Every 7-10 years, I go through a restless writing period. I sense a need or desire to do something different, usually something “they say” is out of vogue or not the genre flavor of the month.
Lately, something has been egging me on to try something more challenging. I’ll talk about that in the coming weeks, but for today, I want to challenge you with a question.
ARE YOUR WRITING DREAMS BIG ENOUGH?
Shooting for the Moon
I’ve been reading about famous inventors (like Edison), famous businessmen (like Ford), and famous entrepreneurs (like Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg). They lived in different historical periods and pursued different kinds of projects. But they all had one thing in common. They did NOT set “reasonable and achievable goals.” They dreamed bigger dreams than anyone thought they could achieve. And then they achieved them–and more.
Edison (who only had a few months of formal education) decided to try to invent a light bulb in less than three years, even though far more intelligent scientists had spent more than 50 years so far trying to do the same thing. An outlandish goal! “They” said it couldn’t be done. But he ended up inventing it in two years!
When Ford started his auto company, the other 250 American automakers were turning out 12 to 300 cars per year. A reasonable goal for Ford to set would maybe be 150 cars per year. But his dream was to produce cars that the average family could afford–not just the wealthy. And he ended up producing 1,000 cars per day off his assembly lines. (That’s per DAY, not per year.)
Their Key to Major Success
Because Spielberg and Gates are present-day phenomena, you’re already familiar with their stories. They became such huge successes for the same reasons Edison and Ford did. They dreamed big, new ideas and then went ahead and accomplished what “they said” was impossible.
The award-winning writers of the past and present who became household names did the same thing. Their books were repeatedly rejected at first too, because “they said” no one would read them. Names like Dr. Seuss, Pearl Buck, Louisa May Alcott, Agatha Christie, Beatrix Potter, John Grisham, James Patterson, Judy Blume, Madeline L’Engle, Margaret Mitchell, Anne Frank, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King…the list goes on and on of authors who decided to follow the advice of Write What You Love.
Ignore What “They Say”
Maybe “ignore” is too strong, but at least take all the expert advice out there with a big grain of salt. Because of the changes in the publishing industry, the naysayers are thicker than ever. “They say” you have to write what will sell instead of following your passion. “They say” you can’t get a good agent–you need to settle for someone with no experience whom no editor will work with. “They say” you can’t expect to sell your novel to a national publisher, so get familiar with self-publishing. There’s not a thing wrong with any of those choices, but make sure they are choices you want to make.
There were many, many years where I needed to write for the market 100%. I needed to write what would sell and what I could get contracts for ahead of time. My single parent household depended on that income. The books were good, and some of them excited me, but I was also practical. I have some leeway now though, and lately I’ve been exploring outside my comfort zone where some yet-undeveloped dreams and ideas lie. I have the itch again to write something different.
I’ve been asking myself the same question lately that I posed to you: ARE YOUR WRITING DREAMS BIG ENOUGH?