This weekend, I got to watch something really cool on Twitter.
As a bit of background because you may be new here, I think Neil Gaiman is a pretty cool guy (and the Award for Understatement of the Year goes tooooo…). His fiction is great, the people in his life are awesome and inspiring (I interviewed Cat Mihos for How to Have a Day Job, and she is a really fantastic lady), and he is a wellspring of cool.
On Sunday, while waiting for his plane to take off, Neil took questions on Twitter. About anything: writing, love, publishing, John Hodgman (well, I think John just showed up to the party), etc. And I found myself really moved by the simplicity of his answers. Not even in that ‘you only have a thimble’s worth of words to use on Twitter’ but just how straight to the point it was. It felt like finding little stones at the bottom of a rushing stream. I found myself moved and inspired.
A few of my favorites included:
“I have a lot of ideas, and even more unfinished stories… How do I pick up the pencil from here?”
Finish things. https://t.co/UhbQPHeXRX
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) July 17, 2016
“When’s the best time to write?”
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) July 17, 2016
“And advice to someone who want to start writing?”
Write. https://t.co/bm3feIJf86
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) July 17, 2016
“Advice to self-doubting writers-in-training who got extremely rusty after a long time of not writing?”
Write. https://t.co/3WIAlHV1FV
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) July 17, 2016
Notice a theme?
Always write. Even if (especially if) you don’t know what you’re doing. Make it happen. Let the words come out. Make the art. Your hands will learn what to do, but only if you hush up the brain and let them move.
And remember, whether you’re an artist or a human being:
“How do you get over heartbreak?”
time. https://t.co/g6e4lsHXou
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) July 17, 2016
bohemian.on.rye 