Today while I was listening to an audiobook I got to thinking, which writer of all the books I have read/listened to would I like to sit down and have a conversation with. Not necessarily about writing advice or anything of that nature, I am talking in terms of glimpsing at how their mind works. How do they think about things like plot, characters, interesting themes and the such. Who would I be interested in sitting down and exploring their creative process, their fusion of ideas and stories. I came to two names but couldn’t decide one over the other.
I would like to sit down with China Mieville and Neil Gaiman and just listen to them as they sound out their constructions. As they use the various sources of their inspirations to formulate stories.
Neil could take the most arbitrary concepts ( I’m not saying he does) and turn them into fascinating stories that anybody could fall in love with. He has a power of making anything interesting and fun to read. On top of the Neil is apparently one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.
China comes up with concepts and ideas that are just at the edge of normality, they are on the fringe of where our mind ends and the unknown begins. He pushes the imaginative envelope unlike I have read anywhere else. In half his interviews I can’t follow what he is saying, he just operates on another level far above my own and it fascinates me to no end.
So I wonder if I could have a conversation with these guys and just learn a thing or two about how to use my imagination, how to better sharpen my creative receptiveness. I’m not saying that I want to copy them, but perhaps something could be learned or absorbed that would enlighten me in how I think about things inside my noodle.
So which writer would you like to sit down with?
Frank C Bishop 
Now this would be hard for someone who does not read real books other than my son’s children books but I would be cool to meet some of the bloggers I follow. They’re good writers too with much experience and stories to share. great post! You had me thinking.
I would agree with the bloggers, they are interesting and would be a fun conversation.
Stephen King.
He certainly has a wealth of experience. I bet that would be a stellar conversation.
Great Question.
He’s no longer alive but I would love to talk to Michael Crichton. Not all of his books were great but he did an astounding job of making the unbelievable, seem believable.
I would have talked with Douglas Adams. He was a fair bit on the interesting side and enjoys a good tangent as much as me. We may never get anywhere in the conversation, but dammit it would be fun. I would also gladly accept Terry Pratchett for similar reasoning, also it may be easier since he is still alive. But that’s if I actually wanted a full on conversation. If I could be content just having somebody talk at me to their heart’s extent, it would be Gaiman since his voice is so dreamy.
Douglas Adams would be a fun time. I’d love to talk to David Mitchell – he wrote Cloud Atlas, Number9Dream and others. When I read Cloud Atlas I had a moment of jealousy … because I want to write like that.