What Sir Terry Said
I went to a talk with Terry Pratchett, and I took some notes. I'll share for whoever might be interested.
First of all, one cool thing is that you got a ticket AND a hardback copy of his latest book for $30. Since I think just hearing him talk would be worth $30, I considered it a smoking deal. However, the organizers had pulled a Willy Wonka, and a few of the books had red tickets in them that would give you a "backstage pass" for a personal sit-n-chat after the event. I looked through my book 3 times, but no magic ticket for me...
Second of all, I'm glad to say that he looks fine. He looks ten years older and tireder than he was when I last saw him, ten years ago. That's fair. He didn't lose track of the conversation, and he was able to pull the "professional speaker" trick that I've only seen a few times -- when someone asked a silly question, he gave an insightful answer that made the question not silly after all. The Mythbuster guys could also do that. I cringe when fans are allowed to ask celebrities questions, but a good question answerer can make it all okay.
One question from the official interviewer was about footnotes. "Why do you use footnotes? It's not common in fiction." His answer was that footnotes is the one true way of getting that beat of timing -- not fractional pause -- that some humor needs.
When asked if he started the book knowing what all was going to happen, he said that when a book is going well, it "accretes material." He also said that when a project is flowing, it's like someone is dropping ideas into his head. When asked what writers he reads for his humor inspiration, he mentioned that Down the Mississippi by Twain. He also said the "fight and riverboat" scene strongly influenced Snuff, and I noticed that scene is the actual book cover. So ... cool!
He said, actually when referring to the political commentary humor magazine, "Punch," "I like humor, and I'll go anywhere to get it."
He also commented on Jerome k. Jerome -- whose name alone sounds like a joke -- is very much in Twain's voice.
He then asked: What's the deal with the Three Stooges? They're just not funny.
He mentioned Shakespeare in Love, but I didn't understand what he said. I thought he referred to a book it was based on, but I can't find any reference to that on the Internet.
Fan questions:
When asked if he was a heavy rewriter, or had a strong first draft, he said he got his best stuff in the second draft.
When asked if he would write any more Vimes books, he said "I don't want to overuse him, but I like him around."
When asked if there was any protagonist from a single book he'd want to bring back? He said, what about the Evil Harry Dread?
Someone complimented him on having Death speak in all capitals. He said it was "making a virtue if necessity. He couldn't sound like an average Joe."
On character voices, he said, "I have an ultra Jewish friend who swears the dwarves are all Jewish."
(Very) Pratchett Quote: "If you work hard, serendipity does turn up."
Someone said they'd heard Vimes was supposed to be a support character for Carrot. Then the questioner asked: Who is most like you?
Pratchett said, "In a curious way, there are similarities between me and Vimes. Vimes hates money, and he's the richest man around. Vimes gets into swordfights, and I've been in front of a person waving a sword at my head, although fortunately she missed every time."
That got him talking about his knighthood. He said his father was long dead, but his mother was able to attend. He said she was in a wheelchair and the minions -- and they have all sorts of minions at these functions -- parked her next to the Queen. And they were about the same age, and had the same hairstyle, and he thought "Must be sure I take the right one home."
Then he said that when he stood, after the ceremony, he could hear the cheering of a gardener, and a (I forget some), and a soldier from the Crimean war, "all my ancestors were there with me, cheering."
Regarding Vimes: "He's in a marriage that has lasted so long it goes beyond love to the impossibility of it not existing."
Pratchett Quote: "It's amazing how much work you have to do before you don't have to do any work."
Someone said they'd heard he would not allow his books to be made into movies. He said, correct. They said "But they have been! Hogfather!" And he said, "TV movies don't count." And we all laughed, and he said, "They don't! It's the massive amount of money that makes movies of books bad." He implied that a shoestring budget and a desire to film the book is good, but going to Hollywood results in nothing but suck.
He said that a Hollywood scriptwriter wrote a script for Wee Free Men, and he read it. He said, "It was full of all that stuff that Granny Weatherwax hates." (Which was my favorite line of the entire evening.) He said it was all about a little girl following her dream, and her magical little friends. He said they "couldn't make it gritty, and had no idea how to do naked blue Scotsmen."
When asked where he got his humor, he said, "The first thing you have to understand is the commonality of humanity. Once you have that down, the rest flows."
He said, "I can go up to any man and say: I know your secret. What you don't want people to know, to talk about, to think about. Your secret is ... you had a shit this morning. And you didn't even ask how I knew?
Benny Hill is an old man who chases women and doesn't catch them. That rings through the ages. Men get that. How about mothers-in-law? Every man has 'em. Men have mothers in law in Zimbabwe."
When asked, in a contest of wills between Granny Weatherwax and Lord Vetinari, who would win, he said, "Granny Weatherwax would just leave. She'd walk away from the table. She doesn't play games, she only cares about results. Vetinary LOVES the game."
