Neil Gaiman - The Interview I've Waited 20 Years To Do | The Tim Ferriss Show
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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 honours.
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 forthcoming 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.
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Timestamps courtesy of ejcho623 from the comments section.
00:00 Start
6:32 Home life vs work life
10:53 Neil Gaiman's biggest rule for writing
19:50 What notebooks does Neil Gaiman prefer for writing first drafts?
25:58 Fountain pens Neil Gaiman has known and loved
43:59 Does Neil Gaiman tend to work on multiple projects at once?
50:12 Advice to aspiring novelists
54:47 Genesis story of The Graveyard Book
1:10:49 Good Omens
1:32:40 Apprenticeship with Terry Pratchett
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About Tim Ferriss:
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 200 million downloads and been selected for “Best of iTunes” three years running.
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Great writers make you want to read their books, but the best writers make you want to write your own. Neil is one of the best.
True! Same for any achievers. Good ones are full of themselves and how they're so self made, whereas the best would give you tips and the faith that you are capable of reaching your own potential...
Well said. ❤️🔥
Yes he totally inspires me to write!!
I am in the middle of writing my third book. Tim Ferriss is one of my inspirations so anyone that inspires him thus inspires me. The fact that Neil likes Ian Fleming now makes him one of my hero’s! 😍What a beautiful interview that I never expected to show up. How timely. I am grateful to have watched this.
This!
I love that he clarified “young” writers can be any age.
"The 2nd draft is where I try and make it look like I knew what I was doing all along" is the best quote ever.
Goes very well with the quote ‘good books are not written, they are rewritten’ .. not sure who said it.
@@ghouling1111I believe I said that in fact
I could listen to neil gaiman talk about fountain pens for hours. He's so pure.
I want to go to that Fountain Pen Hospital. Perhaps, this is it? www.fountainpenhospital.com/
And notebooks
Listen to Norse mythology by Neil gaiman , he narrates it himself
Literally.... So much this.
Like extra virgin olive oil
Neil Gaiman talking about paper quality and fountain pens just zapped away all my stress and anxiety and I feel great.
I actually started listening to interwiews with or talks by Neil Gaiman. His voice is so relaxing :D
He has a magical way of doing just that~! I even told him on FB he "took away my anxiety to write"
As a fountain pen lover and collector, it was such a joy to listen to Neil express his love and appreciation for them, and sharing that love with others. Very much a stress reliever.
Me, too. 👏👏
I just re-wound and rewatched the segments about stationary and pens several times. I KNEW Neil HAD to be a stationary perv, too!!!
I can write or do nothing but I can't do anything else. Great line.
Thank you - Been trying to spell it, pronounce it - I GOT CRICKETS ----- SO THANK YOU !!
For struggling writers, it's a pain in the arse. So, I have to give up gaming?!
@@AtticusStount That’s not what the quote is saying. You give yourself time to write. You either write or do nothing. That’s all you are allowed in that time.
"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page." 25:08
"Because there's nothing to be fixed."...dont forget that, a crucial part of what he said.
What I think I love most about hearing Neil Gaiman talk about his process, is how not-in-love he is with his process. It’s all functional, it just has to work. When something stops working, he changes it. Many writers fall in love with their own method… he seems to have fallen in love with finishing good work. And that show in his bibliography.
Not enough people are talking about what a phenomenal interviewer he was. His passion for Gaiman’s work just shines through in how carefully he’s thought about each and every question and it’s so clear that Neil genuinely enjoyed the conversation. I loved this so much.
I love how he didn’t laugh at the things Neil said that he’s said in other interviews but he laughed very hard at the original anecdotes mentioned seemingly for the first time in this
6:32 Home life vs work life 10:53 Neil's biggest rule for writing 19:50 What notebooks does Neil prefer for writing first drafts? 25:58 Fountain pens Neil has known and loved 43:59 Does Neil tend to work on multiple projects at once? 50:12 Advice to aspiring novelists 54:47 Genesis story of The Graveyard Book 1:10:49 Good Omens 1:32:40 Apprenticeship with Terry
you da best!
THANK YOU!!
@deekat3279 Sure.. no problem! I love Tim's podcasts.. I try to cut them so it's easier to digest at podcut.co so you can check it out if you'd like
A new perspective of fountain pens...
Thanks for doing this
"You are so ridiculously welcome." I got a bit teary-eyed. This was like Gaimans 90min version of "On Writing," I really enjoyed this and am so glad you filmed a video.
same exact thing happened to me!
