A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick -- a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.
Neil GaimanRead
For me, the glory of my first 25 years as a writer was I could put things off as long as I wanted.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the freedom and creativity a writer experiences in their early years, highlighting a sense of procrastination as a tool for artistic exploration.
Neil Gaiman reflects on the liberating nature of being a writer in the initial stages of one's career, where the pressure of deadlines is not as pronounced. This ability to delay and explore ideas without constraint allows for a greater depth of creativity, suggesting that the journey of writing can be as important as the finished product.
Themes
WritingCreativityProcrastinationFreedomExploration
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, I shared Gaiman's quote to illustrate the creative process and the value of taking one's time.
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As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones.
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Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right.
Neil GaimanRead
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
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