Ask the Author: Neal Gabler
Answered Questions (7)
Neal Gabler
Yes, I do speak on Walt Disney. I talk about his life and philosophy and what made him the extraordinary visionary he was.
Neal Gabler
I teach a whole course of advice for young and some not-so-young aspiring writers. But here are a few bits of "wisdom," such as they are:
Love the craft.
If you don't have to write, you shouldn't be a writer, because writing is an addiction as much as it is a profession.
Because it is a profession, treat it respectfully. Work hard. Don't find excuses.
Jon Stewart said of Bruce Springsteen, "He always empties his tank." You should always try to empty yours, by which I mean, always give everything you write everything you've got. Strive for excellence.
Write the book or article you want to write, not the one anyone else thinks you ought to write. Basically, never write a book you wouldn't buy.
Treat your readers with respect. Never condescend to them.
Writing shouldn't be a means to an end. It is the end.
Never read reviews. No good review makes you feel as good as a bad review makes you feel bad. If you have written the book you want to write, that should be sufficient satisfaction.
Never get discouraged. The successful writers aren't necessarily the best ones. They are the ones who persisted when they were told "no." Every writer faces "no," sometimes hundreds of "no's."
Love the craft.
If you don't have to write, you shouldn't be a writer, because writing is an addiction as much as it is a profession.
Because it is a profession, treat it respectfully. Work hard. Don't find excuses.
Jon Stewart said of Bruce Springsteen, "He always empties his tank." You should always try to empty yours, by which I mean, always give everything you write everything you've got. Strive for excellence.
Write the book or article you want to write, not the one anyone else thinks you ought to write. Basically, never write a book you wouldn't buy.
Treat your readers with respect. Never condescend to them.
Writing shouldn't be a means to an end. It is the end.
Never read reviews. No good review makes you feel as good as a bad review makes you feel bad. If you have written the book you want to write, that should be sufficient satisfaction.
Never get discouraged. The successful writers aren't necessarily the best ones. They are the ones who persisted when they were told "no." Every writer faces "no," sometimes hundreds of "no's."
Neal Gabler
For nearly eight years now I have been working on a full-scale biography of Sen. Edward Kennedy. I have tentatively titled it, "Against the Wind: Edward Kennedy and the Tortuous Course of American Liberalism" because it uses Kennedy's life as a prism through which to explore liberalism over the last fifty years and explain why it has declined. But it is not a political book in any narrow, partisan sense. It is biography as social history.
Neal Gabler
I love the entire process of writing from the research to the organization to the actual putting words on the page to the editing and revising. There is not a day when I don't get up eager to write, and I do write nearly every day of my life. To put it as simply as I can: Writing makes me happy. Many of my best moments are those when I am lost within my books.
Neal Gabler
I wrote this piece for the Daily Forward to answer this very question:
http://forward.com/culture/339518/wha...
http://forward.com/culture/339518/wha...
Neal Gabler
The very best thing is the gratification of the work. There are many other pleasures like pursuing one's interests, meeting interesting people, digging through archives and touching original documents (I held in my hand the letters Walt Disney sent to his brother Roy back in 1928 when he was in New York trying to sell Mickey Mouse cartoons), connecting to readers, organizing one's own time. But crafting an article or a book of which you can be proud is paramount for me.
Neal Gabler
I never get writer's block because I have always felt it is a luxury I cannot afford. Writing is my passion, but it is also my job -- my way to earn my living. I have to write. I don't have a choice. I tell my students that no factory worker ever showed up to the assembly line and said, "I'm just not in the mood to screw on these widgets today. I feel blocked." Frankly, I don't think writers should invoke a similar excuse. You just do it.
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