13 Writing Truths from Neil Gaiman on His Birthday
(Photo credit from @neilhimself)
Neil Gaiman has always given the world much to think about: Do dogs understand when we’re trying to write and decide to impede us anyway? Is it all right to go next door for a pad of paper and a writing utensil upon being locked out? Armageddon…or tea? These are the important questions.
Though he’s surely the next Nostradamus, Gaiman is probably better known as a writer than as a Doomsday-Darjeeling soothsayer. To celebrate this sir on his birthday, and in light of NaNoWriMo, we scoured Gaiman’s tweet backlog for ages (and by ages we mean hours looking through Twitter’s advanced search function) finding the best tidbits on writing that this jovial tea-sipping nerd king has to offer.
On preconceptions of the writing life:
I am sitting in an Indianapolis Starbucks writing a speech in a moleskine notebook. I feel like a lazy writer's idea of what a writer does.
I am sitting in an Indianapolis Starbucks writing a speech in a moleskine notebook. I feel like a lazy writer's idea of what a writer does.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) April 16, 2010
On getting back into the hang of things:
I'm writing. I'm on page 4. This is so cool. They sound like themselves. i DO remember how to do it. HAH. (okay back to writing now)
I'm writing. I'm on page 4. This is so cool. They sound like themselves. i DO remember how to do it. HAH. (okay back to writing now)
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) March 1, 2009
On writing in solitude:
Enforced writer solitude: no phones work, not even the landline, & the internet is almost too slow to use. On the downside, no hot water.
Enforced writer solitude: no phones work, not even the landline, & the internet is almost too slow to use. On the downside, no hot water.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) April 26, 2010
On how to know when a story is done:
[Y]ou know it's done when there aren't any more words; and you're sad because you've been writing it for 6 years and now it's done.
@ABWaite you know it's done when there aren't any more words; and you're sad because you've been writing it for 6 years and now it's done.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) March 18, 2009
On settings:
[I]f you are an author writing about somewhere distant, you worry that a local will see the things you got wrong.
@MaluBVargas I mean, if you are an author writing about somewhere distant, you worry that a local will see the things you got wrong.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) June 5, 2010
On organizing your computer screen:
Never, never NEVER have two drafts of the thing you're writing open at the same time. Which one did I just do what to? ARGH!
Never, never NEVER have two drafts of the thing you're writing open at the same time. Which one did I just do what to? ARGH!
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) April 19, 2009
On writing priorities:
Whether one thing gets published or not isn't important. The work is.
@meowsofdoom Keep writing. Whether one thing gets published or not isn't important. The work is.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 12, 2012
On journalism:
Um, journalism IS writing. Or it was back when I did it.
Um, journalism IS writing. Or it was back when I did it. @teambates: How did you transfer from journalism to writing?
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) February 15, 2012
On the reaping the feeling of accomplishment:
A GREAT DAY'S WRITING. And on the good days, nothing else matters.
A GREAT DAY'S WRITING. And on the good days, nothing else matters.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) February 28, 2012
On writing in solitude II:
If I am writing in a coffee shop I am about as keen to be disturbed as a leprechaun and, if approached, as unlikely to be there next time.
If I am writing in a coffee shop I am about as keen to be disturbed as a leprechaun and, if approached, as unlikely to be there next time.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) April 17, 2012
On your writing to-do:
Write. Finish things. Go for walks. Read a lot & outside your comfort zone. Stay interested. Daydream. Write.
Writer advice for @megan23451? Write. Finish things. Go for walks. Read a lot & outside your comfort zone. Stay interested. Daydream. Write.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) June 5, 2009
On tentacular pseudopods:
In the thing I am writing I just used the phrase "tentacular pseudopods". I am 51 years old and have never written that before.
In the thing I am writing I just used the phrase "tentacular pseudopods". I am 51 years old and have never written that before.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) July 11, 2012
On empathy for characters:
Back to writing the story. These nice people aren't going to murder themselves…
Right. Back to writing the story. These nice people aren't going to murder themselves…
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) August 30, 2012
On being Neil Gaiman:
I'm not the best writer in the world. But I'm the best writer who's me.
@goatmaiden I'm not the best writer in the world. But I'm the best writer who's me.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) May 9, 2013
On Piracy vs Obscurity:
I think obscurity is much worse for a writer than piracy.
@MarcyTanter I think obscurity is much worse for a writer than piracy.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) February 12, 2011
On the difficulty of writing II:
I think I'm for discouragement. If you can be discouraged, you shouldn't be writing. The writers will do it anyway.
@JenMath I think I'm for discouragement. If you can be discouraged, you shouldn't be writing. The writers will do it anyway.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) September 14, 2009
On litotes:
I'm a writer: I know what litotes is & whether it's a figure of speech based on understatement or the kind of fish that gives you a pedicure
I'm a writer: I know what litotes is & whether it's a figure of speech based on understatement or the kind of fish that gives you a pedicure
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) December 7, 2009
Also on boosting self-esteem:
I'm not the best writer in the world. But I'm the best writer who's me.
@goatmaiden I'm not the best writer in the world. But I'm the best writer who's me.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) May 9, 2013
Alex Grover
Alex Grover currently modifies ebooks at Penguin Random House. He’s a VR enthusiast, a pseudo Godzilla scholar, a haphazard SF poet, and an overall nice chap. Read his infrequent thoughts @AlexPGrover.
