Original subtitles

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You know you're in trouble when at the end of your essay,

you have to do this to show people you've come to an end.

Oh my god.

That's just such a--

that's cheating.

And it's never going to work on the page

because you just did all of that with your voice.

And that's like slowly breaking, but it's not ending.

They do that on NPR all the time.

They end-- they end essays, you know, reports that way,

and it's like, oh, come on.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

The most important thing for you is to develop discipline

for writing is to set a time and sit down and stay

at your desk for a certain amount of time,

and then up it and up it and up it.

Writing letters counts as writing.

Writing emails doesn't.

I can't tell you how many times I've been at my desk,

and I've just had nothing.

And then I've looked out the window,

and I've seen something.

Maybe it's just I'm watching birds fighting,

and that can lead to something.

But unless you're sitting at your desk,

it's not going to happen.

So you really need to develop that habit

of sitting at your desk.

and you need to keep in mind that as long as you're

there, and as long as you do it every day,

and as long as you read everything

you can get your hands on, you are going to get better.

Don't confuse publishing with writing.

They're two completely different things.

Let the world take care of the publishing part.

That's not your job.

I wrote every day for 15 years before my first book came out.

That seemed normal to me.

I throw away maybe a third of what I write.

That's normal to me.

Sometimes, it's easy.

But most times, it's not.

That's normal to me.

It's not-- every day isn't going to be a great day at your desk.

That's normal.

Nobody has a great day at their desk every day.

You really need to get to work now.

You really-- I mean, I don't mean

to suggest that you weren't working before you started

watching this, but you know, if I could do anything,

if I could do anything, I would just want you to know how,

how possible it is.

I remember the day that I announced to myself

that I wanted to be a writer, and I'd

been writing for five years by that point.

And I was in North Carolina, and I was in Raleigh.

And I was riding my bike, and I remember exactly where

I was on the road.

And I said to myself, I want to be a writer.

And it's terrifying to say that because once you

announce an ambition, if it doesn't work out,

then you're a failure, right?

Even if you just tell no one but yourself,

you're setting yourself up.

It's scary.

It's scary to say that you want to do something.

But there comes a point when if you're serious about it,

then you have to say at least to yourself, this is what I want.

And then there are stakes.

You know, there are stakes involved, right?

Because then if you don't get it, you have to think, OK,

how do I deal with that?

But you know what?

If I can write 10 books and if I can be in "The New Yorker"

and if I can have my own radio show on the BBC, anybody can.

I'm not naturally talented writer.

I'm not.

I have-- there are plenty of people funnier than me.

There are plenty of people who are

better storytellers than me.

And I made it.

And there's not a single day that I don't marvel at that.

And I think, why me and not somebody else?

But there's nothing terribly special about me.

I don't look special.

I can't believe I'm on the radio with this voice.

I met a teacher.

And he had his students read--

listen to a bit of my audio book.

And he said, what did you think?

And one kid said, I just feel sorry for that old lady.

And he said, what old lady?

And they said, the one they hired to read that stupid book.

Not just a woman, but an old woman.

That's who he thought I was.

But how can you be on the radio with this voice?

I would suggest to anybody the second

this is over to read "The Getaway Car" by Ann Patchett.

It is the best essay I've ever read about writing,

and it's from starting to write to having a book published.

Everything-- she covers everything in that essay.

And I, I read it over just because it so inspires me.

It inspires me to be a better writer,

and it reminds me of the joy of writing,

as opposed to having a deadline, as opposed

to having to go over, you know, edits again with, you know,

a line editor.

It reminds me of how lucky I am and how lucky you are just

to be interested in writing and to want to do it

and to try and to fail.

I divide the world into two groups of people, right?

There are those who pay someone to listen to their problems,

and there are those who get paid for telling people

their problems, right?

I am very fortunate to be in group number two,

and there is a spot here waiting for you when you're ready.

When you're ready, I've saved a spot right next to me for you.

I can't wait to hear about everything

that's gone wrong in your life.

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