Neil Gaiman Slings Mud

Neil Gaiman is an increasingly popular writer. His best-selling novel, Anansi Boys, has been well reviewed. How does he do it? He's the first to admit that he's a mud-slinger.

He revealed his artistic method at the National Book Festival. "My method of writing a novel? It's like throwing mud at a wall. Then looking and saying, 'that resembles a face.' Then throwing some more." Gaiman explains that the meat of the novel is mudslinging, but the shape it takes comes during the rewriting and editing. That's when he gets closer to the wall and begins shaping the blotches and polishing them into something more presentable.

The point being that the first step in writing is to get it out. Spillage, mud-slinging, inspired writing. Oftentimes writers get bogged down in the quicksand of trying to get the first draft perfect. The first draft is all about throwing mud at the wall. There is time for shaping it into something beautiful later.

Learn more about Neil Gaiman at his website -- but watch for flying mud.
http://www.neilgaiman.com/