When best-selling author Neil Gaiman was asked to give advice to aspiring authors at Western Kentucky University’s latest installment of the 2015-16 Cultural Enhancement Series on Tuesday night, his first piece of advice was only one word.

“Write,” he said, provoking laughs from the crowd of WKU students, staff and community members in Van Meter Hall. 

Gaiman, award-winning author of books such as “Coraline” and “American Gods,” was the third guest in WKU’s Cultural Enhancement Series, a program with the goal of introducing students and the community to influential artists and intellectuals.

A line for pre-signed Gaiman books stretched out the door of Van Meter Hall as hundreds of guests took their seats for the event, which took the form of a question-and-answer session with WKU English professor David Bell and the audience. 

Bowling Green resident Diane Heise, who said she always attends Cultural Enhancement Series events, said she really loves Gaiman’s books. Although she previously wasn’t a fan of the fantasy genre, Heise said Gaiman’s writing pulls her through his books. She hoped the event would give her more insight into his books.

Hannah Benward, a WKU senior from Muhlenberg County, said that “other than breathing the same air as Neil Gaiman,” she hoped to discover how he comes up with his characters. 

“I also like that his characters are never all the way good,” she said. 

After reading a short story he had written to the audience, Gaiman explained the title of his latest collection of short stories, “Trigger Warning: Short Fiction and Disturbances.” While content warnings are acceptable online, he doesn’t favor them for literature. 

“You have to, if you are an adult, cope with material that is going to trouble you, it is going to disturb you,” he said. 

Gaiman connected his work, such as his adaptation of “Hansel and Gretel,” to the violence refugees are fleeing in Syria. Gaiman, who has interviewed Syrians for The Guardian, shared what he learned about them. “What I realized was that refugees want to go home,” he said. “None of these people wanted to leave.” 

After his interview with Bell, Gaiman took audience-submitted

questions, such as why he wrote “Coraline” and what kind of outlining he does for his writing. 

Gaiman said he wrote “Coraline” for his daughter, who was interested in darker fiction as a young girl. When it comes to outlining, he said, he writes down things that are important, rather than going completely off an outline. 

Benward said she learned the importance of writing about things that are important to you. When she previously thought about writing things, she tossed out ideas because she thought they wouldn’t be successful. 

“Really, you shouldn’t do that,” she said. “You should explore those ideas to, like, the fullest content.”

— Follow Daily News WKU, county schools and general assignment reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter at twitter.com/aaron_mudd bgdn or visit bgdailynews.com.