WiP [Work in Progress]

Thoughts and ramblings of a Filipino author

  • About
  • Bookshelf
    • Self-published
  • Blog
  • Archive
  • Contact

Why I Love (and will always love) Neil Gaiman

June 22, 2013 • Leave a Comment

I want to say first, thanks Gypsy Esguerra for this post on Neil Gaiman on your FB timeline which I saw on my news feed. I took the time to look up the transcription on Google because I currently have sabaw internet connection. I will watch the whole thing when I get home where I have high-speed internet.

I’ve known of a part of this speech, apparently. I saw the quote proliferating online during graduation time just this March. I had thought it was just one of Mr. Gaiman’s witty quips. I didn’t know it was from an honest-to-goodness keynote address to a graduating class. Of course, having read the whole, I could only sigh and think, Neil Gaiman is just such a brilliant man.

Many of the things he said in his speech holds true for me. I had no plan, too, of what I wanted to be, what I wanted to achieve when I left college. Heck, I went through college not really knowing why I was taking up the course I took up. It was a degree that could get me a college diploma, nothing more. It wasn’t an assurance for me that it would be a career although I was willing to make my life in that industry. But like Neil (feeling close?), I made things up as I went along.

Until I found writing.

You can look at the about me tab on this site that tells the story of how I started out in this career. However, this post isn’t about me finally finding my niche in the world. It’s about why I think I am now in a slump. Which brings me to the main feature of this entry: The Keynote Address.

Passage 1

I decided that I would do my best in future not to write books just for the money. If you didn’t get the money, then you didn’t have anything. If I did work I was proud of, and I didn’t get the money, at least I’d have the work.

I gave up my day job and finally decided I could and wanted to make a real career out of being a novelist. Then at some point, my manuscripts took form as answers to my financial needs. If I wanted to spend for something, I thought of achieving it in terms of manuscripts approved.

Really, there’s nothing wrong with that. A lot of writers I know and respect do look at their career as a means to answer financial needs alone. Apparently, it doesn’t work for me. How else do I explain the drought I am now experiencing? I put myself in some kind of pressure I am not able to meet and so I get depressed over the non-achievement therefore contributing further to the slump.

And then this… Passage 2:

“This is really great. You should enjoy it.” (quoted by Gaiman as Stephen King’s comment on his work)

And I didn’t. Best advice I got that I ignored.Instead I worried about it. I worried about the next deadline, the next idea, the next story. There wasn’t a moment for the next fourteen or fifteen years that I wasn’t writing something in my head, or wondering about it. And I didn’t stop and look around and go, this is really fun. I wish I’d enjoyed it more. It’s been an amazing ride. But there were parts of the ride I missed, because I was too worried about things going wrong, about what came next, to enjoy the bit I was on.

Because Peso signs began to attach to images of my finished manuscripts, I started to lose the pure enjoyment of writing. I started to get tired of this ‘job’ I purposefully put myself into. I had become too obsessed with making sure everything was technically perfect that I forgot that I loved writing. Period.

And so, I will put back my joy, my love, myself in my work and make it once more my passion.

If you’re interested to read/watch Neil Gaiman’s speech, click here.

Share

Facebook Google+ Twitter Pinterest Email

Leave a Reply to gypsyesguerra Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. gypsyesguerra says

    June 22, 2013 at 16:05

    That Passage 1 and 2 made me think… and relax. I was at the point where I’m beginning to hate myself again for not being able to write but after listening to this (for the 20th time, I think) his voice keeps echoing in my head as if I’m listening to a priest. But I did love him more because of this. Marami pa siyang sinabi na gusto kong marinig rin ng iba, lalo na ng mga freelance artist, at dahil rin dito kaya mas naging desidido na kong pag-ipunan at bilhin ang bagong libro niya… >_<

    Reply
    • edithjoaquin says

      June 22, 2013 at 16:42

      During his first trip to Manila in 2005, nag-declare kami (Queng, Gay, Pam and I) ng holiday sa office just to be able to attend a forum tas pumila kami sa book-signing niya. He’s the nicest ever. Walang air and sobrang gracious. I really really love his work. And him. Hehe!

      Reply

Back to Blog

Recent Posts

  • So I Just Turned 46…
  • [BLOG TOUR] Second Wave Summer by Tara Frejas, Six delos Reyes, Jay E. Tria
  • [BLOG TOUR] The Crime Circle by Yeyet Soriano
  • [COVER REVEAL] Scandalized (Version 2.0) by Tara Frejas
  • [BLOG TOUR] The Secrets That We Keep (A #HeistClub New Blood Anthology)

Recent Comments

  • G. Gonzales on [COVER REVEAL] The Secrets That We Keep by #HeistClub New Blood
  • Jennifer Hallock on [COVER REVEAL] The Secrets That We Keep by #HeistClub New Blood
  • Review || Start Here anthology from #romanceclass – That Bookshelf Bitch on [BLOG TOUR] Start Here by #romanceclass Various Authors
  • My Sacrifice (MSV After Dark) on Coming soon for My Special Valentine After Dark
  • G. Gonzales on My New Life

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

RSS Unknown Feed

Instagram

  • Dinner after mass
  • #Repost from @minavesguerra with @regram.app ... Happy release day to @inwardfangirl! Flipping the Script is available now on Amazon at bit.ly/loloikong. Enjoy this film-themed contemporary YA romance! 🎬📽🍿 #romanceclass #romanceclassFlicker
  • Gusto ko lang batiin (kahit late na) ng happy birthday, happy anniversary, happy balentayms, ang mahal kong publisher @bookwarepublishing #MySpecialValentine sa kaniyang ika-27 na taon. 2003 noong una akong naging bahagi ng MSV at dahil sa inyo kaya may mga libro akong ganito. Mabuhay, MSV! Salamat!
  • After the release of #YouAreHere comes another one from @dawnlanuza! Coming soon!

#Repost from @dawnlanuza with @regram.app ... ‪You asked for it, you got it! ❤️ Cover art by the talented @maedinn (who gave me 3 awesome cover studies but I can only use 1? WAE 😂) ‬
‪Most of my books were in the shade of blue or pink so we made sure to dip into a different palette! 🎨 What do you guys think? ‬💋
  • This is next week na! Go!

#Repost from @dawnlanuza with @regram.app ... Friendly reminder: this is happening in two weeks! Who’s coming? 🤗
  • Tagu-taguan sa ilalim ng pier. 😁 📷 @jotheeful ❤
  • #Repost from @romanceclassbooks with @regram.app ... 🎉 NOW AVAILABLE! 🎉 Mina V. Esguerra's new book, Kiss and Cry, is now available on Amazon for pre-order for $1.99. Go to bit.ly/six32central2 and one-click now!
.
.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Calinda met Ramirez when she was 20 and he was 22. She was the rising star of women's skating, and he was the superstar forward of men's hockey. Her parents and coach were against their relationship, and because Calinda wanted to prove that no hot guy would ever distract her from her dream, she chose skating over him — and also avoided him all together.

Ten years later, they meet again as gold medalists and prominent sports advocates, still single and undeniably attracted to each other. It's still not a good time for them, because Ramirez is retiring from hockey and moving back to the United States. Calinda doesn't do relationships, really, and proposes they use his final three weeks in Manila to explore what might have been, and do all the things they wish they'd done (there's a list!). Then he can leave for good, and they can both move on with their lives without this one regret.
  • 02.01.2019

Copyright 2019 WiP [Work in Progress]