Writing Advice from Neil Gaiman | Discover MasterClass | MasterClass

One of the central tools of literature is using the “lie” of a made-up story to tell a human truth. Neil shows you how to make your story’s world—no matter how outlandish—feel real to readers.

Named one of the Dictionary of Literary Biography’s top ten living post-modern writers, Neil Gaiman may be one of the most awarded and prolific writers alive. He has received the Newbery and Carnegie Medals, and his writing has been awarded four Hugos, two Nebulas, one World Fantasy Award, and nine Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, among many other honors.

Not constrained by genre or medium, Neil’s work includes poetry, short stories, journalism, novels, graphic novels, screenplays, and books for young readers. In Neil Gaiman’s MasterClass, the author of Coraline, American Gods, Stardust, and The Sandman series teaches his approach to the art and craft of storytelling.

In his MasterClass, Neil Gaiman will teach you his creative process for generating original ideas and building those ideas into stories, worlds, and characters that engage and fascinate. Using some of his most celebrated work as case studies, he’ll teach you how he crafts convincing characters and stories driven by essential truths. In Neil’s MasterClass, you’ll learn to find your unique voice as a storyteller, seek inspiration in unexpected places, and breathe life into your characters.

Through 4+ hours of video lessons and a customized workbook tailored to each chapter, Neil teaches you:
• Worldbuilding techniques that create a sense of credibility and authenticity
• Ideas for combating writer’s block and tackling fear
• How to identify and develop the narrative voice of a story
• How he uses humor, dialogue, and rich description to bring a story to life
• How to find a story’s core elements and use them as a guide
• How he fuses ideas together to build unexpected and original concepts
• How to make dialogue distinct and memorable
• How he makes the most of unique storytelling opportunities in comics
• How he collaborates with artists for graphic novels
• His approach to writing short fiction that feels like magic

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#MasterClass #NeilGaiman #storytelling

[one_smol_duck]

When your stories get rejected so you become a journalist to figure out why.

Ultimate boss move.

[VidiiVodii]

When he talked about not wanting to show his writing because he didn't want people knowing his true self and to judge him, that hit me like a truck. Because that's me.

[mosienko]

"Art is a lie that reveals the truth" ~ Picasso. One of my most favorite quotes.

[murielllee]

If only Master Class would stop popping up and tempting me all day. Guys, I'm broke. Leave me alone.

[joncarroll]

One of my favorite quotes from a Neil Gaiman story: "Writers are liars, my dear."

[zeushe]

Only ads I watch all the way through with eagerness:
Masterclass ads

[mushilompa]

The lighting and coloring of this video is remarkable

[bettertodie]

“You have to be willing to walk down the street naked.” That’s exactly my problem, and that advice is fantastic. It’s so difficult exposing your true self to the world...and my inability to do that has held me back in my writing.

[jassy]

I literally almost cried. This is what most writers need to hear. It isn't just a job. We're literally giving people our life stories through fiction. It's practically gossip but with more events, more detail to make it fun, and no backstabbing (for some😂). Five minutes and this man has given the definition of a writer and what we do.

[ZombieToe]

As an aspiring writer, I just want to say thank you. This was exactly what I needed to hear.

[SaintNicholasFan]

That brief melancholic look at 0:58 after he says “they all came back”. Wow, you can tell that the sting of rejection never fully healed within him.

[breenaxie]

Exactly why I haven’t started writing for real. I am not ready to open up and be honest about me yet. He is honest about being honest. A real man for real.

[andjelija]

Neil just solved my lifelong identity crisis. I always wondered where was the soul, that spark in my writing that can make my stories powerful enough to make people feel something, feel what I feel, without necessarily agreeing, but still, receive the message in its entirety because it was sent wholeheartedly. The truth was so simple and close, my discomfort about its simplicity and my unwillingness to follow up on it, threw me in a habitual loop of denying it. All it truly takes to make impactful art is to, above all, be HONEST. To yourself first and then the world will be more honest in receiving what you send out to it. "You have to be just a little bit more honest than you're comfortable with" and every artist ought to take this with no reserve.

[-beastie-]

Dude sounds like he’s writing a book rn, what a bloody legend

[luisagimenez]

I jsut came to say that i love this ads and it feels like I`m already having a class just by watching it, congrats to all people involved it seems like an amazing project

[_-_]

If Neil Gaiman was my English teacher that would actually make school worth going to.

[PartridgeQuill]

The fear of opening yourself up to others and being honest is very real! I've been there, and even after putting my book out there, that fear remains, but I also feel satisfied in spite of it.

[lsaf]

Gaiman mentions craft and honesty. I think that if aspiring writers begin by seriously learning to craft the story that will be the first step towards honesty. When you finally know what you are doing, then you can harness anxiety and any other energy that comes from trying to write honestly, with that intimate perspective that allows to convey themes, character arcs, plot, POV, world, atmosphere and all of that ultimately as vehicle of a narrative of the human condition.

[kaishaman]

For me as an aspiring writer, the hardest question is: how do I find the strength and the mental clarity to write after I come home exhausted from an 8-hour work day? Like most people on this planet, I need my job to survive, to pay the rent. So, the main piece of advice that I would like to get from accomplished writers is how they managed to overcome this struggle (unless they were born well-off, of course, then I don't have any further questions)

[DKFynn]

I like how, at 5:13, he said, "And some things, when you get really specific, apply to so many of us."


For years, I've considered that our individual experience of that universal truth is exactly that: our truth. When we describe our truth, others may or may not understand us, but they can, if they're so attuned, see the universal truth that's embedded in our individual truth. Heck, they may even have their own experience of that universal truth, and that's how your story becomes theirs: they recognize something in your story--the keyword being recognize.