Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Writers and Publishing, a Response to An Interview with Markus Zusak

"Being a writer, I think, has nothing to do with being published--in a lot of ways." Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief

In the following clip, Markus Zusak discusses his motivation for writing The Book Thief and talks about the act of writing. He says if he knew he'd never publish or make a cent on his next work, he'd write anyway. Isn't that the truth? We write because we have to write. We can't help it. Give us a used envelope, a 3x5 card, the edge of a newspaper article, a napkin, a scrap of toilet paper. Where there is a pen and a fleeting thought, we'll find a way to record workable ideas to flesh out later. Now if we could only find a way to keep up with all those scraps of paper.