Today Neil Gaiman re-awoke my artistic heart.
He spoke at Book Expo America about his two new books that are coming out (Fortunately, The Milk & The Ocean at the end of the Lane) and “Why Fiction is Dangerous. Much of the talk was anecdotal about his reasons behind writing the books.
Eloquent as always he described feeling guilty about The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish. The plot of the book centers on how a little boy thought his father was boring and traded him away only to find out getting him back wouldn’t be so easy. The book became very popular and people began giving it to fathers as presents. Gaiman felt this was giving fathers the wrong message and wanted to write a book that made dads proud. Writing tidbits of story here and there he eventually came up with Fortunately, The Milk, the story of a father who had a very trying time buying milk (including being kidnapped by aliens and pirates)
Neil also discussed The Ocean at the end of the Lane. It was sparked by a story that Neil’s father told him of when he was a 7 year old boy. A lodger from South Africa came to stay with them at the time and had smuggled all of his friends money out of the country for them since it had been illegal at the time. He made the mistake of taking all of the money to Brighton and losing at a casino there. The man was so distraught he stole Neil’s father’s car, drove it to the end of the lane, and shot himself. This story bothered him. The question of how things change from childhood memories and how much we forget or misremember evolved into a short story. He continued to write and after a while he looked down at his short story and discovered it was a novelette; then novella. Eventually it grew to novel length and he sent it along to his editor with the note: “I appear to have written a novel. I hope you don’t mind.”
The real heart of the discussion was “Why is Fiction Dangerous”. Neil gave us a few humorous stories about being a child and being influenced by nonfiction books to do projects that would eventually get him in trouble. (such as using beet root to dye all of his father’s white shirts red) But that is why non-fiction is dangerous. Fiction is dangerous because “It shows people that the world doesn’t have to be like it is now.” He told a story about going to a science-fiction convention in China. Previously China had been very disapproving of science fiction and fantasy; saying that it was subversive. Neil asked one of the show runners why they had decided to suddenly promote science fiction. The man replied that China is very good at making things. People bring them things like iPods and phones and they MAKE them, but they don’t innovate. They don’t invent. they sent people to America and asked some of the big tech companies questions to find out where their inspiration came from. They found that almost everyone across the board read sci-fi and fantasy growing up. Thus if China was to promote more growth in that area they would have to embrace these types of fiction. Encouraging people to read fiction allows us to dream of worlds to come and grow beyond what we have already.
The discussion closed with a question and answer period and this was where I really felt moved. Neil talked about inspiration, rejection, trials and errors, and everything in between.I often get sidetracked and disheartened about my writing and art. I worry about how to start, how to finish, how it will be received and where to go from there. Neil voiced his own parallel feelings. This from a man who has been writing his whole life and has achieved a large amount of success. Every time I hear Neil talk he inspires me once again. I had been going through a rough patch in my work lately. I have plenty of work to do (some of it paying even) and a whole lot of self doubt which was holding me back. After today’s talk it made me very aware that I hold myself back. I tell myself I am not good enough before I even try to do anything.It is something I have heard many artists and writers say and we need to STOP IT. Just do. Whatever you want to do just do it. If you make a mistake let it be a learning experience and not a boat anchor. Don’t let your doubts weigh you down.
At the end of the talk he gave everyone copies of Fortunately, The Milk & Make Good Art. If you are someone who creates ANYTHING and haven’t read Make Good Art, you are doing yourself a disservice. It is a wonderful book and I think I will have to make a giant poster of it to put over my workspace. This way I always remember to be inspired and leave the negative feelings about my work at the door.
Thank you Neil, for understanding and putting into words what every artist needs to hear.
Saturday morning…