Saturday night I had fun things planned. Then all events were cancelled because I ended up not feeling well. Flat in bed and grumpy about it, I finally had time to watch the Markus Zusak Ted Talk on failure I'd saved for later.
Even when it was in vogue, I never emailed people links to things they just had to see. Not even if they were cute kittens or hilarious videos.
This is an exception. Whether you write or not, Markus Zusak's approach to failure is inspiring.
For me, presently writing my own ambitious book, it's encouraging. Zusak talks about how he tried several different voices for narrator, including Death as a callous, bleak narrator, before he found the one that worked. After Liesel as narrator sounded too much like an Australian child trying to sound German (that gave me a laugh), he went back to Death. As you know as you've read the book, this new narrator is quite the opposite of callous.
Zusak talks of how he never expected anyone to read the book, so he wrote it exactly as he wanted.
I have been working on a narrator who just hasn't been that likeable. A few weeks ago, I put her aside and started an alternate voice. My kind writing friends really liked her. This new voice is something I thought for years I wasn't allowed to write--she isn't my ethnic background, or even from my nation. But somehow her voice still rings true. And makes me excited to write.
Creativity, along with helping others, are two of life's major sources of happiness. So my new goal is to write this book for me. The way I want. Then we'll see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=A-_8QIdm4hA&app=desktop
