Then he gives the audience five pieces of advice, that he would have loved knowing when he started out as a writer. Everything will work out somehow and everything will change, so do what you want to do now.įirst of all Neil Gaiman gives an introduction where he mentions that he never imagined himself standing and giving advice to people graduating from an establishment of higher education. When life is tough and difficult, make art. When life is great and you’re happy, make art. In front of the big crowd of graduates, he gives advice on how, when and why they could create art and improve their skills. This is one of Neil Gaimans messages in his commencement speech to the University of Arts graduating class of 2012 Philadelphia. Still curious? Here are some other awesome commencement speeches: Michael Lewis - Don’t Eat Fortune’s Cookie David Foster Wallace - The Truth With A Whole Lot Of Rhetorical Bullshit Pared Away and Steve Jobs.”Make good art”. Leave the world more interesting than it was before.If you have problems getting started, pretend you’re someone who is wise, who can get things done. Be wise and accomplish things in your career.Stephen King gave that piece of advice to Neil years ago. Enjoy the ride, don’t fret the whole way.You get freelance work if your work is good, if you’re easy to get along with, and if you’re on deadline.

Make your own art, meaning the art that reflects your individuality and personal vision.

When life gets hard, as it inevitably will, make good art.

It means that you’re out there doing and trying things.

Make mistakes, glorious and fantastic ones.

Then, when things go right, you’ll probably feel like a fraud. Keep moving towards it, even if the process takes time and requires sacrifice. And don’t listen to anyone who says there are rules and limits.

Accept that you don’t know what you’re doing.

If you can’t spare the time, openculture offers this distilled version: The speech was so good it was turned into a book, Make Good Art. The rules of what is possible and impossible were made by people who have not tested the bounds of possible by going beyond them – and you can. People who know the rules know what is possible and what is impossible. This is right up there with the Steve Jobs and David Foster Wallace commencement speeches. Although Neil Gaiman never attended college, he gives one of the best commencement speeches ever.