Ian McEwan's Advice for Aspiring Writers

Ian McEwan, author of 'Solar' gives advice for aspiring writers.

[Yuzuki]

I am an engineering student about to graduate this summer and this video and many of the comments below made me tear up. This is the first time in my life I find myself with the courage to pursue a dream and any word of encouragement right now touches my soul. Thank you so much you have no idea.

[manthasagittarius]

This happens with creative artists of a number of disciplines -- musicians typically go through a period in their training, roughly analogous to the first years of undergrad study, when they feel like they have lost the real spirit of it and it's all hollow technique. Then the thing wakes up again in a few years, richer and more mature even intrinsically, and at that point it can begin to soar, because they put the time in on the training. I've seen it in many people. Writing is no different.

[rdjazzboy]

I've read Ian McEwan, and the implied, but unstated message here, is that writers have to have lived a life; interacting with folks who are not necessarily literary. It's also obvious, that anyone who imagines they can write a novel without having read extensively, is probably delusional.

[vivveene]

"Writers need to Read"-I need to work on this better, "Writers are cut off from Cities, Countryside and Original places"
I find if I go for a walk, a drive to the country or even just sitting down in the park or in the mall and watching how people communicate, their body language and all the other things happening around me, gives me so much energy as to what I could really write about.

[edeneye]

Ahaha. Yes, I have read Kafka, Camus and Celine. Some of their books are right there on my shelf in fact and I do find them inspiring. The thing about Camus and Celine is that they weren't spoiled suburban pseudo-intellectuals. They had LIFE EXPERIENCE before they began writing. They lived in several countries. They served in and experienced wars. Life experience is something most undergraduate American writers just don't have. That was one of McEwan's points.

[littleripper]

You don't need creative writing programs. Read hours everyday for a decade and you'll learn what you need to about storytelling. Especially with the internet now there's just no reason to take classes. I've read stories by kids in highschool who just read and write a lot and are able to produce decent stories.

[inglatera]

I like what he’s saying about undergraduate programs. A professor told us, in a poetry writing class, to get ourselves (our work) out there now, even if we don’t have much experience. I’m not sure where I stand with myself as a person who likes to write, but I always didn’t really agree with that statement. I want to learn, I want to read, and see the connections before I just throw my writing out in the open. I don’t care if I publish (if I ever publish my writing) later in life. I think time and experience is more important.

[noelbyrnes]

I am working on a series of ideas at the minute which I'm hopping will form the basis of a novel. I found at one time a lot of the content I was working on was very emotional and I was questioning whether or not to continue with it... then I seen a utube clip by Ann Rice where she says, "you must go where the pain is". I thought that's what I needed to hear. We have to face the things that challenge us, those past and sometimes hurtful experiences we'd like to forget, I think as writers we can't afford to just let them go.

[TheCrazyviolinist]

You should always write, just don't expect it to be amazing.

[MrUndersolo]

Had a student tell me that she wanted to be a writer but she hated to read...

Sad.

[randallgregerson]

he is absolutely right. one simply will be unable to write successfully without a foundation that includes having read good authors.

[jdamore]

this video is really reassuring. i am a sophomore english major and have been rather anxious to prove myself as a writer, though i often feel like i haven't read enough or though i don't "get" literature enough to do so. mcewan's comments comfort me because people rarely tell me that i have plenty of time to mature.

[rasputinandreievich]

There are stages to being a writer just as with any artist. An aspiring writer should be reading daily and writing as they feel they can until, at least, they understand a creative process which works for them. I should think that starting with short stories, testing out various genres and styles and things you've picked up from other writers, is good; trying to write something large like a novel with limited experience is only asking for trouble. Unless you're Miyamoto Musashi, I'd say you should test the waters as much as you can before just jumping in.

[luciatoman]

This is excellent advice. Makes me wonder about the apparent general underestimating of literature and writing as an art form. One wouldn’t necessarily foster the delusions that they might compose a wonderful sonata without having first learned to play the piano, practiced and studied famous composers’ work. And yet with literary ambitions, some of us seem to lack the necessary humility.

[w.m.aslam-author]

Brilliantly simple advice from a brilliant writer. I've benefited from this advice and continue to do so.

[songofsunrise]

I thought that too, especially while I was studying literature. I stopped writing completely then. But the truth is: of course, everything has been written about - it is all human experience, and the basics of that don't change -, but it has never been written about from your perspective, out of your experience and in your words. And your point of view is valuable, and missing. So please write.

[bhattkris]

The product of trained writers in a school is so obvious that you know it with a short sample.

[itsmarialifestyle]

Very true. Writers need to read and write no matter what. Writing programmes and writing classes lead you nowhere. The problem is, you'll only realise this during and after the study not before you paid or took loan for the tuition fees.

[CroMarduk]

Ellroy said it best; if you want to learn how to write, read, read, read...

[PoetMountain]

Ian McEwan inspires and says "Writers Need To Read."