1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,872 [MUSIC PLAYING] 2 00:00:13,801 --> 00:00:19,220 I don't think the writing life is 3 00:00:19,220 --> 00:00:24,100 like deciding you're going to be a lawyer or a dentist. 4 00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:27,540 It's not that kind of a decision. 5 00:00:27,540 --> 00:00:29,390 I think it's something that you already-- 6 00:00:32,220 --> 00:00:34,800 you're already on that path before you know it 7 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:36,810 and you discover it. 8 00:00:36,810 --> 00:00:39,360 If you have to stand back and say should I be a writer 9 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,090 or should I not be a writer, if you're 10 00:00:42,090 --> 00:00:46,200 doing that, then the answer is probably I should not be. 11 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,470 When I was starting to write, none of us 12 00:00:49,470 --> 00:00:51,960 thought we were going to have careers. 13 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,190 We thought we were going to have vocations which 14 00:00:54,190 --> 00:00:56,290 is quite a different thing. 15 00:00:56,290 --> 00:00:59,240 So our idea of being a writer was not, 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:00,000 you know, a six figure contract. 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,310 you know, a six figure contract. 18 00:01:02,310 --> 00:01:06,090 It was the garret in Paris with the absinthe 19 00:01:06,090 --> 00:01:11,790 and the tuberculosis and being penniless and unknown 20 00:01:11,790 --> 00:01:13,490 but dedicating yourself to your art. 21 00:01:13,490 --> 00:01:17,780 That was our idea in that generation. 22 00:01:17,780 --> 00:01:20,580 People get news of the occasional writer who 23 00:01:20,580 --> 00:01:22,880 gets this fabulous contract. 24 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,310 And they think that that's the norm. 25 00:01:25,310 --> 00:01:27,470 But it isn't. 26 00:01:27,470 --> 00:01:30,000 The norm is that most writers don't make 27 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:30,590 The norm is that most writers don't make 28 00:01:30,590 --> 00:01:32,660 a living out of their writing. 29 00:01:32,660 --> 00:01:37,370 Don't forget that many well-known writers 30 00:01:37,370 --> 00:01:39,050 had other jobs. 31 00:01:39,050 --> 00:01:42,050 And I just always assumed I would have another job. 32 00:01:42,050 --> 00:01:45,130 I didn't think I was going to have a career as a writer. 33 00:01:45,130 --> 00:01:49,530 That did happen, but it wasn't anything I ever thought. 34 00:01:49,530 --> 00:01:52,610 And there weren't any manuals of instruction 35 00:01:52,610 --> 00:01:56,790 about how to manage your career challenges, because let's face 36 00:01:56,790 --> 00:01:57,290 it. 37 00:01:57,290 --> 00:01:58,970 It's not easy. 38 00:01:58,970 --> 00:02:00,000 It's not an easy life. 39 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,160 It's not an easy life. 40 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,840 It's like people who want to be an actor. 41 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,530 Do they know how hard that is? 42 00:02:06,530 --> 00:02:08,600 You have to really want it. 43 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:10,789 You can make writing into a business, 44 00:02:10,789 --> 00:02:13,640 if what you want to write is cookie cutter books. 45 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:16,840 You can do that. 46 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,540 You can write certain kind of genre fiction 47 00:02:19,540 --> 00:02:21,100 that has a template. 48 00:02:21,100 --> 00:02:25,160 And the publishers of it will tell you how to do that. 49 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,270 And in that case, it's not a question of career challenges, 50 00:02:28,270 --> 00:02:30,000 it's just a question of ticking the boxes. 51 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,870 it's just a question of ticking the boxes. 52 00:02:31,870 --> 00:02:35,830 First kiss on page 32. 53 00:02:35,830 --> 00:02:42,160 Having a tiff on page 57. 