Wordy advice Archives - Page 7 of 9

There’s a line in the song ‘What a Wonderful World’ that says ‘They’ll know much more than we’ll ever know.’ This weekend I discovered first-hand what Louis Armstrong meant when I showed my kids – aged 7 and 9 – the first few pages of a new piece of work I happen to be very proud of.

I knew things weren’t going well when the first comment was ‘Are there any funnier bits?’ The next piece of advice hit me smack square between the eyes. ‘There are too many similies (like, what?) and sorry to say, Dad, where is your solution? You’ve mapped out the problem, but every story needs a solution.’

Great. Thanks. No, no, I appreciate it…

Huh, no, just something in my eye.

Neil Gaiman is a literary hero to many. What then, is his advice when you ask him the most important thing he’s learnt when it comes to writing? A man of many words, though in this case few. Nice one.

You should write a book about a wizard!

Great idea. Let’s pitch it to J.K Rowling’s publisher Bloomsbury and watch the cheques roll in. They would never have seen anything like it.

What do you do for the rest of the day?

Lazing about on the couch trying to catch thoughts might look like a part time job, but remember what Hemingway said: There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.

A cookbook! Seriously, cook books sell!

I’m pretty sure a recipe for cheese on toast is not in high demand. Thing is, you’ve got to do what you love. In my case, it’s eating, not writing about it.

Why don’t you get into erotic fiction?

Thing is, you’ve got to do what you…wait, let’s leave that one.

You know no-one’s reading books these days, right?

You may have a point, unless it’s a story about a wizard chef who loves nothing more than showing his magic wand to Christian Grey.

Justin Brown

Why my kids are smarter than me

3 important words from Neil Gaiman

5 things not to say to a writer