Let me begin by saying that I have never read a Neil Gaiman book before this one. No, not even Coraline. Not even the Sandman series. I have heard many wonderful things about Neil Gaiman, but I never got around to reading any of the books I have of his. Until now.
I picked up Make Good Art, the book made of Neil Gaiman's commencement speech to UArts, because I needed some inspiration. I was feeling artistically blocked. And then this book changed some things.
Gaiman starts by saying he never imagined he would give a commencement speech in his life- he escaped the school system as soon as he could. This is something I can relate to, and it caught my attention. He goes on to joke about his career, which he says he cannot call a career, because that implies he had a career plan. Still, Gaiman had a list of goals. And that was enough, because by my count he has already accomplished most of them.
His next list is that of advice to graduating students, and it is incredible. It is brave advice, eloquent and heartfelt at the same time. To sum it up: Make mistakes. It means you're doing something. Throw out your ideas of possible and impossible. Accept that there will be failures. If you know what you want to do, do that thing. Make good art. And enjoy the process.
He told me, through the text of the book, exactly what I needed to hear. Make good art.
I highly recommend this book to anyone feeling stuck in their life, or scared, or creatively blocked.
Plus it is only 80 pages, so you really have no excuse!