54 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,610 First sex scene on page-- 55 00:02:45,610 --> 00:02:47,790 and that's how those things are done. 56 00:02:47,790 --> 00:02:51,820 But I'm assuming that's not necessarily the kind of writing 57 00:02:51,820 --> 00:02:54,010 that you yourself want to do. 58 00:03:00,390 --> 00:03:04,090 We're going to talk now about Lewis Hyde's book "The Gift," 59 00:03:04,090 --> 00:03:09,610 which is the only book I ever recommend to aspiring writers. 60 00:03:09,610 --> 00:03:12,420 There are a lot of books that will tell you how to write. 61 00:03:12,420 --> 00:03:14,730 There are a lot of books that will tell you 62 00:03:14,730 --> 00:03:18,030 how that author has approached writing. 63 00:03:18,030 --> 00:03:20,200 "The Gift" is not about that. 64 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,540 It's not even about writing in particular, 65 00:03:22,540 --> 00:03:26,460 although it started because Lewis Hyde said to himself, 66 00:03:26,460 --> 00:03:30,000 I'm a poet why aren't I rich. 67 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:30,840 I'm a poet why aren't I rich. 68 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:32,760 So he kicks off from that. 69 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,270 And he explores the idea-- 70 00:03:36,270 --> 00:03:39,570 which is true-- that there are two ways of exchanging 71 00:03:39,570 --> 00:03:42,990 things in our society, but only one of them 72 00:03:42,990 --> 00:03:45,300 is ever usually discussed. 73 00:03:45,300 --> 00:03:47,100 And the one that is usually discussed 74 00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:49,500 is the commercial one. 75 00:03:49,500 --> 00:03:52,080 You give money, you get the commodity. 76 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,330 The other way is gift giving. 77 00:03:54,330 --> 00:03:58,380 And the set of rules for gift giving are different. 78 00:03:58,380 --> 00:04:00,000 So an artistic creation of any kind, 79 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,300 So an artistic creation of any kind, 80 00:04:01,300 --> 00:04:03,880 whether it's a painting, whether it's music, 81 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,290 whether it's a book, they have to move through the commodity 82 00:04:07,290 --> 00:04:10,800 economy that turns into a book that you buy in a store. 83 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:12,720 And then it moves into the gift economy 84 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,240 if the person loves the book. 85 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,550 So gifts are reciprocal. 86 00:04:17,550 --> 00:04:20,459 And there are responsibilities that go with them. 87 00:04:20,459 --> 00:04:23,130 You must either reciprocate it or pass it 88 00:04:23,130 --> 00:04:27,240 along to the next person who then passes it along. 89 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,000 And then he situates artistic creation in the gift realm. 90 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,980 And then he situates artistic creation in the gift realm. 91 00:04:32,980 --> 00:04:37,690 And that's why we say a person is gifted. 92 00:04:37,690 --> 00:04:40,380 We don't say they are commercially endowed. 93 00:04:40,380 --> 00:04:42,270 We say they're gifted. 94 00:04:42,270 --> 00:04:48,150 Sometimes the artist is gifted by heredity and circumstances. 95 00:04:48,150 --> 00:04:51,480 But in addition to that, the artist 96 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,680 is always gifted by other artists. 97 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,860 Whether those artists are-- as is often the case-- 98 00:04:58,860 --> 00:05:00,000 no longer living in the usual sense, 99 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,180 no longer living in the usual sense, 100 00:05:03,180 --> 00:05:09,120 or whether those artists are older artists who are mentors, 101 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,210 you then have to work with the gift. 102 00:05:12,210 --> 00:05:18,240 If you choose to do so, you have to do the labor of the gift. 103 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:19,800 You have to do the practicing. 104 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:27,150 You have to do the slogging work of learning your craft 105 00:05:27,150 --> 00:05:30,000 and being able to fully utilize the gift that you 106 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:31,710 and being able to fully utilize the gift that you 107 00:05:31,710 --> 00:05:33,030 have been given. 