The Neil Gaiman
@neilhimself: Just talked writing to UCSB lit students for 90 Minutes. So fun and so much enthusiasm and smarts. And I was hugged a lot at the end.
SO GUESS WHO JUST MET THE NEIL GAIMAN.
I got there two hours early, and was totally alone in the theater, surprising no one. When even my ever-prompt mother texts me to say "Oh honey, that's just sad," one wonders who is the real promptness freak in the relationship. Could it be that I have taken what she has taught me about being perpetually early and honed it down into a kind of psychosis? Either way, I ended up with a seat front and center, about a pool table and a half away from The Neil Gaiman when he finally arrived (on time--not "two hours early" on time, either. Normal person on time.)
I ended up talking Becca into sitting with me as we waited, so I got to dick around on her iPhone and worry about signing up for classes, etc. You see, today was also the day I was supposed to know my future schedule for the spring, but I was okay just hoping for the best and being a bit late because THE NEIL GAIMAN.
Also, fun fact: the reason The Neil Gaiman (heretofore referred to as TNG which you might think stands for "The Next Generation," but in this context you are wrong and you should feel bad) decided to come to UCSB? He knew the founder of CCS--as in, they were close friends and the founder would recommend books to him--and was a good friend of several members of the staff. One of his most amazing novels, American Gods, is dedicated to two former staff members of CCS, and the founder used to teach TNG's graphic novels as part of a class.
Being front and center had its privileges. For example, when the moderater asked, "Does anyone have any questions?" My hand was UP and the entire first three rows started laughing for some reason? Possibly because I'd been sitting there for more than two hours drafting possible questions, possibly because it may have looked like I was heiling Hitler in my considerable enthusiasm. He smiled and called on me.
My question: "When in the creative process do you choose your medium? What makes you choose a graphic novel over a written novel?"
His answer was really, really complete. As in, I don't know that I got it all down, even though I was taking notes--I was also trying not to be rude and looking him in the eye while he was talking. That's part of the problem with being in the front row, really; one feels as though one is talking to the Guest Talent/Notable Fellow person, and so feels bad when one looks away to actually write down and process what they're saying. However, this is what I got: he normally chooses fairly early on--however, this is not always the case. For a good while, he was convinced that his (eventual novel) Anazi Boys was a film, though it was definitely not a comic. He knew this latter bit because he was writing a story in which everyone was black, and it had always sort of bugged him how, in most all works of literature, black people were always identified as such. You rarely read "the man said" when that person wasn't white--instead, it was always "the black man said." So, he said to himself, "Good, I will identify every white person who comes on."
"Film," he told me, "is useful if you want things to move." It is best for when you have a story you need to see unfolding, and don't need the audience to participate. If you want to "go into somebody's head" and narrate their thoughts, prose is best, because it is like "giving someone raw code to compile," and everyone will do it in different ways. For example, everyone knows what Morpheus (from The Sandman comics) looks like... but no two people in the world agree on what Holden Caulfield looks like, "nor should they." Comics--his word, not mine; I would have used "graphic novels"--are good for imagery, as well as forcing the person to contribute, since, to TNG, "the most important part of the comic is the gutter," or the white space between panels. It is difficult to show the passage of time in a series of static images, but once you succeed, the reader is the one who puts it all together and really sees the story come to life, as it were.
Other things he said:
The inspiration for Coraline comes from many places, as all of his things do, as he is quite the fan of paratext. He quoted someone else as to have said, "[Good literature] is that which can be read by an educated person the first time with pleasure, and re-read every time afterward with increased pleasure." However, he knows that he has no idea where the "black buttons for eyes" thing came from, and that Lucy (Lane?) Clifford's story "The New Mother" was certainly an influence. He also credits the book with his daughter Holly, who, "when she was small, she would have scared Wednesday Adams." When his daughter was around five, she would come home and sit on his lap and dictate stories--often about a young girl, who was often named Holly. They would be about a girl locked in a basement by witches who had impersonated her mother, and how she would escape. She would also talk about the friends who would help her, and it was never entirely clear whether these friends of hers were alive or not. So, TNG thought to himself, this is what young kids like to read! I think I will write a children's story about it. His agent told him (with good reason, I think) that this story cannot be a kid's story because it frightens adults. TNG said back, "read this book to your children, and if they are scarred emotionally, we will sell it as an adult book. If they enjoy it, we'll sell it as a children's book. " They liked it, and the rest is history. (His own PS: it turns out the kids WERE terrified, but too engaged in the story to let that on.)