The New York Fountain Pen Hospital sounds like a magical place. I imagine it to be like Ollivander's Wand Shop. The pen chooses the writer!
I'm pretty sure Neil Gaiman is going to write this story at some point.
@@khyrianstorms He could be the writer in residence.
It does! but more like madam Pomfrey where she uses special pens to draw on wounds to make them heal
I cried when Terry Pratchett died and I cried all over again, listening to Neil talk about his friend. A great, personal interview. Thank you.
"He was my friend."
i have not even listened that far in, i’m already crying at your comment 💦
Watching "Back in Black" the Terry Pratchett tribute, and seeing Neil, at the end, talk about him so honestly made me cry.
This man reminds me of my little sister. She has a pure, sweet, deep soul as well, seen as silly by the shallow minds of the world. Talk to her about anything, however, and you realize how expanded and curious her mind is, and how beautiful her thoughts and feelings are.
Book Dragon the INFP mind is really beautiful
His rule about allowing himself to write or do nothing is pretty much exactly how my mom got me into reading. It was Summer vacation and she didn't want me going out for whatever reason, so she said "you can read or book, or you can go to sleep". Well, young me soon learned that one could only sleep or lay in bed for so long before the body simply would not allow it any longer. So, I read. And I read the day after that and the day after that. I read until I read every book available to me in the house and then I went to the library and read some more. It's honestly amazing that such a thing as doing nothing can motivate you to do something regardless of how much you don't want to do it.
Boredom is the root of ALL experience. It is where all things spring forth from and where all things return to . Nothingness. Void. Etc etc. Only took me a few minutes before having my question answered of why did I come in here again in the first place and what happens when EVERYTHING is done. Picture yourself on an island but only big enough to cover where you stand and a portal 'back In' and surrounded by nothing but pure blackness . I'll never forget my reaction when I got there and looked around as I repeated the question I had asked myself why do all what I was doing in there. "Oh" 😂 I said. As boredom took over I looked around and jumped back in the portal back into experience, at least now I had my question answered of why
I love the nerdy details of the fountain pen and notebook discussion.
Didn't realise the thing I needed in my life was Neil Gaiman talking about fountain pens! You could sell that section as a relaxation tape.
His tenderness toward Terry Pratchett. So absolutely wonderful. Thank you.
"But writing, is more interesting than doing nothing after a while" Neil Gaiman is not a maladaptive daydreamer.
the EXACT same thought I had! I could stare at a blank wall and "do nothing" for hours.
@@jedidiahcarmichael5747 Have you tired recently? Blank wall - Nothing at all for four hours.
@@darkairieal no I have not "tired" recently.
@@darkairieal If you suffer from maladaptive daydreaming, you don't need to try. It happens all the time without you realizing it's happening. It really sucks :(. Lost a lot of my life to that because you lose a sense of time and forget what happened.
@@disorganizedclutter5513 True. Hope you've been writing them down. Turning a bug into a feature.
Sir from now on we all want all your podcasts in video form.👌👌💕💕
md husain yes!!!
Gaiman and Rickman would have shattered souls if they were to spoke together :'/
Yes I prefer having the option as well
yes
stop.
This interview will be viewed by aspiring authors for many years.
Exactly what I’m doing right now! Hahaha 😅
I’m one of them 😂 Nice prediction
Same. Exactly what I'm doing
Googling fountain pens, admit it 😊
It will be viewed by aspiring authors until the internet ceases to exist or the general public forgets Neil Gaiman and his writing because he's been supplanted by some other author in the zeitgeist of the time.
I think it is heartening to find that all of my favorite writers do struggle, or did struggle starting out with writing. His rule of Write or Do nothing is an example of an effective way to deal with his tendency toward distraction. Then the idea of an "authorized eyes only" draft manuscript that is completely rewritable does something very useful. You get the story out of you. Much like a lump of clay that you craft into a realistic figure. You start with shapes and gradually fill in the details, adding or removing where you decide it's necessary, so that when you are done and you share it with others, they don't see the lump of clay that it was created from.
Those notebooks are spelled Leuchtturm. I loved that you asked that question, as I am a little notebook addict.
thank yoooou
It‘s the German word for lighthouse
Thanks a ton, I would have never been able to google that!
Thank you :D!!
Thank you!
1:01:00 "This is a better idea than I am a writer." Man, this is a perfect phrase, and incredibly wise to recognize it.
