Take heed, aspiring writers!
Summer Lotus 23rd Feb2021 2 min read
Neil Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films.
I enrolled in his masterclass online where he teaches the art of storytelling. The video lessons vary from 5 to 27 minutes making it very easy for the listener to understand and assimilate.
As a budding, writer wannabe, I discovered many nuggets of gold from Neil’s 19 video lessons which I jotted down earnestly. There are many salient points and Neil Gaiman put it most succinctly in his own inimitable manner.
I shall not steal his thunder. But I will always remember his advice to a gentleman whom he felt could write and finish things (unlike some writers who could not and have many unfinished drafts like myself) but did not have anything to say.
I like the way he put it. Neil Gaiman advised one to do a lot of living. “ Go out there into the world, go get a job, get fired from your job. Go get your heart broken, see as much of the world as you can. Find things. Bump into things. Get hurt.”
“Come back in a few years time and you will have a lot to write about,” Neil said that the young man did. He became a famous comic series and television writer later in his life.
Neil added, “ Experience is good. Reading is fantastic. Read everything you can, write everything you can. But do a lot of living because everything that happens in the living is going to wind up in the fiction. It’s going to be needed. You are going to need every human being you ever meet and need everything that you see because one day you’ll write a story…….”
Do a lot of living…that is a piece of great advice! This is what life is all about, experiencing joy and sorrow, pain and happiness. Feeling utterly alive and learning along the way. Then sharing our stories with others so that they can also rise to their own unique occasions even in difficulty and overcome them. And the wisdom gets passed on in our stories.
Neil Gaiman is a prolific writer. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book and many others. One story was made into a film.
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