"Not being scared isn't being brave. Being brave is being absolutely scared and doing the right thing anyway."
"The British tend to be mildly blase about terrifying kids, and I really think that started with Doctor Who. [...] You watch it behind the sofa. That is where you watch it from. Because you'd peek out and watch it, and then the Daleks would show up and you'd hide behind the sofa, because then they couldn't get you. [...] If you were old enough to walk, you were old enough to watch Doctor Who."
[With regards to comics] "If you were English [in the early eighties and before], believing in a skyscraper is quite comparable to believing someone flying over a skyscraper. [...] Believing in New York required the suspension of disbelief."
"Comics is a medium and not a genre."
English is to American comics as the Beatles and Elvis are to rock music. "We really love this. Now let's give it back to you."
[On toning down the House on the Rock in American Gods] "Real life has no obligation to be convincing. Fiction kinda does."
"Jack Kirby was a genius. [...] Ahead of his time [unfortunately...] we wouldn't have comics if it weren't for him."
"DC Comics as a world is the biggest story we have ever told to date. Of course, soon Harry Potter slash will overpower it..."
"I like [the word] 'fantasy' because all fiction is fantasy. [...] To me, magical realism is 'fiction written by South Americans.' [...] In Brazil, I am a magical realism writer; everywhere else, I'm not."
He's obviously smart, funny, and amazing. I shook his hand after his Q&A session, and asked him about the possibility of a Good Omens movie. He told me that "If Hollywood weren't scared of Terry Gilliam, we would already have a Good Omens movie. [...] I don't know if Terry still plans to make it." In general, he thinks that the chances are good, but they probably won't end up using the script he wrote for it.
He also said that he liked my question, which. Omg.
Then I ran home to sign up for classes, haha! I'll tell you what they are later; right now I'm sort of overcome.
EDIT: OKAY so TNG had another public speech thing in front of people who had to pay for their tickets (poor sods) and APPARENTLY during his opening speech thing he said, "Eariler, I was talking to the CCS students, and one of them asked how I go about choosing a medium..." !!! THAT WAS MY QUESTION, TNG. YOU LIKE ME, YOU REALLY LIKE ME!
And then, when my friend Ben went to get my book signed, he said, "Yeah, actually this book is for the girl who asked you that question about different media!" And TNG said "Oh! That was a very good question!"
I AM THE BEST QUESTION FORMULATOR, SWEAR TO GOD
SO GUESS WHO JUST MET THE NEIL GAIMAN.
I got there two hours early, and was totally alone in the theater, surprising no one. When even my ever-prompt mother texts me to say "Oh honey, that's just sad," one wonders who is the real promptness freak in the relationship. Could it be that I have taken what she has taught me about being perpetually early and honed it down into a kind of psychosis? Either way, I ended up with a seat front and center, about a pool table and a half away from The Neil Gaiman when he finally arrived (on time--not "two hours early" on time, either. Normal person on time.)
I ended up talking Becca into sitting with me as we waited, so I got to dick around on her iPhone and worry about signing up for classes, etc. You see, today was also the day I was supposed to know my future schedule for the spring, but I was okay just hoping for the best and being a bit late because THE NEIL GAIMAN.
Also, fun fact: the reason The Neil Gaiman (heretofore referred to as TNG which you might think stands for "The Next Generation," but in this context you are wrong and you should feel bad) decided to come to UCSB? He knew the founder of CCS--as in, they were close friends and the founder would recommend books to him--and was a good friend of several members of the staff. One of his most amazing novels, American Gods, is dedicated to two former staff members of CCS, and the founder used to teach TNG's graphic novels as part of a class.
Being front and center had its privileges. For example, when the moderater asked, "Does anyone have any questions?" My hand was UP and the entire first three rows started laughing for some reason? Possibly because I'd been sitting there for more than two hours drafting possible questions, possibly because it may have looked like I was heiling Hitler in my considerable enthusiasm. He smiled and called on me.
My question: "When in the creative process do you choose your medium? What makes you choose a graphic novel over a written novel?"
His answer was really, really complete. As in, I don't know that I got it all down, even though I was taking notes--I was also trying not to be rude and looking him in the eye while he was talking. That's part of the problem with being in the front row, really; one feels as though one is talking to the Guest Talent/Notable Fellow person, and so feels bad when one looks away to actually write down and process what they're saying. However, this is what I got: he normally chooses fairly early on--however, this is not always the case. For a good while, he was convinced that his (eventual novel) Anazi Boys was a film, though it was definitely not a comic. He knew this latter bit because he was writing a story in which everyone was black, and it had always sort of bugged him how, in most all works of literature, black people were always identified as such. You rarely read "the man said" when that person wasn't white--instead, it was always "the black man said." So, he said to himself, "Good, I will identify every white person who comes on."