Pratchett Quote: "You don't figure it all out until you're about to die, and then you don't get another go around."
First of all, one cool thing is that you got a ticket AND a hardback copy of his latest book for $30. Since I think just hearing him talk would be worth $30, I considered it a smoking deal. However, the organizers had pulled a Willy Wonka, and a few of the books had red tickets in them that would give you a "backstage pass" for a personal sit-n-chat after the event. I looked through my book 3 times, but no magic ticket for me...
Second of all, I'm glad to say that he looks fine. He looks ten years older and tireder than he was when I last saw him, ten years ago. That's fair. He didn't lose track of the conversation, and he was able to pull the "professional speaker" trick that I've only seen a few times -- when someone asked a silly question, he gave an insightful answer that made the question not silly after all. The Mythbuster guys could also do that. I cringe when fans are allowed to ask celebrities questions, but a good question answerer can make it all okay.
One question from the official interviewer was about footnotes. "Why do you use footnotes? It's not common in fiction." His answer was that footnotes is the one true way of getting that beat of timing -- not fractional pause -- that some humor needs.
When asked if he started the book knowing what all was going to happen, he said that when a book is going well, it "accretes material." He also said that when a project is flowing, it's like someone is dropping ideas into his head. When asked what writers he reads for his humor inspiration, he mentioned that Down the Mississippi by Twain. He also said the "fight and riverboat" scene strongly influenced Snuff, and I noticed that scene is the actual book cover. So ... cool!
He said, actually when referring to the political commentary humor magazine, "Punch," "I like humor, and I'll go anywhere to get it."
He also commented on Jerome k. Jerome -- whose name alone sounds like a joke -- is very much in Twain's voice.
He then asked: What's the deal with the Three Stooges? They're just not funny.
He mentioned Shakespeare in Love, but I didn't understand what he said. I thought he referred to a book it was based on, but I can't find any reference to that on the Internet.
Fan questions:
When asked if he was a heavy rewriter, or had a strong first draft, he said he got his best stuff in the second draft.
When asked if he would write any more Vimes books, he said "I don't want to overuse him, but I like him around."
When asked if there was any protagonist from a single book he'd want to bring back? He said, what about the Evil Harry Dread?
Someone complimented him on having Death speak in all capitals. He said it was "making a virtue if necessity. He couldn't sound like an average Joe."
On character voices, he said, "I have an ultra Jewish friend who swears the dwarves are all Jewish."
(Very) Pratchett Quote: "If you work hard, serendipity does turn up."
Someone said they'd heard Vimes was supposed to be a support character for Carrot. Then the questioner asked: Who is most like you?
Pratchett said, "In a curious way, there are similarities between me and Vimes. Vimes hates money, and he's the richest man around. Vimes gets into swordfights, and I've been in front of a person waving a sword at my head, although fortunately she missed every time."
That got him talking about his knighthood. He said his father was long dead, but his mother was able to attend. He said she was in a wheelchair and the minions -- and they have all sorts of minions at these functions -- parked her next to the Queen. And they were about the same age, and had the same hairstyle, and he thought "Must be sure I take the right one home."
Then he said that when he stood, after the ceremony, he could hear the cheering of a gardener, and a (I forget some), and a soldier from the Crimean war, "all my ancestors were there with me, cheering."
Regarding Vimes: "He's in a marriage that has lasted so long it goes beyond love to the impossibility of it not existing."
Pratchett Quote: "It's amazing how much work you have to do before you don't have to do any work."
Someone said they'd heard he would not allow his books to be made into movies. He said, correct. They said "But they have been! Hogfather!" And he said, "TV movies don't count." And we all laughed, and he said, "They don't! It's the massive amount of money that makes movies of books bad." He implied that a shoestring budget and a desire to film the book is good, but going to Hollywood results in nothing but suck.
He said that a Hollywood scriptwriter wrote a script for Wee Free Men, and he read it. He said, "It was full of all that stuff that Granny Weatherwax hates." (Which was my favorite line of the entire evening.) He said it was all about a little girl following her dream, and her magical little friends. He said they "couldn't make it gritty, and had no idea how to do naked blue Scotsmen."
When asked where he got his humor, he said, "The first thing you have to understand is the commonality of humanity. Once you have that down, the rest flows."
He said, "I can go up to any man and say: I know your secret. What you don't want people to know, to talk about, to think about. Your secret is ... you had a shit this morning. And you didn't even ask how I knew?
Benny Hill is an old man who chases women and doesn't catch them. That rings through the ages. Men get that. How about mothers-in-law? Every man has 'em. Men have mothers in law in Zimbabwe."
When asked, in a contest of wills between Granny Weatherwax and Lord Vetinari, who would win, he said, "Granny Weatherwax would just leave. She'd walk away from the table. She doesn't play games, she only cares about results. Vetinary LOVES the game."
Pratchett Quote: "You don't figure it all out until you're about to die, and then you don't get another go around."