“Risk is essential. It’s scary. Every time I sit down and start the first page of a novel I am risking failure. We are encouraged in this world not to fail … We are encouraged only to do that which we can be successful in. But things are accomplished only by our risk of failure. Writers will never do anything beyond the first thing unless they risk growing.”---Madeleine L’Engle
“I’m not good at this; Why bother?” Before butt hits the chair and fingers start typing the thought is there. All of us have heard the whisper. It’s not specific to writers. Every artist, counsellor and teacher is familiar with it. Comparing my craft to others makes it obvious I’m not the best. But I am unique. Is that a reason to do it? Why pursue art? Here are some convictions to quiet the clamor.
You may as well rip off one of my arms or legs. I can’t not
write. This is a parameter not a proof. I’ve no desire to be the zoo gorilla
flinging feces. You need not venture far to find samples of people without
gifts that think they have them! I once wrote 50 Sydney of Australia* stories
and sent them to a tour group anonymously! The burning is an indicator.
Hear what the voices outside your head are saying. And yes,
could be everybody’s too nice to tell you the truth (see gorilla analogy). Are
there objective comments? Early evidence of giftedness? (thanks for the
encouragement mom!) All art connects the artist and the aesthete.
Art is (per L’Engle) the small stone tossed into a lake. We
contribute beauty to a world in desperate need of it. The biblical picture of
donating the widows mite; the talent invested and not buried. Sure, I want
“fame and fortune and everything that goes with it.” Conversely though, my
soul, and hopefully yours, is fed through every small pebble I skip out onto
the water.
To quell the whisper I entertain these other voices. The
shout of my writing heart. The satisfaction of the perfect skip of the stone on
water; fulfillment of my giftedness. At small risk to self, beauty framed and
displayed.
*superhero very loosely (the women especially) based on the
Batman genre
