Make The Thing You Love. Your Passion Will Inspire Others Because People Love To See Things That Others

Make the thing you love. Your passion will inspire others because people love to see things that others are passionate about! If you're not sure, doubting yourself, siphoned into the insecurity vacuum, or just stuck, don't worry.

Take a breath, relax, and do what @neil-gaiman would do. Close your eyes, reach out, and ask the immortal ghost of Terry Pratchett how he thinks people would react...

"Fuck em." -ghost of Terry Pratchett, per Neil Gaiman

Do the thing! Keep going!

(ty to @fuckyeahgoodomens for posting this conversation!)

From December 2017: An Unsent Reply...

Here’s a written but unposted snapshot of where I was at in December 2017. So no, I didn’t think GOOD OMENS was going to be a successful slam dunk, and be received with love. I worried. But I hoped.

Paraphrase of the OP, because it seems unfair to quote them, or identify them in any way: I know I’m really not going to like the TV adaptation of Good Omens. The cast is all wrong. It is going to have banal new plotlines. It’s going to make fun of Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship. I don’t even think they will get the dog right. I love the book so much but nothing I’ve seen so far of the TV series makes me think it will work out.

…

I care and it makes me really sad.

I spent two years writing and honing the scripts, I’ve given up all the other things in my life to oversee this through production and post production and make sure it’s being done properly. Because Terry Pratchett asked me to. Because it matters that the story is done right. It’s Crowley and it’s Aziraphale, it’s Newt and Madame Tracy and Shadwell and Adam and Pepper and the Satanic Nuns and the rest.

It’s six hours long. We’ve reached day 70 of a 100 day shoot. Everyone is giving it their all.

We haven’t released anything yet. No footage. A couple of stills of characters in costume. That’s all. We haven’t even released a picture of Ollie the dog who plays Dog.

I’m proud of a lot of things. The casting is something I’m especially proud of. I love the vulnerability and bravery of Michael Sheen’s Aziraphale. I love the way that cynicism masks caring and honesty in David Tennant’s Crowley. I love how funny they are. I could point to the other 200 speaking parts and tell you what I love about them, what they bring to Good Omens.

And then I read things like this, and am baffled and saddened.

Why do you think I’m doing this? It’s not for the money: I would be making a lot more money writing novels people are waiting for, and I wouldn’t have to get up at 5 a.m. anymore.

It’s to make a Good Omens that feels like the book. That gives people who loved the book things that they loved, and to give them things they didn’t know they loved yet. It’s the most faithful adaptation of anything I’ve been involved in, while also keeping some surprises for people who have read the book.

Crowley and Aziraphale are the ones in the book. I hope you’ll at least give our actors a chance. Perhaps wait until we’ve released a trailer before deciding it’s not your cup of cocoa.

Because there are hundreds of people working very hard to make things happen. And because we are about to spend two days burning down a Bookshop.