Bob Dylan’s Nobel-Prize Worthy Advice to Writers
By Bill Ferris | October 15, 2016 |
Warning: Hacks for Hacks tips may have harmful side effects on your writing career, and should not be used by minors, adults, writers, poets, songwriters, scribes, scriveners, journalists, or anybody.
This week, American icon Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, becoming the first songwriter to win. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise; Dylan’s songs were poetry in musical form, and his artistic ambition inspired a generation to try to make the world better.
Dylan would probably have lots of good advice to share with writers, were he still alive today. However, his many interviews and the millions of words written about him are treasure troves of wisdom. Though his medium was music, Dylan’s lessons on craft are applicable to writers of all stripes. Here’s Bob Dylan’s most salient advice, in his own words.
On the Creative Process
- “Get outside. Get out into the world, man! You wanna read poetry, look at the stars. Light a candle and write under the new moon. That’s when The Operator comes to whisper the Secret Words to you.”
- “Writing a song is like milking a cow. ” [forty-five seconds of silence before he wanders away, his lapel microphone dragging on the floor behind him]
- “When I start writing a song, I like to put together a real detailed outline first. Then I hand it over to some freelancers I know from the advertising business, and they hash out the chords and the lyrics while I cruise down to the club for a quick nine holes. Much more efficient this way. Production is up 23% this quarter. The market needs product, man. Gotta feed the beast.”
- “No matter how beautiful her voice is, do not dare behold the face of The Operator.”
photo by Xavier Badosa
On Dealing with Writers Block
- “Promise yourself a reward when you’re done. I like to treat myself to some Mickey D’s after I finish up for the day. A Big Mac #1 combo, with a McFlurry for dessert, or maybe one of them strawberry shakes. Man oh man!”
- “Once a month, write a poem in blood. Use your own if you must.”
On Getting out of your Comfort Zone
- “I decided to go electric after I heard ‘Surfin Bird‘ in ’63. I said, ‘Man, that’s the ticket! If I could write a tune like that…’ I’ve spent half a century trying to write the next ‘Surfin Bird.’”
- “Those mystery books are fun. I’d like to write a mystery book sometime, except in mine, the butler really DID do it.”
On Collaborating with Other Artists
- “When I was in the Traveling Wilburys, I used to arm wrestle Jeff Lynne every morning for who got to drive the tour bus. Always loved driving those things. Cars would drive up beside you and do the thing where they want you to honk the horn. Beep beep! What a blast!”
- “B-B-B-BIRD IS THE WORD!”
On his Longevity
- “I have many horcruxes. More than you can imagine. That’s how the Traveling Wilburys started.”
What are your favorite inspirational quotes from Bob Dylan? Or are you one of those Philistines who say he shouldn’t have won? Share your thoughts in the comments section!
After college, Bill Ferris (he/him) left Nebraska for Florida to become a rich and famous rock star. Failing that, he picked up the pen to become a rich and famous novelist. He now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and looks forward to a life of poverty and ridicule.
“Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.”
Though I think Bob was being generous. It seems to me that the vast majority are just getting wet.
“Were he still alive today?”
https://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.Nsf/dnames/Dylan+Bob
Very creative… -_-
It’s almost like you took his advice:
“Creativity is like a freight train going down the tracks. It’s something that has to be caressed and treated with a great deal of respect…you’ve got to program your brain not to think too much.”
Hey! Bob Dylan is not dead. Other than that your article is good.
Just checked Wikipedia (I know … but at least they try to be accurate with births and deaths) and I see only his birth date.
You’re THIS CLOSE to getting the joke.
“Zimmy and other musicians don’t deserve literary prizes.” – Rabindranath Tagore
“You had one job.”
I still don’t get the joke?
“The line it is drawn the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a’ changin’
Bob Dylan indeed lives. Saw him myself in concert in Maui last year. Yes, his voice is still horrible, but his words. . .are poetry
Thanks for this article. Well-written
Travelling Wilburys = horcruxes = brilliance, Mr. Ferris
Natalie, that was my favorite! This is brilliant fun.
I’m afraid I’m one of those people that couldn’t get past his voice. Had to laugh at “Writing a song is like milking a cow.” All I remember about milking a cow is that you better tie up the cow’s tail. They have deadly aim and whip you across the eyes every time. I wasn’t that good at it and it took me quite a while to get a pail of milk. Stronger hands than mine produced a frothy pail in only a few minutes. What I took away from it is not to write tentatively. Write strong. Thanks for the post.
Wonderful advice! Just an FYI – Bob Dylan is alive…
Bob Dylan is still alive in all our hearts as long as we keep playing his music.
It’s embarrassing that you have to keep explaining this. I’m sorry for you, me, and all of humanity.
Hey, maybe that could have been a lyric.
I am laughing my ass off. The comments are funnier then the article!
Happy to concur that Bob Dylan is indeed alive and well!! And this post is part of the Hacks for Hacks column *sense of humor required* (Bill is joking!!)
satire, yes. Esoteric, yes.
Thank you so much for this great fun, or as Dylan would say before the music died, “I didn’t say you had to smoke the stuff to be creative. I just said, man, be grateful for ragweed… nothing makes a poet feel more alive than a good sneeze.”
*Rambles incoherently, winks at the camera, and we realize he was Cate Blanchett all along.* Suckers.
SATIRE, people. *falls over*
Well done, Bill.
I love that he won the Nobel Prize. What a gifted storyteller he was. One of my favorites of his quotes: “A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom. ”
My favorite Dylan song: “Blowin’ In the Wind.” If that is not great literature, I don’t know what is. Those who say he should not have won the prize need to listen to the words of the many songs he wrote that tell stories of injustice, hope and love.
We’re all idiots, babe.
It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.