108 00:05:39,340 --> 00:05:43,150 So with books, there are four possibilities-- 109 00:05:43,150 --> 00:05:47,230 good books that make money, bad books that make money, 110 00:05:47,230 --> 00:05:48,820 good books that don't make money, 111 00:05:48,820 --> 00:05:51,220 and bad books that don't make money. 112 00:05:51,220 --> 00:05:53,740 And of those four, the one you really don't want 113 00:05:53,740 --> 00:05:55,391 is the fourth. 114 00:05:55,391 --> 00:05:57,890 You know, to write a bad book that doesn't make money that's 115 00:05:57,890 --> 00:06:00,000 really, pretty horrifying. 116 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:00,880 really, pretty horrifying. 117 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,810 But a good book that does, a bad book that does, at least you 118 00:06:04,810 --> 00:06:06,520 gets some compensation. 119 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,610 It's a bad book, but at least you made some money. 120 00:06:09,610 --> 00:06:11,050 A good book that doesn't, at least 121 00:06:11,050 --> 00:06:13,540 you know the book is good. 122 00:06:13,540 --> 00:06:17,680 But there's no inevitability in the world of art. 123 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:19,610 It's all pretty risky. 124 00:06:19,610 --> 00:06:20,830 You can be very talented. 125 00:06:20,830 --> 00:06:22,630 You can be very gifted. 126 00:06:22,630 --> 00:06:24,110 You can do all of the work. 127 00:06:24,110 --> 00:06:27,810 You can make a wonderful thing. 128 00:06:27,810 --> 00:06:30,000 And it disappears into the void. 129 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:31,860 And it disappears into the void. 130 00:06:31,860 --> 00:06:35,310 Maybe later someone will discover it. 131 00:06:35,310 --> 00:06:37,220 And this often happens, too. 132 00:06:37,220 --> 00:06:42,210 For the artist, it has disappeared into a void. 133 00:06:42,210 --> 00:06:47,100 But then later, somebody finds it, looks at its potential, 134 00:06:47,100 --> 00:06:49,890 and receives it as a gift. 135 00:06:49,890 --> 00:06:51,960 And after the artist's death-- 136 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,980 look at the painter van Gogh, never made a penny, 137 00:06:55,980 --> 00:07:00,000 never sold a painting, now universally appreciated. 138 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:01,410 never sold a painting, now universally appreciated. 139 00:07:01,410 --> 00:07:05,880 So those things can happen, but nothing is inevitable. 140 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,740 Some extremely successful books were 141 00:07:14,740 --> 00:07:18,160 rejected by numerous publishers before somebody finally 142 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,280 saw the beauty of them And one of those 143 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,110 was the Harry Potter series, which 144 00:07:24,110 --> 00:07:28,190 was I think 20 publishers or something turned it down. 145 00:07:28,190 --> 00:07:30,000 And another one was Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano." 146 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,500 And another one was Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano." 147 00:07:33,500 --> 00:07:35,240 This happens. 148 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,920 Not everybody can see immediately 149 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,900 that this is a wonderful thing to publish. 150 00:07:41,900 --> 00:07:45,140 The Bronte sisters were very discouraged 151 00:07:45,140 --> 00:07:50,150 originally with their collection of poems. 152 00:07:50,150 --> 00:07:54,830 The reviewing history of "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" 153 00:07:54,830 --> 00:07:56,952 is very interesting. 154 00:07:56,952 --> 00:07:59,190 So "Wuthering Heights," now universally 155 00:07:59,190 --> 00:08:00,000 acknowledged as a work of genius, 156 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,680 acknowledged as a work of genius, 157 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,730 was scorned by many, especially when it turned out 158 00:08:05,730 --> 00:08:09,090 that it had been written by a woman, which was then 159 00:08:09,090 --> 00:08:11,309 considered very immoral. 