"Leap, and the net will appear."
--Julie Cameron
The 'Great Leap,' as I have called the risk I've taken in starting a new romance genre y'all will hear about soon, has been one of the scariest learning processes I've ever put myself through. It continues to be so. This month I simply want to emphasize that it's okay to not know what the future entails. It's okay, not knowing if whatever you choose to write will ever make it to print. Not knowing if your work is way too out-of-range for readers. Not knowing if you will become a lost artform or the newest, greatest neo-something...
It's all okay, so long as it feels right for you. The moment 'not knowing' becomes a hindrance, it may be time for you to take another leap...
Because by not taking risks, and without the willingness to learn from our decisions, we limit ourselves to the future that is safest for us--not necessarily the future of our highest hopes and aspirations. Writers are dreamers at heart, especially romance authors. Out of all the people in the world, we should be used to JUMPING, DIVING and LEAPING into many things that are tried-and-true or unprecidented (sometimes all at once, depending on how much research you have to do on the latest project!).
To me, taking leaps toward an end goal means a couple different things.
Leaps usually help speed a process/processes up. It's pretty hard to stop your trajectory once you've decided to jump off a diving board. You can change your mind in mid-air, or right before you hit the water--so long as you make the jump in the first place and don't spend too much time standing on the ledge, "hmmming," and "hahhhing."
Most of the time, the key to authorship is simply making a decision and sticking to it. Decide to jump. Decide how you're going to land. Take what you can from the experience and keep going.
Leaps mean you're willing to put faith in yourself, and faith in the larger picture.
So in this leap year, jump or dive into a committment and ride it through to the end. Without taking leaps in our personal or professional lives, we're usually bound to grow gradually. Every now and again, all we really need in order to get something done is a change of pace.
Have you made any leaps this year so far? Come on, share them with us!
3 comments:
Leaps this year? The launch of wwwRomanceFromTheGenre-istas.blogspot.com is one. I'm researching agents and actually querying. Next leap? Creating a website for my training business.
Am waiting to see your new genre - but not sure that counts as a leap for me (said with a smile).
I've made a big leap this week with a contract offer from a small publisher for my first novel. Instead of just rejoicing, I've been a mess, worrying about everything from the contract to how to finish the novel I'm in the middle of during edits.
Thanks for the post! Good luck with your new genre. I'm interested to hear what it is.
As Judith said, launching Romance From the Genre-istas was a big leap this month. I also started (for the first time) gaming. I've played BioShock 2 and Skyrim so far.
I've been toying with the idea of starting a new genre myself, so I'm dying to hear about your new venture! You go, Girl!!!
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