NEIL GAIMAN
CHAPTER 19
The Writer's
Responsibilities
MASTERCLASS
NEIL GAIMAN
MASTERCLASS
CHAPTER 19
The Writer's Responsibilities
“We have to remember that the greatest triumphs and
the greatest tragedies of the human race are nothing to
do with people being basically good or people being
basically evil. They’re all to do with people
being basically people.”
A
ntagonism is one of the critical tools of storytelling. Stories don’t move forward without conflict,
and conflict is produced by antagonists. These can
be individual villains or forces of society (even forces
of nature), but it’s important to consider how you treat
any antagonist. They should be just as well-developed
as your main character, and that will often mean
understanding them, or, as Neil says, being willing to
allow in other points of view.
WRITING EXERCISES
Think of a horrible person, or take one from your novel-in-progress, and try writing a few paragraphs from
their POV on the following topics:
A family member they miss
Their most awkward moment
A situation that embarrassed them
Their worst loss
“I decided my responsibility is to tell
good stories, tell honest stories, tell
them to as many people as I can. My
responsibility is to encapsulate as
much as I can the things I believe,
but also…being willing to allow
other points of view in.”
Maybe back in college you had to write an essay and
identify your controlling idea, the main argument
you were making. The same phrase is used in storytelling to describe the message that resonates with readers
at the climax of your novel. It can be positive or negative or even ironic, and it will come from you and your
beliefs about the world. For a full discussion of controlling ideas see Robert McKee’s chapter “Structure
and Meaning” in Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and
the Principles of Screenwriting (1997). McKee argues
that endings come in three forms: “up” endings express
optimism, “down” endings are pessimistic, and ironic
endings express “life at its most complete and realistic.”
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NEIL GAIMAN
CHAPTER 19
Like Neil, he believes you have one responsibility with
your controlling idea, and that is to tell the truth. Once
you find out what your controlling idea is (see the
writing exercise for your novel below) and you find
you don’t agree with it, toss it out and start again with
something honest.
“Everything that happens in the
living is going to wind up in the
fiction….You are going to need every
human being you ever meet.”
MASTERCLASS
FOR YOUR NOVEL
To identify your controlling idea, you will need to have
decided on an ending for your story. If you have it,
then answer the following questions:
• What value comes out as a result of the story’s
climax? For example, in the fairy tale Hansel and
Gretel, the climax occurs when the children return
home to find their father waiting for them—a father
who had previously sanctioned their abandonment.
The value is positive, it’s a triumph of love in the
face of starvation and betrayal.
• Looking back through your story, identify the
primary force that caused this value. In the case
of Hansel and Gretel, the force that brought about
the happy ending was the resourcefulness of the
children. Instead of allowing bitterness to overcome
them, they went into the world alone and found the
tools and fortitude and cleverness they needed to
survive—and bring much-needed wealth back to
their family.
Thus, the controlling idea of Hansel and Gretel is: Love
triumphs when individuals show resourcefulness and
bravery.
THE WRITER'S RESPONSIBILITIES
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