Milton, a little town just south of me is holding a StoryFest next year (June 2019) - a festival of stories. So not just books and writing, but film and poetry, all forms of storytelling. As a fundraiser, they had an author talk on Saturday night with Markus Zusak, of The Book Thief fame.
The Book Thief was a book I read early in my writing for publication journey and it smacked me in the head. It was the first book where I went, "Holy cow, this guy has crafted every single sentence in this book." Now, I don't know if he had done that right through the book because somewhere I got swept up in the magic of the story and didn't notice anymore. At the start though, when I was finding my way into the world, it was incredibly obvious.
So I went to hear him speak to see if he did craft every sentence, if he did pay so much attention to words, his work, writing.
Yes.
A resounding yes. He is meticulous. An absolute crafter of stories and of words. A writer who is passionate about his work.
He was incredibly inspiring.
His new book, Bridge of Clay, will be out in October. It's been 13 years since his last book. He told us this equated to him writing 1.9 words/day. Which made everyone laugh, especially when he lamented that it wasn't even 2. But...I bet those 1.9 words/day are perfect. I bet they've been gone over and gone over until each words sings - or at least those at the beginning before we'll all get lost in his story!
He spoke of the rhythm of words and how even commas impact that as well as word choices, insertions and deletions.
He said his aim has always been to make the next book better than the last. Although he was told just to write something different to The Book Thief, he decided he didn't want to go back on his original career goals, to make the next book better.
I loved hearing that. I loved hearing that you could have phenomenal success and still want to improve. I loved that he still had the passion to tell stories to the very best of his ability.
The Book Thief has sold 16 million copies. 16 million copies! It's almost unbelievable. It sat on the NY Times bestseller list for 10 years. Yep, ten years. You could stop after that if it wasn't your passion. If telling stories wasn't what drove you.
Markus Zusak hasn't stopped writing. He hasn't stopped perfecting his craft. He seemed like a humble, hard working writer who loved his work.
It could not have been a more inspiring night. I can't wait to read Bridge of Clay.
EDITED to add: There's a podcast of the interview, if you'd like to listen, follow this link here
The Book Thief was a book I read early in my writing for publication journey and it smacked me in the head. It was the first book where I went, "Holy cow, this guy has crafted every single sentence in this book." Now, I don't know if he had done that right through the book because somewhere I got swept up in the magic of the story and didn't notice anymore. At the start though, when I was finding my way into the world, it was incredibly obvious.So I went to hear him speak to see if he did craft every sentence, if he did pay so much attention to words, his work, writing.
Yes.
A resounding yes. He is meticulous. An absolute crafter of stories and of words. A writer who is passionate about his work.
He was incredibly inspiring.
His new book, Bridge of Clay, will be out in October. It's been 13 years since his last book. He told us this equated to him writing 1.9 words/day. Which made everyone laugh, especially when he lamented that it wasn't even 2. But...I bet those 1.9 words/day are perfect. I bet they've been gone over and gone over until each words sings - or at least those at the beginning before we'll all get lost in his story!
He spoke of the rhythm of words and how even commas impact that as well as word choices, insertions and deletions.
He said his aim has always been to make the next book better than the last. Although he was told just to write something different to The Book Thief, he decided he didn't want to go back on his original career goals, to make the next book better.
I loved hearing that. I loved hearing that you could have phenomenal success and still want to improve. I loved that he still had the passion to tell stories to the very best of his ability.
The Book Thief has sold 16 million copies. 16 million copies! It's almost unbelievable. It sat on the NY Times bestseller list for 10 years. Yep, ten years. You could stop after that if it wasn't your passion. If telling stories wasn't what drove you.
Markus Zusak hasn't stopped writing. He hasn't stopped perfecting his craft. He seemed like a humble, hard working writer who loved his work.
It could not have been a more inspiring night. I can't wait to read Bridge of Clay.
EDITED to add: There's a podcast of the interview, if you'd like to listen, follow this link here
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