160 00:08:11,309 --> 00:08:13,350 One of the worst things that happened to me was I 161 00:08:13,350 --> 00:08:18,210 did write an early novel that never did get published. 162 00:08:18,210 --> 00:08:20,760 It was "Before the Edible Woman" which 163 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:26,100 did eventually get published after some adventures. 164 00:08:26,100 --> 00:08:30,000 So I wrote the novel and I typed it out 165 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:31,710 So I wrote the novel and I typed it out 166 00:08:31,710 --> 00:08:33,743 on my little manual typewriter. 167 00:08:33,743 --> 00:08:35,909 And then I gave it to somebody who can actually type 168 00:08:35,909 --> 00:08:37,679 and they retyped it. 169 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:43,890 And I sent it out and nobody wanted to publish it. 170 00:08:43,890 --> 00:08:49,410 Although one publisher did take me out for afternoon tea. 171 00:08:49,410 --> 00:08:53,220 And he said, could I change the ending? 172 00:08:53,220 --> 00:08:56,580 And the ending of this novel was ahead of its time. 173 00:08:56,580 --> 00:08:58,950 It was 1964. 174 00:08:58,950 --> 00:09:00,000 And the central female character was 175 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,010 And the central female character was 176 00:09:02,010 --> 00:09:05,490 deciding whether to push the central male character 177 00:09:05,490 --> 00:09:06,165 off a roof. 178 00:09:08,970 --> 00:09:10,150 Very ahead of its time. 179 00:09:10,150 --> 00:09:13,980 And I said, no, I didn't think I could change the ending. 180 00:09:13,980 --> 00:09:17,850 And he leaned across the table and patted my hand and said, 181 00:09:17,850 --> 00:09:20,530 is there anything we can do? 182 00:09:20,530 --> 00:09:23,430 In other words, you're obviously quite crazy. 183 00:09:23,430 --> 00:09:25,950 Maybe we can help you with that. 184 00:09:25,950 --> 00:09:30,000 So that was an early publishing experience of mine, 185 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:30,030 So that was an early publishing experience of mine, 186 00:09:30,030 --> 00:09:31,240 but nothing daunted. 187 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,900 I'd set out to write my next novel which 188 00:09:33,900 --> 00:09:40,150 was quite different in tone and even more peculiar. 189 00:09:47,090 --> 00:09:50,080 To know the story of how "Treasure Island" got written, 190 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,880 it's a wonderful story. 191 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:59,120 Robert Louis Stevenson was at the end of his tether. 192 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:00,000 He was broke. 193 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:00,200 He was broke. 194 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:01,580 He was ill. 195 00:10:01,580 --> 00:10:04,140 He was living with his parents. 196 00:10:04,140 --> 00:10:05,680 He had just gotten married. 197 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:09,530 And he had recently burned up his first three novels, 198 00:10:09,530 --> 00:10:11,870 because he thought they weren't any good. 199 00:10:11,870 --> 00:10:14,510 In the household, there was a 12-year-old boy 200 00:10:14,510 --> 00:10:17,390 who liked to paint pictures. 201 00:10:17,390 --> 00:10:19,880 So Robert Louis Stevenson, to keep him company, 202 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,610 was painting pictures with him. 203 00:10:22,610 --> 00:10:25,880 And he painted a watercolor picture of an island. 204 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:27,750 He painted a map. 205 00:10:27,750 --> 00:10:29,810 And because it looked like a tropical island, 206 00:10:29,810 --> 00:10:30,000 he put some palm trees on it. 207 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:32,390 he put some palm trees on it. 208 00:10:32,390 --> 00:10:35,750 And then he put some buried treasure. 209 00:10:35,750 --> 00:10:36,920 And it was such a good map. 210 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:38,690 And they got so interested in it, 211 00:10:38,690 --> 00:10:41,497 that he started to write a story about it. 212 00:10:41,497 --> 00:10:43,580 And that's the first chapter of "Treasure Island." 