The Tim Ferriss Show
#575: Neil Gaiman — The Interview I've Waited 20 Years to Do (Repost)
Episode guests
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- Persistence in pursuing an idea is crucial to telling an important story.
- Establishing a routine and understanding personal writing preferences can enhance creativity and productivity.
- Having an audience can greatly motivate and fuel creative endeavors.
Deep dives
The Genesis of The Graveyard Book
The idea for The Graveyard Book came to Neil Gaiman when he observed his son happily riding a tricycle through a country graveyard. He thought of a story about a child in a graveyard being raised by dead people, similar to how a child in The Jungle Book is raised by wild animals. He initially wrote a complete first chapter but felt it wasn't good enough. He revisited the idea a decade later but again realized it wasn't ready to be written. Finally, in 2003, after finishing Anansi Boys, Gaiman felt it was time to write The Graveyard Book and committed to telling the story.
Writing Challenges and Evolution
Gaiman first attempted to write The Graveyard Book when he was 25 years old but felt it wasn't up to par. He made another attempt a decade later but still wasn't satisfied. Over the years, he let the idea accumulate and finally started writing it in 2003. He admits that aspects of the story were borrowed by Terry Pratchett for his book Johnny and the Dead. Gaiman acknowledges that as a writer he may not improve significantly anymore, but he was determined to complete The Graveyard Book and believed it was an important story to tell.
Finding the Right Moment and Writing Process
Gaiman discovered that writing a novel works best for him when he can establish a routine. He shared that during his time at Tori Amos's house in Florida, he had a set daily schedule that involved jogging, yoga, and writing at a specific café with minimal distractions. Gaiman believes that understanding oneself and embracing personal writing routines and preferences is crucial to fostering creativity and productivity.
Persistence and Commitment
Despite initial setbacks and delays, Gaiman remained persistent in his desire to write The Graveyard Book. He refused to let the idea go and kept it accumulated until he felt ready to tackle it. This determination reflects his commitment to the story and his belief that it was a worthwhile tale to tell.
The Importance of Writing for an Audience
The speaker emphasizes the significance of writing for an audience and the impact it can have on motivation. He shares a personal anecdote about his daughter's interest in his writing, which encouraged him to continue working on his story. This experience highlights the power of having an audience and their ability to fuel creative endeavors.
Collaboration and Honoring Terry Pratchett
The speaker discusses his long-standing collaboration with Terry Pratchett, a renowned writer known for his satirical Diskworld novels. He reflects on their friendship and the creative process behind their collaborative work, 'Good Omens.' Additionally, he shares insights into Pratchett's approach to mortality and the significance of completing 'Good Omens' as a tribute to his late friend.
Neil Gaiman — The Interview I've Waited 20 Years to Do | Brought to you by Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement and 5-Bullet Friday, my very own email newsletter.
Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) is the bestselling author and creator of books, graphic novels, short stories, film and television for all ages, including Neverwhere, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The View from the Cheap Seats and the Sandman series of graphic novels. His fiction has received Newbery and Carnegie Medals, and Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Bram Stoker, and Will Eisner Awards, among many other awards and honors.
His novelistic retelling of Norse myths, Norse Mythology, has been a phenomenon, and an international bestseller, and won Gaiman his ninth Audie Award (for Best Narration by the Author).
Recently Gaiman wrote all six episodes of, and has been the full-time showrunner, for the BBC/Amazon Prime mini-series adaptation of Good Omens, based on the beloved 1990 book he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett.
Many of Gaiman’s books and comics have been adapted for film and television including Stardust (starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer), Coraline (an Academy Award nominee and the BAFTA winner for Best Animated Film), and How to Talk to Girls at Parties, a movie based on Gaiman’s short story. The television series Lucifer is based on characters created by Gaiman in Sandman. His 2001 novel, American Gods, is a critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated TV series, now entering its second season.
In 2017, Neil Gaiman became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Originally from England, he lives in the United States, where he is Professor in the Arts at Bard College.
Please enjoy!
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This episode originally aired in 2019. You can find the show notes here: https://tim.blog/2019/03/28/neil-gaiman/
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How long has this interview been in the making? [09:37]
An early interview failure that Neil resolved to never repeat. [10:47]
On separating home life from work life and the writing habits of Maya Angelou and Ian Fleming. [15:55]
Neil’s biggest rule for writing. [20:16]
Neil’s process for writing first drafts. [23:35]
What Neil aims to accomplish with his second drafts. [25:49]
Something Neil noticed when he first started writing and editing with the use of computers. [26:28]
What notebooks does Neil prefer for writing first drafts? [29:13]
Fountain pens Neil has known and loved. [35:21]
How many book signings does it take to get to the bottom of a Pilot 823’s structural capacity? How about Neil’s signing hand? How many such pens given in sacrifice by Neil’s three-year-old will appease his house gods? [39:39]
Neil’s journey from manual typewriter to electric typewriter to computer to notebook, and the power of trivializing weighty endeavors — whether they’re writing novels or going for gold medals. [41:49]
How Coraline went from being an unpublishable labor of love for Neil’s children to an award-winning novella. [47:48]
Does Neil tend to work on multiple projects at once? [53:22]
Why does Neil take particular delight in writing introductions to other people’s work? [55:24]
At what time of day does Neil prefer to work, and has this changed over the years? [56:50]
Advice to aspiring novelists about finding a routine: The more you can be like Phil Connors in Groundhog Day, the better. [59:35]
The importance of understanding that just because we do something one way today doesn’t mean we’ll be doing it that way tomorrow. [1:01:28]
How a touching post on Neil’s blog (which I recommend everyone read) inspired me to adopt my own dog, Molly. [1:03:16]
What’s the genesis story of The Graveyard Book? [1:04:10]
Neil makes the case for giving the ensemble version of The Graveyard Book a listen. [1:15:29]
Who was Terry Pratchett, and how did he and Neil strike up a friendship? [1:16:24]
On working with Douglas Adams and the germ of the idea that became Neil and Terry’s collaboration, Good Omens. [1:20:12]
Neil shares his preposterous writing schedule from simultaneously working on Good Omens, Sandman, and The Books of Magic — something only someone very insane (or very young) could possibly handle. [1:23:08]
Why, after so many misfires trying to get Good Omens on the screen, we’ll finally see an uncompromising television adaptation soon. [1:24:30]
Where to find out more about Good Omens — the book and the series. [1:30:58]
What does Neil feel he learned most from his “apprenticeship” with Terry? [1:32:40]
How did Terry approach his own mortality when he learned he had Alzheimer’s disease? [1:34:45]
Before he passed away, Terry opened up a controversial dialogue around the right to die for people with terminal diseases like Alzheimer’s. What is Neil’s view? [1:38:14]
What would Terry think of the Good Omens series and its related fanfare? How might things have gone differently if he’d been directly involved in production? [1:39:50]
Time flies when you’re interviewing Neil Gaiman. (For the record, I hope to fly again sooner than later.) [1:45:09]
Parting thoughts. [1:46:03]
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