He talked to me about my work, which he said showed great promise, but he steadfastly maintained that I hadn’t come close to reaching my full potential yet. These words resonated with me very strongly. I think I had secretly felt the same way. I talked to him about how lost I felt, about how I didn’t know what I should do next. His words were simple but powerful: “Make the book you want to make.”
At the time Selznick didn't understand him, but gradually a book unlike any other came into his head, a 550 page long picture book. He had no idea if there was a market for such a book but it was the book he wanted to make. So he did. The result was The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which received the Caldecott Medal, and it's from his acceptance speech that the above quote comes from.
I say to students all the time that they should write from the heart. Creativity has to come from the heart, and not the head. There's no point in trying to write a particular style or for a particular market if it's done for cynical reasons. Everything in writing has already been done - every plot has been covered, every character has already appeared. The only thing that hasn't been done is your story told in your way, with your whole heart behind it.
10 comments:
I take inspiration from Herman Melville. He sold only 3,715 copies of Moby Dick in his lifetime. The world would be a poorer place if if he hadn't bothered. Mind you in terms of my children's novel sales that score isn't too bad!
Inspirational, Sarah. As they say in this business, if you can see the bandwagon you've missed it. Writing anything other than the book that sets your heart racing is a waste of time.
yes indeed, how often do we hear this and it is absolutely true. I always write from my heart and I even follow my gut instinct re advice given me too. Recently, I had a report from Cornerstones that absolutely got what I was doing with the difficult book I have been writing. It to a degree went against stuff in another critique, that maybe was more commercial in intent and unknown to them. They really got my book's intent. I shall always follow my heart, listen to others and sift the words of wisdom I receive.
Im very much just starting out on my 'real' writing journey but I will carry this wisdom with me, thank you
A post from the heart, Sarah.
Perhaps that's why so many movies, the joint endeavours of thousands, are based on novels, the raw imagination, originality, passion and creativity of one mind - you, the Author...
Thank you! I am happily writing the book I want to write and that has been going round in my head for a good long while without any thought of whether or not it's commercial or will ever be published. I keep being told by certain family members that I should be more market-aware but I don't see the point of writing something when my heart's not in it and it's simply something that I feel I ought to write.
Glad the post has hit the spot with you.
Kath - stick with it. I'd go as far as to say, don't talk about it to your family or anyone else for that matter. Unless they're acknowledged experts on the matter eg they're the buyer for Tesco then do they really know the market? (oh, I feel a blog post coming on...)
Apart from that, talking about your writing dissipates your energy for communicating the story, and can affect your confidence. Keep it close to your heart, as well as writing the book of your heart! Good luck with it.
Thanks for this, Sarah. It's something we all need reminding about from time to time. I'm at the stage of developing ideas for my second book at the moment (the first is now in my agent's hands!), so this couldn't have come at a better time.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, Sarah. Much appreciated.
Most of the time, I do try to avoid talking about my writing with non-writer friends and family but every so often they badger me to tell them what it is I'm working on because they're interested and then we get into a whole debate about what they think I should be writing and why. I guess it's one of the jobs that everyone thinks they're entitled to have an opinion on because everyone either reads or thinks they have a book in them, if only they had the time to write it!
Kath - then you need to be firm! I know it's really hard. Something that might be useful is to deflect them by asking how they'd react if someone did X to them. That way, it won't be about your writing per se, but you'll involve them and you might get some different insights into character behaviour that you could use.
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