213 00:10:43,580 --> 00:10:49,190 It's this map that's in the sea chest in the Admiral Benbow 214 00:10:49,190 --> 00:10:50,300 Inn. 215 00:10:50,300 --> 00:10:52,590 And he started reading the story he was writing out 216 00:10:52,590 --> 00:10:54,789 loud to his family group. 217 00:10:54,789 --> 00:10:56,330 And they were quite interested in it. 218 00:10:56,330 --> 00:10:58,160 And they wanted to know more. 219 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:00,000 And a friend of his, who was a publisher, came to visit him. 220 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,020 And a friend of his, who was a publisher, came to visit him. 221 00:11:03,020 --> 00:11:06,680 And Robert Louis Stevenson showed him the manuscript. 222 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:08,450 And the publisher said this is wonderful, 223 00:11:08,450 --> 00:11:09,860 I want to publish it. 224 00:11:09,860 --> 00:11:13,790 And Robert Louis Stevenson got writer's block. 225 00:11:13,790 --> 00:11:18,050 So then he had to get out of his writer's block. 226 00:11:18,050 --> 00:11:20,240 He managed to do that and finished the book. 227 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,810 And he sent the manuscript off, including the map. 228 00:11:23,810 --> 00:11:25,590 And the publisher lost the map. 229 00:11:28,150 --> 00:11:30,000 But so firmly was it imprinted on his mind, 230 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,680 But so firmly was it imprinted on his mind, 231 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:34,240 that he recreated it. 232 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:38,050 So the map you see in "Treasure Island" is the second map. 233 00:11:38,050 --> 00:11:40,420 It's not the originating map, the one that 234 00:11:40,420 --> 00:11:41,800 kicked the whole thing off. 235 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:43,840 It's the remembered map. 236 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,380 Then he went on to become an international success. 237 00:11:47,380 --> 00:11:48,380 Isn't that a good story? 238 00:11:55,140 --> 00:11:57,740 What separates fiction writers from other kinds 239 00:11:57,740 --> 00:11:59,630 of storytellers? 240 00:11:59,630 --> 00:12:00,000 What separates written down stories from, 241 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:04,280 What separates written down stories from, 242 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:13,860 for instance, an opera, a ballet, a play, a painting? 243 00:12:13,860 --> 00:12:18,070 Well, for one thing, with a written down story, 244 00:12:18,070 --> 00:12:21,510 there's always a gap in time between the person writing 245 00:12:21,510 --> 00:12:25,010 the story and the person receiving the story. 246 00:12:25,010 --> 00:12:29,400 If it's, for instance, a play or an opera being performed live, 247 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:30,000 the performance and the recipient of the performance 248 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,820 the performance and the recipient of the performance 249 00:12:32,820 --> 00:12:35,650 are in the same place at the same time. 250 00:12:35,650 --> 00:12:39,540 So you get the critical response right away. 251 00:12:39,540 --> 00:12:42,630 And that frequently means that the storyteller 252 00:12:42,630 --> 00:12:45,480 will change the story to please the audience who 253 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:47,290 is right there. 254 00:12:47,290 --> 00:12:52,860 However, if you're writing a bookie book, a bookety book, 255 00:12:52,860 --> 00:12:56,080 in which the person is going to receive the book-- 256 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,740 it's got all the pages in there already-- 257 00:12:58,740 --> 00:13:00,000 you can't do that. 258 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:00,420 you can't do that. 259 00:13:00,420 --> 00:13:03,930 If you're writing a book, the time in which you're writing it 260 00:13:03,930 --> 00:13:05,610 and the space in which you're writing it 261 00:13:05,610 --> 00:13:08,820 are always different from the time and space in which 262 00:13:08,820 --> 00:13:12,780 the reader is reading it. 263 00:13:12,780 --> 00:13:16,980 As Emily Dickinson put it, this is my letter to the world. 