Neil's voice is fantastic. Only him and Tim could make me that interested in pens
I just ordered a pen from the Fountain Pen Hospital :)
In non specific order, Bourdain, Gaiman, Cramer - ALEX (T)...Gary is cool (Sasha was better. Smurf that shit up)
"pens"
A handsome stranger recommended this interview to me on a Saturday night in Soho, London. I've never been so simultaneously motivated and soothed by a conversation about writing. Neil is now the official narrator of my thoughts. Sincere thanks, Stranger.
Dream date: Neil Gaiman taking me to the NY Fountain Pen Hospital, letting me pick one out, buying it for me, giving me power of attorney.
Thanks for this interview, by the way! Love his writing. He has an ability all great artists have and that's the proliferate what most pass over while shuffling the pile. Thank you guys.
Neil's voice and mind is so soothing. Such beauty in his perspective and place of mind. Can you do like an 8 hour podcast with him and just let him go about fountain pens and crooked books? Would be perfect for dreamspaces
Wonderful conversation! Somewhere in the middle of the interview Neil says something along the lines of "I'm not so good at that anymore" - to that most people's response would be "But of course you are", but simply pausing and asking "What do you mean by that" is such a powerful thing to ask. I'll try to keep this in mind whenever I or people around me are downplaying themselves. This is what makes you such a fantastic interviewer, Tim. Also I must say that these video form interviews are such a pleasure, I hope you will stick to it. Keep up the great work!
Gaiman has a calming effect to his voice, he could read the entire phonebook front to back and I'd be entranced honestly, What a deep, insightful, witty, and charming quirky man he is.
Interview the creators by faking that you work for a magazine is the most brilliant idea I've ever heard so far! XD
That idea is so brilliant that it's been around since the beginning of magazines/newspapers. It's also so common that it's a cliche. That doesn't mean, of course, that it won't work. I think that depends on your research and your poise.
This is my favourite interview on the internet.
This is one of the best interviews that ever existed! How this only has 416,435 views so far? More people needs to watch and listen to it, it's so brilliant!
I don’t think there’s an interview or talk or anything Neil Gaiman has ever given that I haven’t heard or read and you still got so much out of him that I didn’t know! Fantastic job and I hope you get to meet him again (and again).
The idea of Terry Pratchett calling up Jeff Bezos to tell him exactly what he thought of him... God, that's one of the funniest mental images I've ever had. Thank you for that.
So wonderful. Too short. I could have listened for hours. They say never meet your heroes but in this case I'm so glad for us that you did. Can't wait for next time. :)
brilliant interview, Neil Gaiman speaks in such a way I can't not listen, when he started talking about Terry I found myself crying, such words of friendship, and being a mentor.
I am realizing that this video has been a pretty transformative watch for me - someone who aspires to write and tell stories. I watched this interview a while back and I still think of its wisdom regularly, particularly when I sit down to write (I have diligently applied the rule of carving out time where I am allowed to either write or do nothing, what a great tip). So I had to come back, not just to be inspired once again, but also to thank you both for taking the time to have this conversation and for sharing it with us!
Tim you are such a great interviewer. You let the person speak without interjecting. It's so simple, yet so hard for interviewers to do. 👏👏👏
Neil Gaiman has a way of making every aspect of life fascinating, extraordinary, and unique. Pens, books, a house, doing nothing. Love it.
I don't know how many times I've listened to that audiobook of The Graveyard Book, whenever I'm anxious or depressed or just not in the mood for listening to music or whatevs, I just put random chapters and Neil's voice makes me feel better. The witch's headstone is perhaps my favorite one. Great interview, thank you ✨
If Neil would talk about nails, screwdrivers, necessity for oil change, taxes or other, utterly boring stuff, I would keep listening. His voice works as bandaid on my thought processes and I can actually concentrate on what I am doing. This voice becomes so effortlessly internalized. Big time whisperer.
Speaking as an ex-kid (some decades ago, I'm told), one thing that Neil's kids are lucky about, is having such a warm presence to be with them, as their Dad.
this made me actually buy a nice smooth pen and a really nice notebook. Time to get writing!
we wanna know
@@user-ju6zx3rm8d oh I'm sorry! I didn't get the first notification. I actually did! My significant other and I are drawing up a horror game right now! Also since I've written a short story about a character who becomes an angel of death!
@@kristindraws that's great, glad to hear it! And nice that you answered (promptly, in my case haha). Any links you'd like to share?
