I resisted watching The Walking Dead for a long time. I didn’t think I would like it because I don’t typically like anything that’s too gory. But when I finally gave in and watched the first episode, I was hooked from the beginning, mostly, I think, because of Rick Grimes (the lead character in the comic books and show). I’m still not a die-hard fan. I don’t live tweet every episode and I’ve never read any of the books it is based on. I have, however, become more interested in The Walking Dead‘s creator, Robert Kirkman.
Kirkman is only 37 years old but has had tremendous success in his career already. His first comic book was Battle Pope, which he self-published in 2000. He started work on The Walking Dead a few years later and the adaptation hit television screens on October 31, 2010, which means the world has been captivated by Kirkman’s creation for over ten years. Pretty impressive.
I’ve heard a lot about The Walking Dead books over the years and I know for sure that I’ll read them one day. I have to hand it to Robert Kirkman because I really didn’t think I’d be interested in anything zombie-related for quite this long, and probably the only reason I still am interested is because of the characters he created. Even though he’s probably completely dismissed by some because of the genre he writes in, there is no doubt in my mind that Robert Kirkman is a talented writer. Here are some of his words of wisdom on writing.
On ignoring success.
“If I actually sat and considered the number of people that are looking ‘The Walking Dead’ and scrutinizing ‘The Walking Dead’ at this point, I would probably get a little nervous, get stage fright, and have trouble writing. But when I’m doing my thing, I pretty much ignore the fact that it has grown into this enormous, worldwide thing,”
(Source: Business Insider)
On staying humble.
“It’s all about luck, and being in the right place at the right time, and people being into this kind of story because of things that are going on in the world. I don’t really attribute it to my imagination per se, because then I would become full of myself and be unbearable to be around. But it’s great that people like it.”
(Source: Fast Company)
On standing out in a crowd.
“Try to make your book as original as possible, but not too weird. I mean, that’s very important. Don’t do something that’s already on the racks. Nobody wants to read another story about a barbarian that’s like Conan or a superhero that’s like Spider-Man. You have to have some kind of hook.”
(Source: GalleyCat)