264 00:13:16,980 --> 00:13:18,060 It's a letter. 265 00:13:18,060 --> 00:13:18,660 You write it. 266 00:13:18,660 --> 00:13:20,220 You mail it. 267 00:13:20,220 --> 00:13:24,670 Maybe somebody gets it at the other end. 268 00:13:24,670 --> 00:13:26,670 So I recently did a project called 269 00:13:26,670 --> 00:13:29,640 "The Future Library of Norway." 270 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:30,000 And this is a project by an artist called Katie Paterson. 271 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,070 And this is a project by an artist called Katie Paterson. 272 00:13:35,070 --> 00:13:38,070 And it involves a forest of trees that 273 00:13:38,070 --> 00:13:40,170 will grow for a hundred years. 274 00:13:40,170 --> 00:13:42,660 And in each of those years, a writer 275 00:13:42,660 --> 00:13:44,970 will submit a manuscript-- 276 00:13:44,970 --> 00:13:50,780 made of words, anything, novel, poem, play, memoir, letter, 277 00:13:50,780 --> 00:13:52,410 a single word-- 278 00:13:52,410 --> 00:13:55,260 in a sealed box to "The Future Library of Norway." 279 00:13:55,260 --> 00:13:58,380 And they will all accumulate for 100 years. 280 00:13:58,380 --> 00:14:00,000 And in the hundredth year, all of the boxes will be opened. 281 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,940 And in the hundredth year, all of the boxes will be opened. 282 00:14:02,940 --> 00:14:06,060 And enough trees will be cut from the forest that 283 00:14:06,060 --> 00:14:09,330 has grown to print the anthology of "The Future 284 00:14:09,330 --> 00:14:11,620 Library of Norway." 285 00:14:11,620 --> 00:14:14,000 So I was the first writer for this. 286 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,020 And you get an invitation like that 287 00:14:16,020 --> 00:14:21,540 and you either say, you're crazy, or you say, I'm in. 288 00:14:21,540 --> 00:14:23,460 And people then say, well, why would you 289 00:14:23,460 --> 00:14:26,200 write a book that nobody can read for 100 years? 290 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,400 For me, it's the great unknown. 291 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:30,000 But it's a very hopeful gesture that 292 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,500 But it's a very hopeful gesture that 293 00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:37,000 means somewhere, in the future, there will still be readers. 294 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:38,530 There will still be people. 295 00:14:38,530 --> 00:14:40,960 There will still be a forest in Norway. 296 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,270 There will still be a library. 297 00:14:43,270 --> 00:14:47,320 And every act of writing assumes a future reader. 298 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:58,140 There is no such thing as readers en mass. 299 00:14:58,140 --> 00:15:00,000 it's only ever a single reader. 300 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:01,540 it's only ever a single reader. 301 00:15:01,540 --> 00:15:04,620 So you may have in mind the reader 302 00:15:04,620 --> 00:15:07,080 that you want to interest. 303 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:08,092 That's your audience. 304 00:15:08,092 --> 00:15:10,050 It's not a bunch of other people who say things 305 00:15:10,050 --> 00:15:11,640 like I never read science fiction 306 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:16,410 or I only ever read books by a man or any of those things. 307 00:15:16,410 --> 00:15:17,940 That's not your reader. 308 00:15:17,940 --> 00:15:25,110 Your reader is someone that you hope will get the jokes, 309 00:15:25,110 --> 00:15:29,670 be led along by the clues that you will have sprinkled here 310 00:15:29,670 --> 00:15:30,000 and there, understand the depth of your character, 311 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:35,370 and there, understand the depth of your character, 312 00:15:35,370 --> 00:15:38,610 be intrigued by the turns of fate 313 00:15:38,610 --> 00:15:41,970 and circumstance in your book, and will 314 00:15:41,970 --> 00:15:45,810 cry at the appropriate places, laugh at the others, 315 00:15:45,810 --> 00:15:50,670 and come out of the book thinking, wow, what a book. 316 00:15:50,670 --> 00:15:52,546 That's your reader.