Posts Tagged ‘Robert Crais’
Robert Crais gives a pep talk
There were two keynote speakers at the California Crime Writers Conference — Laurie R. King and Robert Crais. Both were absolutely wonderful and inspiring.
I was surprised how much I warmed up to Robert Crais. I haven’t read his books — I will now, believe me. And I wasn’t sure what I could learn from someone who seemed so different from me — “macho” etc.
But Robert Crais had the room transfixed from his opening — “My name is Robert Crais and I write.” — to his closing — “Be true to yourself.” He was funny, thoughtful and ultimately the best possible cheerleader any writer could have.
Robert Crais shared that he had received 116 rejections before he was published. And that he had bucked the conventional wisdom, creating a PI-centered mystery when that was supposedly a dead genre.
“You can do this,” he told us. “If I can do this, you can do this.”
He cautioned us against being too involved in the news about the publishing industry. Yes, it’s very bleak but … you have to write.
And that made so much sense to me — if you are a writer, you simply must write.
Or better said by Robert Crais: “If you write, if you’re a storyteller, you write.”
And we will write.
