emails for the umpteenth time, or tweaking my Twitter profile.
Procrastination is also a problem, because getting started is hard. I will sometimes put off writing to do something else, which maybe still needs doing but isn't actually as pressing, such as prepping updates for my blog. However, as you can see from the catalogue of days worked, once I get into the swing of the story I become much more focused, until by the time I'm working on the final edit I will work on nothing else until it is done.
You may be interested to know that I spent 18 hours writing Story #59 and another 11 hours editing (or re-writing, if you like), proofreading, and applying the final corrections before sending the story off. This means that before any royalties the story may earn in the future, I may not have earned big bucks writing it, but at least it's more than the minimum living wage.
Of course, the actual writing is only half the story. Rewriting, as much as I hate it sometimes, is key. As Neil Gaiman says in an advert for his masterclass that keeps popping up on YouTube whenever I try to watch anything*, "The process of doing your second draft is a process of making it look like you knew what you were doing all along."
As well as sorting out all the kinks in the story - discovering a character was carrying one type of weapon at the start, which magically transformed into an entirely different weapon halfway through - it's a chance to put in some foreshadowing, cool character traits, and even some red herrings, just to keep the future reader on their toes.
And I think this is why I feel such elation when I finish the spell-check and save the final draft, before submitting it. Because I don't particularly enjoy the process of rewriting, it feels like an achievement just to have got through it. And maybe it's also because by the end, I feel that I've written something that I think someone else will enjoy reading**.
To give you a better idea of my process, here is a single from Story #59 in all its many and varied forms, from first draft to final draft.
Click to enlarge
There will doubtless be revisions and re-writes to come, but for the time being I am enjoying the feeling of simply having finished writing something. And so tonight I am going to treat myself by starting work on a new project I've been dying to get my teeth into for ages!
* When I should be writing!
** In this case my fellow scribe Clint Werner in particular!
Friday, 6 July 2018
Riddle of the Runes Unleashing
I was fortunate to be among the guests who attended the launch of Dr Janina Ramirez's first* children's book, Riddle of the Runes, at Hatchards on Piccadilly last night.
When I arrived, I climbed flight after flight of stairs, following the sound of much merriment and excitement, to the top floor, where I was welcomed by the team from Oxford University Press with a glass of something cold and sparkling, which was nice.**
As well as Dr J, her family, friends and colleagues, others in attendance included Professor Kate Williams, Helen Czerski, Bettany Hughes, and Neil Gaiman, who literally popped in a minute.***
And patiently posing for photos, like this one...
Achievement unlocked: Dr Janina Ramirez calls you a legend.****
I was interested to learn that writing fiction is what Janina has always wanted to do, and was the reason she studied English Literature at Oxford. Everything else that has happened since, including her medievalist history and art history studies - not to mention her broadcasting career! - were simply a deviation from her original plan. But now she's back on track and celebrating being a bestselling children's author.
Then it was off to the pub for more merriment and lots of chat.
Much as I am enjoying Riddle of the Runes, and as thrilled as my own shield maiden is to have received her own signed copy, those of you who are still patiently awaiting Beowulf Beastslayer will no doubt be as intrigued as I am about Janina's next book, due out next March.
* Of many, I am sure!
** Not to mention most welcome. It was very hot.
*** How rock and roll is that?
**** Which is right up there with the time Charlie Higson publicly called me one of the world's leading experts in the gamebook genre.
Monday, 6 November 2017
Monday, 2 October 2017
Thought for the Day
“Picking five favourite books is like picking the five body parts you’d most like not to lose.”
~ Neil Gaiman
Monday, 21 August 2017
Thought for the Day
~ Neil Gaiman
Wednesday, 9 November 2016
Thought for the Day
or 'Woeful Wednesday: On writing and the futility of existence'
Whatever your personal politics, you can't help but be dismayed as the divisions that are forming around the world at present and the economic consequences of recent democratic decisions.
Like many other creatives, I am sure, I find that my ability to work on creative projects is directly affected by my mood. If I'm distracted by things, I find it hard to settle. If I am worried about things, I find it hard to write anything at all.
Waking up to today's news, that the leader of the free world is to be one President Trump - on top of everything else that is going on in Syria, Russia, and the rest of Europe - my initial reaction was, "What is the point in even turning on the laptop today? How can I contemplate spending my time writing a silly little gamebook based on The Wizard of Oz? The world might end tomorrow. What's the point?"
