Original subtitles

After watching this class, I would love

it if people would take away from the

lessons that this is just one person's

opinion on how to approach the craft of

writing. There are a billion others. And

I'm sure every person who's sat in this

chair or done this program have had

different ways of telling stories,

different methods and processes they

use. But it really all comes down to

commitment to wanting to be a writer and

being a storyteller. This world always

needs fresh voices. Writers change the

world. Books change the world.

Everybody's waiting for the next book

that people will read and say, "My god,

you know, this is a brilliant piece that

makes me examine my whole life and what

the world should be." So that all of you

are the next component. You're the next

vital cog and keeping this world of

publishing and books and reading going.

So, I'm proud to sit in this chair and

talk to all of you and encourage you to

to pursue this because as much as you

might need a class from me and I'm

giving you some advice and tidbits and

pieces of things that you could use in

your life, I and the rest of the

publishing world and the world in

general, we need you a lot more. So for

that for that hardworking writer who's

trying to make it, you know, they have a

job, they have a family, they're writing

in the middle of the night, they're keep

getting rejections, their career seems

to be stalled, nothing seems to be

working, they feel, you know, their

confidence is ebbing away that they're

not going to be in the right place at

the right time, nobody's going to see

their material and actually appreciate

it, and it's just not going to happen

for them. I was there. I was there with

you in the same moment in time. And all

of that was happening to me. All those

doubts were creeping into me.

What kept me going was simple.

I couldn't stop writing. Writers who are

meant to be writers will be writers

because there that inner drive that will

not allow you to stop. And I've told

people over the years and I mean it that

if I had never been published even at

this date I would still be writing

because it was such a critical vital

part of my life that I could not give

up. If I had given it up, even though I

hadn't been published, I would be a

lesser sold and a lesser person than I

am today. I would be, you know, a shadow

image of what I could have been as a

human being. That's how important the

words are to me. And that will stand you

through these tests of time. That will

stand you through these periods where

you think nothing is ever going to go

right for me. That's the fuel that you

can draw upon and the food you can draw

upon to keep going. It's not a cliche.

I'm not just saying it to make you feel

good. I have lived that. So I know that

it can work if you persevere, follow the

words, and follow your hearts and good

things will happen.