@D give me a week! I'll drop a link to a Google doc after I revise it a bit more, I'm a little coy when it comes to showing my writing. Haven't done that since I was in high school. But why not? Here’s is the small prologue, the tone will change a bit after this, but it establishes the theme. medium.com/@mambastones24/kiss-of-death-prologue-627310358f4c Also on the daily I do illustrations on my tiktok if that's anybody's gig, username is also kwistindraws
@@kristindraws haha almost like you're gonna turn in an assignment to a professor. I read the prologue, cheers for the link. There's something there, for sure. Look forward to see how it changes shape. Checked your tiktok too. You're a nice illustrator :)
Neil talking about Pratchett. OMG, tears. Good Omens is my go-to "today was a shit day, I need something to pick me up" book.
Seeing Tim nervous about Neil Gaiman is so damn endearing.
The fountain pen people are my kind of people =) Love the appreciation for the pen and paper quality
Knowing that Tim loved Neil so much and the name popped up so many times before, it feels like watching Timderella's-Dream-Come-True! So happy for Tim, and so encouraging for us~
Tried that writing rule yesterday and it was not only productive but relaxing
This is so amazing. As a novelist as well, I’ve been told so often that handwriting my first drafts in fountain pen was useless, and a waste of time. I personally have been using grid Midori MD notes books for my 3 novels, and I thought that not doing it all on my laptop from start to finish meant I wasn’t “doing writing” right. ☺️ It is incredibly comforting to know that one of my favorite authors tends to use the same method, just with more expensive fountain pens, and more expensive notebooks. 😂
I love those midori grids. I write my books in ink and paper for the first draft, second edit (because I skip every other line to leave space for editting) and then rewrite everything with new edits into another notebook and then do a fourth round of edits before I bother typing up. Honestly, my next typing session I might pawn off the work on a friend for a nickel a word or something because he always needs work and I hate the typing part after making 4 versions of my story.
@@rwmack3523 I dread the typing up part too. I may pawn it off on my teenager sometime soon. 😂
I am an author too, and I have tons of fountain pens besides gel ink pens. My eleventh and thirteenth novel were written with fountain pens.
Right now, I'm loving a .05mm Alvin Draftmatic mechanical pencil. Too often my brain jumps ahead of my hand, and I'll write the start of a word and end it with a different word...and I like to erase and fix it before going on.
The only right method of writing is the method that gets words on a page. If that's handwriting, plotting, pantsing, typing, writing on your phone... all of these work for different people. Hell, all of these can work for the same person at different times.
He is such a great character, warm personality.
I think that the best type of interviews are those between two interesting people sitting in a quiet place and just having a chat about *anything*. The conversation can often go to places it would never have gone if one were to just ask question after pointed question after pointed question. This was that kind of interview and it was lovely.
I stumbled across this astonishing interview while looking for something to listen to while doing home repairs, and damn! I am so glad I did. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It reminded me that my own stagnated writings don't need divine intervention, just my commitment and self-conviction. I've long been a Gaiman and Pratchett fan, and now I'm a Tim Ferriss fan. Thank you so much for producing this wonderful interview with one of my all time favourite writers.
I think this is the most open I've ever seen Neil be in an interview and I've seen pretty much every interview he's ever done.
It's probably the third or fourth time I'm watching/listening to this video. Such an inspiring and relaxing conversation. And Neil convinced me, I just bought my fountain pen today !
I love this interview and will surely pull it up to listen again. His rule, "You can do nothing, absolutely nothing or write" resonated with me. Great interview. I took a lot of notes. Thanks for doing this interview and everything else you do and share.
I've been waiting for this. This is the ultimate interview 😍
I’m 20 mins in and loving it, but somebody *please* hand these guys a glass of water.
I wrote my doctoral dissertation in a wooden shack with no heat in the depths of a mid- west winter! I got it done in three months!! The cold and isolation helped.
I must say, Neil, that Many are waiting for any and everything you write!
as an writer thank you so much for posting this incredibly thoughtful interview with the legendary Neil Gaiman! It's inspiring me to keep believing in myself with this novel I'm working on! I could listen to him speak about writing forever!
Neil Gaiman is such a beautiful man .... wonderful interview ... thank you
I wasn't expecting so many a-ha! moments. Thank you for this excellent interview.
It´s crazy how much Tim is mirroring Neil in this interview. Voice, tone and body language. It´s almost unreal.
this is definitely one of the most inspiring talks i've heard in a while
I'm convinced he can write an epic fantasy series, with a fountain pen being the main character.
