Literary Genius

In case it wasn't made clear by the fact I write this blog, I'll spell it out for you: I love to write. Sounds like my way of introducing myself at an AA meeting..."Hi, I’m Emily," (the small crowd responds with the appropriate, if not lackadaisical, 'Hi Emily'), "And for the last 6 years I've been addicted to writing. I write down everything. I write stories and blogs and lists and comics and long letters. I keep journals and diaries and notebook after notebook of quotes and ideas and inspirations." And then I exhale an entirely audible sigh of relief, glad to get that off my chest.

Meeeee!!

But honestly, I do really love writing and while this blog is merely an informal list in itself, if you will, and more a way for me to keep track of everything I do in order to justify my existence in some manner, I do get a kick out of writing it; it's more for me than for you, readers. The point of me saying this, however, is not to minimize the importance of a reader. After all, what good is a book that no one reads? This is, in fact, the true point of this post. Literature and books and authors, that is. 

Today I had the opportunity to meet two published authors on two entirely separate occasions. Ok, ok, that's a bit misleading because technically the first is a friend of mine whom I see nearly every day at my favorite local coffee shop. That information shouldn't lead you to assume he's “nothing special”, though. He's so advanced in his field that Oxford University just hired him into a professorship position three days ago, on Friday the 13^th, nonetheless. And in the spirit of this blog, not only is he a published author he's also meant to be tutoring literature students. French literature, if I’m not mistaken. No one can deny that that isn't a great job: professor of literature at Oxford, in one of the schools dating back to the 1600s. Besides, anyone who reads more than I do (as he obviously does) gets my full respect because such a one is hard to come by.

The Oxford skyline

Secondly, and thanks to Facebook and its targeted ad campaigns - which are typically failures if we're completely honest with ourselves - I happened upon an advertisement that was actually right up my alley. I discovered only a day in advance, just in time, that one of my favorite authors was going to be in London one day only at a talk/book signing at the Waterstone's book shop on Piccadilly, whose five stories of wall space are lined with photos of famous authors who have talks there. Knowing full well this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, most likely, I abandoned (and recklessly, if you like) my dissertation writing for the afternoon to make the trek through the puddles and sludge into Central.

Waterstone's

But alas, to my great dismay and disappointment the event was sold out. Sold out? I asked. The website said nothing about 'bookings required'. Frustrated, I managed to sneak a peak behind the magic “curtain” into the staging area for the talk and noticed at least half the seats were still empty. With only a few minutes left before show time I assumed they would want to fill those seats if no one arrived to claim them with a ticket in hand. So on this whim, I waited. And my patience paid off because they allowed several of us waiting to purchase a ticket at the last minute and fill the empty seats. I managed to grab one three rows from the front, dead center.

Then with a round of applause Harlan Coben made his entrance. It was refreshing to be in the presence of such an American guy; 6'4” (he announced before anyone asked), bald, and chalk-full of loud abrasive humor. I loved it. He was so down to earth and naturally funny, a characteristic which is reflected in all his books, famously in his lead guy 'Myron Bolitar'. The best part, and the main reason I wanted to attend, was the fact he spoke about the writing process and his background as an author. As an aspiring author, myself, it was incredibly motivating, as you can imagine these types of things are, as well as informational. 

He actually had great tips to writing a great book and for the sake of committing them to my own memory as well as for sharing the wealth of wisdom I'll record, here, what I can remember of it. The first bit that struck me was in the form of a simple quote which came from another author (but could be applied to life as well), and in context of his talk referred to long-winded descriptions and how to keep a book interesting and moving right along; “Don't write anything you wouldn't want to read, yourself.” He also talked about the “creative process” and how he comes up with plots. And idea from a book can come from anything. The worst thing you could do at the start is try to follow in the footsteps of another author by continuing a trend in literature, like how everyone started writing religious conspiracy books after Dan Brown published 'The DaVinci Code”. Write was you want to write and the niche will form itself. He said it's split in half; 50% of authors use an outline for a book but he's not one of them. He compared writing the plot to driving at night in a fog. You start somewhere familiar (with the idea of the book) and then just go a little a time as you're only able to see what's right in front of you on the metaphorical road to book-completion. 

Most profoundly, perhaps, though not an original thought by any means, was his view on work ethic. Basically, anyone who REALLY wants to do something will never use “I don't have the time” as an excuse to NOT do something. He used the example of a famous female author, Mary Higgins Clark. She had 5 kids, her husband had died, and at least one, if not both, of her parents died. She worked full time to support her family while going to school for a Bachelor's degree but woke at 5AM every morning and wrote until 7AM, at which time she woke the children and went to work, herself, at a self-run company for which she made literally no profit for the first 8 months, pawning her engagement ring to stay afloat financially. Long story short, she's now listed as one of Forbe's Top 10 most influential female authors. The point to drive home is that every single person has the same number of hours a day as the likes of Higgins Clark, DaVinci, the President of the United States, Gandhi, Mozart, etc etc etc...the list goes on and on. So don't use your stupid trivialities as excuses to not DO something. Turn off the damn television and DO something with your life. After all, it's pretty pathetic to think that watching someone else's life on TV is more interesting than living your own. It doesn't have to and shouldn't be that way.

After the talk Coben, of course, did a book signing. So naturally, I was obliged to purchase his newest thriller and stand in line to get it signed. Despite the fact a nasty, impatient lady at the end of the line kept whining rather loudly that the queue was moving too slowly, Coben took his time to chat to each person and take photos and joke about a bit. I bought the book for one my best friends here in the UK and had Coben sign the book to him. We talked briefly about the ridiculousness of British food after I commented on the fact I needed to introduce said friend to the wonders of American literature, because some things we have to offer in the USofA really ARE just the awesome.

So that is my day in a nutshell, as the cliché goes. A day of literary genius.