Editing Neil Gaiman (section)

===Journalism, early writings, and literary influences===
Gaiman has mentioned several writers who have influenced his work, including [[Mary Shelley]],<ref name="Abbey">Abbey p. 68</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/18/my-hero-mary-shelley-neil-gaiman |title=My hero : Mary Shelley by Neil Gaiman|journal=The Guardian|first= Neil|last= Gaiman|date= 18 October 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150606155237/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/18/my-hero-mary-shelley-neil-gaiman|archive-date= 6 June 2015|url-status= live}}</ref> [[Rudyard Kipling]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]], [[Michael Moorcock]], [[Dave Sim]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/books/review/neil-gaiman-shares-his-reading-habits.html |title=Neil Gaiman: By the Book |work=The New York Times |date=3 May 2012 |access-date=20 July 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Gaiman |first=Neil |title=''300 Good Reasons to Resent Dave Sim'' |magazine=[[Comics Buyer's Guide]] |date=7 August 1992 |location=Iola, Wisconsin|publisher=Krause Publications}}</ref> [[Alan Moore]], [[Steve Ditko]],<ref>{{Citation|last=Darren Wilshaw|title=In Search Of Steve Ditko (2007)|date=21 May 2017|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gwDnhMO8is| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/3gwDnhMO8is| archive-date=28 October 2021|access-date=19 August 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Will Eisner]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/07/neil-gaiman-will-eisner-comic-books|title=Neil Gaiman on Will Eisner: 'He thought comics were an artform – he was right'|last=Gaiman|first=Neil|date=7 March 2017|journal=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref> [[Ursula K. Le Guin]], [[Harlan Ellison]], [[John Crowley (author)|John Crowley]], [[Lord Dunsany]], [[G. K. Chesterton]] and [[Gene Wolfe]].<ref>{{cite news | last=Gaiman| first=Neil| date=13 May 2011| title= My Hero: Gene Wolfe| work= The Guardian| url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/13/gene-wolfe-hero-neil-gaiman-sf}}</ref><ref name=MOR/> A lifetime fan of the [[Monty Python]] [[comedy troupe]], he owned a copy of ''[[Monty Python's Big Red Book]]'' as a teenager.<ref>{{cite news |title=Monty Python's greatest skits |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jun/22/monty-pythons-greatest-skits-best-sketches-o2-shows |access-date=25 August 2019 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> During a trip to France when he was 13, Gaiman became fascinated with the visually fantastic world in the stories of ''[[Métal hurlant|Metal Hurlant]]'', even though he could not understand the words.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goldsmith|first=Jeffrey|title=Heavy Metal - Interview with Neil Gaiman|date=May 1998|pages=10–11}}</ref> When he was 19 or 20 years old, he contacted his favourite science fiction writer, [[R. A. Lafferty]], requesting advice on becoming an author and including a Lafferty [[pastiche]] he had written. Lafferty sent Gaiman an encouraging and informative letter back, along with literary advice.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://thislandpress.com/11/05/2014/lafferty-lost-and-found/?page_num=3|title= Lafferty Lost and Found|first= Natasha|last= Ball|date= 11 May 2014|publisher= This Land Press|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150920174814/http://thislandpress.com/11/05/2014/lafferty-lost-and-found/?page_num=3|archive-date= 20 September 2015|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/13/ra-lafferty-secret-sci-fi-genius-poised-for-comeback|title= RA Lafferty – the secret sci-fi genius more than ready for a comeback|journal= The Guardian|first= David|last= Barnett|date= 13 August 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150617183441/http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/13/ra-lafferty-secret-sci-fi-genius-poised-for-comeback|archive-date= 17 June 2015|url-status= live}}</ref>

Gaiman has named [[Roger Zelazny]] as the author who influenced him the most.<ref name=Zelazny>"Of Meetings and Partings" by Neil Gaiman, introduction to ''This Mortal Mountain: Volume 3 of The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny'', NESFA Press, edited by David G. Grubbs, Christopher S. Kovacs, and Ann Crimmins, 2009, page 12.</ref><ref>"[http://www.tor.com/2012/11/11/something-else-like-roger-zelazny/ Something Else Like ... Roger Zelazny]" by Jo Walton, [[Tor.com]], 11 November 2012.</ref> Gaiman claims that other authors such as [[Samuel R. Delany]] and [[Angela Carter]] "furnished the inside of my mind and set me to writing".<ref name="Zelazny" /> Gaiman takes inspiration from the folk tales tradition, citing [[Otta F Swire]]'s book on the legends of the [[Isle of Skye]] as his inspiration for ''The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/books/neil-gaiman-follows-the-guiding-light-of-instinct.html|title=A Literary Expert on Driving in the Dark|work=The New York Times |date=13 June 2014 |access-date=20 November 2018|language=en|last1=Lee |first1=Felicia R. }}</ref>