Now I would never claim that what I do is Art. For example, the other night I was out with friends and heard some incredible tales about their time working in Kuwait around the time of the first Gulf War. One of them said I should write a book about it. Then another asked me what I'm working on at the moment, and even as I was explaining The Wicked Wizard of Oz to them, I felt like what I was doing with my days was insignificant and juvenile, when compared to the woes facing the world.
I don't do Art, I do Entertainment. And that remembrance was the trigger that meant I deleted the self-indulgent tweet I had composed* and sat down to write this blog post instead.
I'm not saying that people should disengage from politics and the world, and live in Airy Fairy Land. Far from it. But if reading a inconsequential little book inspired by The Wizard of Oz improves someone's day in these dark times, if only for a minute, then surely it's worth knuckling down to finish said book.
As I said, I would never claim to create Art, with a capital A, but today, Neil Gaiman's words are going to be my mantra.
* In case you're wondering, it read: I shouldn't do politics on social media, it never ends well, but there doesn't seem much point in working today. #amnotwriting #pointless
Whatever your personal politics, you can't help but be dismayed as the divisions that are forming around the world at present and the economic consequences of recent democratic decisions.
Like many other creatives, I am sure, I find that my ability to work on creative projects is directly affected by my mood. If I'm distracted by things, I find it hard to settle. If I am worried about things, I find it hard to write anything at all.
Waking up to today's news, that the leader of the free world is to be one President Trump - on top of everything else that is going on in Syria, Russia, and the rest of Europe - my initial reaction was, "What is the point in even turning on the laptop today? How can I contemplate spending my time writing a silly little gamebook based on The Wizard of Oz? The world might end tomorrow. What's the point?"
Now I would never claim that what I do is Art. For example, the other night I was out with friends and heard some incredible tales about their time working in Kuwait around the time of the first Gulf War. One of them said I should write a book about it. Then another asked me what I'm working on at the moment, and even as I was explaining The Wicked Wizard of Oz to them, I felt like what I was doing with my days was insignificant and juvenile, when compared to the woes facing the world.
I don't do Art, I do Entertainment. And that remembrance was the trigger that meant I deleted the self-indulgent tweet I had composed* and sat down to write this blog post instead.
I'm not saying that people should disengage from politics and the world, and live in Airy Fairy Land. Far from it. But if reading a inconsequential little book inspired by The Wizard of Oz improves someone's day in these dark times, if only for a minute, then surely it's worth knuckling down to finish said book.
As I said, I would never claim to create Art, with a capital A, but today, Neil Gaiman's words are going to be my mantra.
* In case you're wondering, it read: I shouldn't do politics on social media, it never ends well, but there doesn't seem much point in working today. #amnotwriting #pointless
Monday, 24 October 2016
Thought for the Day
Neil Gaiman on writers being asked where they get our ideas from:
"In the beginning, I used to tell people the not very funny answers, the flip ones: 'From the Idea-of-the-Month Club,' I'd say, or 'From a little ideas shop in Bognor Regis,' 'From a dusty old book full of ideas in my basement,' or even 'From Pete Atkins.' (The last is slightly esoteric, and may need a little explanation. Pete Atkins is a screenwriter and novelist friend of mine, and we decided a while ago that when asked, I would say that I got them from him, and he'd say he got them from me. It seemed to make sense at the time.)
Then I got tired of the not very funny answers, and these days I tell people the truth:
'I make them up,' I tell them. 'Out of my head.'
People don't like this answer. I don't know why not. They look unhappy, as if I'm trying to slip a fast one past them. As if there's a huge secret, and, for reasons of my own, I'm not telling them how it's done."
"In the beginning, I used to tell people the not very funny answers, the flip ones: 'From the Idea-of-the-Month Club,' I'd say, or 'From a little ideas shop in Bognor Regis,' 'From a dusty old book full of ideas in my basement,' or even 'From Pete Atkins.' (The last is slightly esoteric, and may need a little explanation. Pete Atkins is a screenwriter and novelist friend of mine, and we decided a while ago that when asked, I would say that I got them from him, and he'd say he got them from me. It seemed to make sense at the time.)
Then I got tired of the not very funny answers, and these days I tell people the truth:
'I make them up,' I tell them. 'Out of my head.'
People don't like this answer. I don't know why not. They look unhappy, as if I'm trying to slip a fast one past them. As if there's a huge secret, and, for reasons of my own, I'm not telling them how it's done."
Monday, 8 December 2014
Monday, 15 September 2014
Thought for the Day
"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
~ Neil Gaiman
Monday, 21 October 2013
Monday, 1 July 2013
Monday, 1 April 2013
Thought for the Day
~ Neil Gaiman
Monday, 28 January 2013
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Neil Gaiman's New Year wish for everyone
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.
So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.
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