After I gave a talk one time at a college in the Midwest, a young woman came up to the stage & asked me a question.
What would I have to do to be a famous writer? she said. Just so you know, I’ve thought about this a lot, so don’t try & talk me out of it.
I laughed. I have no intention of talking you out of it, I said. I do have one question, though. Why do you want to be famous?
I want people all over the world to read my books & know I’m a writer who’s worth paying attention to, she said.
OK, I said. That’s a start. But really truly why do you want to be famous?
(She looked at me as if there was a right answer. I knew there wasn’t, but I'd been writing longer than her & had found that questions lead more interesting places than answers...)
Well, she said at last, I think being famous would be a fun thing to be. People could stop me on the street & ask my opinion & I think I’d be good at that.
Mmm hmm, I said. I used to want to be famous, too.
You ARE famous, she said.
Kind of, I said. But here’s what I figured out - I wanted to be famous so all the things I wrote would automatically be good. Because that’s how famous works, right?
Well, that’s silly, she said. You still have to be good, even if you’re famous. Otherwise, you’re only famous for being famous. That’s no way to live. Then she squinted at me a bit. So, you're saying I should get better at writing first?
That’s a good place to start, I said.
OK. After that I'll get famous, she said (& I can still hear the way her laughter bubbled up after that...:-))
with love, brian
'how to write' is available as an art print... ​click here or on the image above if you'd like to take a look