In the early 1980s, Gaiman pursued journalism, conducting interviews and writing book reviews, as a means to learn about the world and to make connections that he hoped would later assist him in getting published.<ref name="Abbey"/> He wrote and reviewed extensively for the British Fantasy Society.<ref name="NGB">{{cite web|url= http://www.neilgaimanbibliography.com/bookreviews.html|title= Works by Gaiman – Book Reviews|date= n.d.|work= NeilGaimanBibliography.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131017032546/http://neilgaimanbibliography.com/bookreviews.html|archive-date= 17 October 2013|url-status= dead|access-date= 26 October 2013}}</ref> His first professional short story publication was "Featherquest", a fantasy story, in ''[[Imagine (AD&D magazine)|Imagine]]'' magazine in May 1984.<ref name="NGB" />

[[File:23 Denmark St.jpg|thumb|upright|Gaiman frequented the [[Forbidden Planet (bookstore)|Forbidden Planet]] comic store at its original location of Number 23, [[Denmark Street]], central London (pictured).]]

While waiting for a train at London's [[London Victoria station|Victoria Station]] in 1984, Gaiman noticed a copy of ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' by [[Alan Moore]], and read it. Moore's approach to comics had such an impact on Gaiman that he later wrote "that was the final straw, what was left of my resistance crumbled. I proceeded to make regular and frequent visits to London's [[Forbidden Planet (bookstore)|Forbidden Planet]] shop to buy comics".<ref name=MOR/>

In 1984, he wrote his first book, a biography of the band [[Duran Duran]], and co-edited ''[[Ghastly Beyond Belief]]'', a book of quotations, with [[Kim Newman]]. Although Gaiman thought he had done a terrible job, the book's first edition sold out very quickly. When he went to relinquish his rights to the book, he discovered the publisher had gone bankrupt.<ref name="Abbey"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LmfCGy_ZLg | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/7LmfCGy_ZLg| archive-date=28 October 2021|title=Authors at Google – Neil Gaiman interview |publisher=YouTube |date=3 October 2006 |access-date=26 July 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> After this, he was offered a job by ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]''. He refused the offer.<ref name="Abbey"/>

He also wrote interviews and articles for many British magazines, including ''[[Knave (British magazine)|Knave]].'' During this, he sometimes wrote under pseudonyms, including Gerry Musgrave, Richard Grey, and "a couple of house names".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/01/rumour-control.html|title= Rumour control?|first= Neil|last= Gaiman|publisher= Neil Gaiman's Journal|date= 2 January 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120215045349/http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/01/rumour-control.html|archive-date= 15 February 2012|url-status= dead|access-date= 26 July 2011}}</ref> Gaiman has said he ended his journalism career in 1987 because British newspapers regularly publish untruths as fact.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/neilhimself/statuses/8379971068 |title=Neil Gaiman – Journalism |work= Twitter.com |date=29 January 2010|access-date=26 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kanazawa |first=Satoshi |url= http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201001/british-newspapers-make-things|title=Psychology Today – British Newspapers Make Things Up |work=Psychologytoday.com|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130819193027/http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201001/british-newspapers-make-things|archive-date= 19 August 2013|url-status= live|date=24 January 2010|access-date=26 July 2011}}</ref>
In the late 1980s, he wrote ''[[Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion]]'' in what he calls a "classic English humour" style.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue345/interview.html|title= Neil Gaiman hitchhikes through Douglas Adams' hilarious galaxy|first= Kathie|last= Huddleston|date= n.d.|publisher= [[Syfy|Science Fiction Weekly]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080612042852/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue345/interview.html|archive-date= 12 June 2008|url-status= dead}}</ref>

Following this, he wrote the opening of what became his collaboration with [[Terry Pratchett]] on the [[comic novel]] ''[[Good Omens]]'', about the impending apocalypse.<ref name="Omens">{{cite web|first=Gwyneth |last=Williams |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/r4-good-omens |title=Radio 4 to make first-ever dramatisation of Good Omens – Media Centre |publisher=BBC |date=5 September 2014 |access-date=12 June 2015}}</ref>