"You who understand me": interview with Gordon

How was “Gordon” born?

(Laughs) Gordon was born from the need to want to understand why my girlfriend at the time told me "you don't understand a damn". This sentence bothered me a lot. When I made mistakes, especially when we broke up, I stopped to understand why I made them, what I was doing wrong. And in trying to understand I said to myself "but look how stupid", it was enough to change a few things to not make her angry: that day there was enough this answer, the other one was enough not to annoy her, easy! And from there one thing led to another, until I decided to get involved and try to understand all women.

How did the idea of ​​a novel come about and how did you live yours?

To tell the truth I had already been writing for 4 years on an anonymous blog, on Tumblr. I wrote my love stories, but it was only for myself. Indeed, it had been a long time that I had been trying to understand what Gordon's turning point might be. As long as you are on the Internet, you are always "the kid who makes videos". Someone gives you a pat on the back, says "Bravo, you have made 20 million views" and the next day someone better than you arrives who does better. I was looking for something that 1) could elevate my character, and 2) that was “essential”: if you make a novel, and they like it, people buy it and appreciate it, and that thing stays there, it's written, it's paper. It does not give rise to "eh, but however" and you cannot come and say "eh, but go to work". There may be someone who makes a better novel than yours, but that doesn't preclude the novel from staying there and enjoying it. I experienced it as a revenge. Then in the novel I wrote a love story, which I love to write, but marrying it with the naked and crude actuality, with the real things that happen in a girl's life, without fairy tales or stories with an obligatory happy ending. In short, with the novel I found a way to give Gordon a chance in the real world, without any kind of "huh but ...". Making a novel empties you a lot, you get naked, you have to expose yourself, and above all you have to put your own into it, so it moves you a lot inside. You don't come to me anymore to say "There are many YouTubers"

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How did you choose the keywords for your book? How much have they influenced or represented some passages in your life?

There is no end to the worst
Friendship
Love each other
Make a mistake

The keywords all come from my experience, things I said to myself 4 years ago before starting my journey. But I notice that I am perfectly in line with what my audience experiences, with what the girls who follow me feel or who need to hear.They follow the story, they laugh, but then in the end the keyword arrives like a blow and allows you to read the chapter from another point of view, which aims to open your mind and encourage you to do "better".

When you are Gordon, you have to give him Gordon, girls have to feel understood. And the keywords are this: the point of contact between Gordon and reality, the real life in which many girls encounter difficulties. The keywords unlock: each girl in the novel sees her own story, her emotions, what she has inside of her but she can't admit until she realizes, through these words.

How does the book connect to the “Try to be a woman” project?

I have always spoken to women, often with a funny tone, but in reality the novel and the project arise from a profound need: that of highlighting that behind a laugh there is much more. On the other hand, "You who understand me" and “Try to be a Woman” are not two random titles.
Specifically, the format "Try to be a woman" was born because it is not enough to wear a wig and be nice in life. At least that's not enough for me. The character "Gordon" comes to life from a profound curiosity towards the female world, which the character himself feeds on. But it's nice to have substance when you talk to people, and therefore the project aims to highlight how important it is to make people laugh, not for the sheer sake of it, but to highlight how much strength women have in dealing with certain things, which we men do not even imagine. I wanted to try it on myself to really understand, also because if not Gordon, who?

2 tips you want to give to every woman

You must always have the courage of your feelings, throw yourself even if it can scare or hurt. But it's always worth it, you have to have courage. Otherwise you enter the fear loop and you will continue to not believe you are ready. Instead you have to live it, life tests you and always gives you something beautiful.
Love yourself, then love. If you don't love yourself 100%, you won't be able to make yourself loved. Above all, you have to do it to expect 100% love. If you love yourself at 20%, you get 30% and it seems like everything, a lot, but it will be inevitable that this everything will be insufficient. So love yourself, learn how to do it.