"Film," he told me, "is useful if you want things to move." It is best for when you have a story you need to see unfolding, and don't need the audience to participate. If you want to "go into somebody's head" and narrate their thoughts, prose is best, because it is like "giving someone raw code to compile," and everyone will do it in different ways. For example, everyone knows what Morpheus (from The Sandman comics) looks like... but no two people in the world agree on what Holden Caulfield looks like, "nor should they." Comics--his word, not mine; I would have used "graphic novels"--are good for imagery, as well as forcing the person to contribute, since, to TNG, "the most important part of the comic is the gutter," or the white space between panels. It is difficult to show the passage of time in a series of static images, but once you succeed, the reader is the one who puts it all together and really sees the story come to life, as it were.
Other things he said:
The inspiration for Coraline comes from many places, as all of his things do, as he is quite the fan of paratext. He quoted someone else as to have said, "[Good literature] is that which can be read by an educated person the first time with pleasure, and re-read every time afterward with increased pleasure." However, he knows that he has no idea where the "black buttons for eyes" thing came from, and that Lucy (Lane?) Clifford's story "The New Mother" was certainly an influence. He also credits the book with his daughter Holly, who, "when she was small, she would have scared Wednesday Adams." When his daughter was around five, she would come home and sit on his lap and dictate stories--often about a young girl, who was often named Holly. They would be about a girl locked in a basement by witches who had impersonated her mother, and how she would escape. She would also talk about the friends who would help her, and it was never entirely clear whether these friends of hers were alive or not. So, TNG thought to himself, this is what young kids like to read! I think I will write a children's story about it. His agent told him (with good reason, I think) that this story cannot be a kid's story because it frightens adults. TNG said back, "read this book to your children, and if they are scarred emotionally, we will sell it as an adult book. If they enjoy it, we'll sell it as a children's book. " They liked it, and the rest is history. (His own PS: it turns out the kids WERE terrified, but too engaged in the story to let that on.)
"Not being scared isn't being brave. Being brave is being absolutely scared and doing the right thing anyway."
"The British tend to be mildly blase about terrifying kids, and I really think that started with Doctor Who. [...] You watch it behind the sofa. That is where you watch it from. Because you'd peek out and watch it, and then the Daleks would show up and you'd hide behind the sofa, because then they couldn't get you. [...] If you were old enough to walk, you were old enough to watch Doctor Who."
[With regards to comics] "If you were English [in the early eighties and before], believing in a skyscraper is quite comparable to believing someone flying over a skyscraper. [...] Believing in New York required the suspension of disbelief."
"Comics is a medium and not a genre."
English is to American comics as the Beatles and Elvis are to rock music. "We really love this. Now let's give it back to you."
[On toning down the House on the Rock in American Gods] "Real life has no obligation to be convincing. Fiction kinda does."
"Jack Kirby was a genius. [...] Ahead of his time [unfortunately...] we wouldn't have comics if it weren't for him."
"DC Comics as a world is the biggest story we have ever told to date. Of course, soon Harry Potter slash will overpower it..."
"I like [the word] 'fantasy' because all fiction is fantasy. [...] To me, magical realism is 'fiction written by South Americans.' [...] In Brazil, I am a magical realism writer; everywhere else, I'm not."
He's obviously smart, funny, and amazing. I shook his hand after his Q&A session, and asked him about the possibility of a Good Omens movie. He told me that "If Hollywood weren't scared of Terry Gilliam, we would already have a Good Omens movie. [...] I don't know if Terry still plans to make it." In general, he thinks that the chances are good, but they probably won't end up using the script he wrote for it.
He also said that he liked my question, which. Omg.
Then I ran home to sign up for classes, haha! I'll tell you what they are later; right now I'm sort of overcome.
EDIT: OKAY so TNG had another public speech thing in front of people who had to pay for their tickets (poor sods) and APPARENTLY during his opening speech thing he said, "Eariler, I was talking to the CCS students, and one of them asked how I go about choosing a medium..." !!! THAT WAS MY QUESTION, TNG. YOU LIKE ME, YOU REALLY LIKE ME!
And then, when my friend Ben went to get my book signed, he said, "Yeah, actually this book is for the girl who asked you that question about different media!" And TNG said "Oh! That was a very good question!"
I AM THE BEST QUESTION FORMULATOR, SWEAR TO GOD