Today I am going to tell you about how I met my editor, Federico, and how he contributed to the writing of my book, "La Divina Avventura."

It all started during the filming of a TV series called "The Long Night," directed by Giacomo Campiotti for Rai, in which I play Umberto II of Savoy. (I will tell you more about it later. In a nutshell it's about Italy and starts after the grand council, and follows the fall of fascism. An Italian "the crown.")

Returning to my meeting....

Federico is a brilliant and intelligent assistant director, and during breaks on the set we often found ourselves talking about the film script and the story. One day, while I was in my dressing room writing on the computer (because I have this "flaw," as soon as I can I write, wherever I am, on the phone, on the computer, on a piece of paper), I suggested that he listen to what I was doing: I was writing a fantasy adventure book with spiritual overtones, which was called "Overton" at the time. I told him about my writing methods, the famous 500 paragraphs and the mechanics of the 5 movements. Federico listened with interest and gave me advice that I found quite apt.

Toward the end of the shoot, I suggested he read the synopsis of my book, a key element in focusing the story I wanted to tell. The synopsis A one-page document to which I had devoted dozens of hours. Federico agreed and, after reading the short synopsis, gave me some really useful advice. Once the shoot was over, we said goodbye and I promised to send him an updated version of the synopsis via WhatsApp.

A couple of months later, I sent him the new synopsis (which in my naive eyes was perfect) and he asked me (he is very polite) if he could work on it a bit. Of course, I agreed and he sent me back a version with wonderful changes! At that point, I discovered that Frederick is a scholar of letters and modern philology, specializing in linguistics, which explained his ability to improve my text with a rare sophistication.

Convinced of his abilities, I proposed that he do the editing to the entire novel. Although it was something he had never done before, I tenaciously persuaded him to try his hand at this challenge. Federico agreed, and we have been working together on the final draft ever since. Which is still going on, because the book launch is about 2 months away, so there is always time for improvement!

Thanks to the editing work, both on form and content, my writing has become clearer, simpler, and smoother. I am learning a lot from Federico and this collaboration that has taught me the importance of simplicity combined with clarity of purpose. But not without elegantly modulating the writing so that it does not become dull or monotonous.

And this is sound advice in art and creativity in general. Simplicity is a great achievement, yes, but not because you have few things to say, but because you have only those things to say. As I said before, "Clarity of purpose." The more powerful the clarity of purpose, the more powerful the signal will be: clear and limpid. Like a radio. And then, what matters when one achieves that clarity, even through the study of technique, is one's relationship with the soul: letting what is pure within us express itself freely, without prejudice, without judgment.

Life always holds surprises for us: who would have thought I would find my Editor like this, on the set of a fiction? And yet.

I am grateful to have met him so unexpectedly and to be able to count on his talent to make "The Divine Adventure" an even more special work.

And thanks also to all of you who are following me on this journey that is just beginning, but I am already loving it.