16/01/2025
I have read most of Wilbur Smith’s books! I loved his writing and I align to his philosophy. In whose books do you lose yourself?
Wilbur Smith was born on 9 January 1933 in what was then Northern Rhodesia. His debut novel, WHEN THE LION FEEDS, was published in 1964. He went on to write over 40 books that sold more than 120 million copies worldwide. Wilbur Smith passed away on 13 November 2021.
What follows is from the Wilbur Smith website; memories of conversations with his first publisher, Charles Pick.
“He said, ‘Write only about those things you know well.’ Since then I have written only about Africa.
He said, ‘Do not write for your publishers or for your imagined readers. Write only for yourself.’ This was something that I had learned for myself. Charles merely confirmed it for me. Now, when I sit down to write the first page of a novel, I never give a thought to who will eventually read it.
He said, ‘Don't talk about your books with anybody, even me, until they are written.’ Until it is written a book is merely smoke on the wind. It can be blown away by a careless word. I write my books while other aspiring authors are talking theirs away.
He said, ‘Dedicate yourself to your calling, but read widely and look at the world around you, travel and live your life to the full, so that you will always have something fresh to write about.’ It was advice I have taken very much to heart. I have made it part of my personal philosophy. When it is time to play, I play very hard. I travel and hunt and scuba dive and climb mountains and try to follow the advice of Rudyard Kipling; ‘Fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run.’ When it is time to write, I write with all my heart and all my mind.”
