Patrick Ness

Watching The London Book Fair's interview with Patrick Ness was actually an inspiration to me as a writer. I found Patrick Ness to be a very insightful and honest man. He had many very wise and interesting views on somethings. These were some of those things:

"Every book is about its writer." (Ness)

Mr. Ness said that a story is about its writer in the sense that we write from what we know. Who we are, how we feel and where we are. A very interesting quote that I agree with.

"I'm a real believer in, you absolutely listen to the story first and formost what its telling you it needs to be and the important things is not to be a snob. Its telling you it needs to be this, if thats the right thing then you've got to pay attention to it." (Ness)

This was a quote that I found greatly interesting. Mr. Ness talks about how a story writes itself. If you don't let the story develop the way it wants to then the story isn't how it should be. In a sense, he is saying that you can't leave things out because you don't think anyone will like it. You have to develop the story to how it should be or it won't be right.

"Writing can't be taught, it can be practiced." (Ness)

This is a wonderful quote. Mr. Ness really feels that you can only teach how you write, only give tips. Writing is a personalized and individual skill that is developed uniquely by the writer. One's style of writing is a unique and precious thing.

"Good books don't get written if their not written for the story themselves."

I love this quote. It really gives you a sense of how a story is developed. Mr. Ness goes on to say that if you don't write a story for the story itself than its not a story, its a product. I agree. If you write a story to fit inside a certain box than its not written for the story.

I enjoyed learning about this author and look to his with great respect as a mentor and role-model for my dream to become a writer.