Sunday, March 22, 2009

Courage to Fail

Tomie dePaola saw his share of rejections when he began writing and illustrating for children. But few writers match the success he sees today. So what is his one word of advice for aspiring authors? Courage. More specifically, having the courage to fail.

I need a shot of courage whenever I write a picture book. I'm much more in my comfort zone as a novelist. Anybody else need a shot of courage these days?



11 comments:

  1. INSPIRATIONAL!

    Just call me the Cowardly Lion.

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  2. One year at One-on-One, the woman leading my five-on-five asked the group, "What's the most courageous thing you've done as a writer?" One person talked about approaching an agent. Someone else talked about chatting up a famous author. My answer was simply, "writing the manuscript."

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  3. Yep...courage. It take courage to write, courage to let somebody read what you've written, courage to submit, courage to deal with rejections, courage to deal with acceptances, courage to deal with critics. ON and on....

    Yep...courage.

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  4. Meg -- I would NEVER call you cowardly. Not in your life or in your work.

    And J.L. and Bish, I totally agree. It takes courage to write a complete manuscript. To write anything you then bring to a reader and say, "This is worth your time." And to keep up your courage in the face of rejection. It's not always easy. But definitely necessary.

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  5. I don't think it takes great courage to BEGIN writing something. Lots of people fiddle around with writing - their memoirs, stories for their children, etc.

    To me, courage enters the picture if you CONTINUE writing. That is when you develop the fortitude to face failure, or you just quit.

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  6. I soooo needed that! Thnx for the link!

    christy

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  7. The courage to be crappy...LOVE IT!! That was really cool. I could use intravenous courage right about now. :)

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  8. Christy and Robin:

    I sooooo hear you.

    It does take courage to write crap. When I'm writing a first draft, there are times when I absolutely hate what appears on my screen, but I force myself to keep going. It takes courage to pan for a nugget of gold in that mound of crap.

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  9. But what about when you can't muster the courage?? That's a crappy feeling.

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  10. Val:

    That's when having a supportive writers' group comes in really handy. We remind each other it's okay to write crap.

    I've said before, I think in visual metaphors -- I see us like sculptors. We start with a mound of crap and chisel away until we uncover the right words.

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  11. Thanks for sharing! Tomie puts it so well. We all need the courage to fail sometimes. I might have to post this on my blog too. It deserves to be repeated.

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