Working title: "Mightier Than The Sword"
21:28 Internet points for pronouncing 'Leuchtturm' correctly! 25:38 Internet points taken away for spelling it wrong and consequently saying it wrong. Kidding aside, this was such a lovely conversation. Neil talking about Terry especially, was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time
If you know a little german it's easy to pronounce, but you can't really expect a brit to have perfect pronunciation and spelling with a word like that. Pretty impressed he got it right the first time.
Loicht-toorm (phonetically). Literally, I would've said "Lichthaus" or "Hellhaus", but that probably wouldn't be good German.
I was about to ask the name of the notepad he mentioned, and hope to one day get a response. Thanks for making that unnecessary!
"The only thing that can't be fixed is the perfection of a blank page." NG Love it! Thank you for this inspiring and thought provoking talk.
absolutely loved this interview and listened to the audio twice when it came out... didn't know there was video and didn't expect it was in person!
Neil is the one who inspired me to start taking writing seriously.
I loved this interview and had a chuckle about the accounts book story, I have the same; mid century accounts book, saved from my Grandfather's transport business from Karamea, New Zealand. Stored away for a special book. Still laughing.
This has been such a joyride. Thank you both so much!
I've lost count of how many times I've watched this. Love it every time! What a brilliant person he is. Love Neil Gaiman soooooo damn much!
Tim, another amazing interview. A Master Class on writing. Perfect!
I personally am a mural artist, so to even hypothetically consider Michael Angelo requesting my help with a painting was invigorating & conveyed the feeling very well. That idea is just 1 of the many gems I yielded from this interview. Brilliant work again Tim, rock on brother.
The story about his son and the pen behind the fireplace was really cute Sacrificed to the house gods. Aww
Love this interview, NG exuded effortless charming intelligence, TF asked very good questions. One of my fave lines - "at the end of the day, you have to allow for accidents and randomness, and (which is) what happens when things grow" at 1:24:40 onwards. I miss Terry Pratchett.
This was long awaited and exceeded all expectations, bravo!
This is everything I've wanted. THANK YOU!
I love this man. His voice is like silk. I got really sad and Neil helped me a lot. I found a new spark and I am eternallly greatful.
My first ever at having a go at writing a novel sprang from me asking aloud, “I wonder what it would be like if an ordinary man came to discover that he was the Anti-christ?” And that’s what I called it, more or les-an unwitting anti-christ... Asking yourself questions and then writing to learn the answers is just brilliant.
Whatever you think about Tim Ferris’s, he is a fantastic listener. Great interview.
I can not believe that listening to you both expressing gratitude at each other toward the end almost brought tears to my eyes. I need another one for sure so I can shed the tears I held back. Beautiful.
I could not love this any more, it filled me with utter joy. Thank you so much.
What a heartfelt conversation! Thank you both!
Thank you so much for this absolutely amazing interview. You asked literally every question I have ever wanted to know the answer to.
I truly enjoy listening to you. Love pictures you paint with your narratives. ❤️
More, one of the best interviews I’d ever seen. I’ve never ready any of his work but now I’ll consume it all.
What an incredible interview Tim! Thank you!
This is so good. Thanks Tim for the great content you keep providing.
Oh, my, the part about Terry Pratchett is so heart-wrenching!
Yes! This is going to be glorious. Thanks Tim.
How did I miss this?! I'm so pleased you were finally able to interview him!
This was so amazing. Thank you Neil and Tim!
Wonderful interview. I could listen to Neil talk all day long. I might just do that with this video--put it on repeat the rest of the day
Tim, thank you for the content you are creating. It's more than just a brilliant, it's terrifically ingenious!!!
What a wonderful interview. Such fantastic, thoughtful questions.
This was so soothing. Never before have I watched such a long interview, and with such absorbtion-I'd find myself smiling with the two of them, and my eyes would tear up several times when Neil talked about Terry. The most genuine, heartfelt interaction I've seen taped-ever. At the end you can see the enormous respect and appreciation they have for one another. And Tim is such an unbelievably attentive listener, asking all the right questions with genuine interest and knowledge of the matter. I don't know if he is normally so contained and subdued, but here he matches Neil's mood perfectly. The respect and warmth between them, in that room, just bleeds right out through the screen. It's like an oasis for the ears and eyes and soul.
Thank you for this interview. Though I have yet to read any of his works, It has been a great fortune to experience his work both in film and streaming series. This has been a wonderful interview shared to your audience
Loved this interview