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“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” Thomas Jefferson
Such a radical, challenging idea – and yet, it makes perfect sense doesn’t it? Ponder for a moment the tradition-shattering influence of “The Declaration of Independence,” which Jefferson penned and the brave new world that it plunged him into, along with the other Founding Fathers.
We may be plying our pens or pecking our computer keys in smaller arenas, but the principle remains the same: If we want something new, something that may be big for us – then business as usual won’t work. We have to be willing to do things we’ve never done.
On the writing front, how can we translate this into fruitful, positive action? First, let’s consider what we want that we’ve never had: This might be to write a novel and get it published, to submit a story and have it accepted, to build an audience for our writing, to find an agent. Whatever it is, it’s more or different from what we’ve had before. And whatever it is, if we agree with our boy Thomas, then we have to do something – possibly many things – that we’ve never done before.
We might have to do more revisions than we’ve ever done before to bring our work to a level of clarity and polish that’s beyond our previous work.
We might have to learn more about how the publishing industry works, who the players are that we want to reach, and what they’re looking for so we can maximize our search.
We might need to do more research into a subject than we’ve ever committed time to for our writing. We might have to ignite our curiosity and push it to new levels.
We might have to ask for more help than we ever have before. We might have to realize that we really can’t go it alone – and reach out, even to strangers for ideas and support.
We may have to tap into a well of persistence – of stick-to-it-ive-ness – that pushes us way beyond what we’ve been willing to commit to in the past.
None of this is easy, I know. Not for you, and not for me. If it were, we’d all be doing it all the time, wouldn’t we? But, hey, we’ve been sheltering in place and social distancing for weeks, no months, now. None of us have ever done it before, but we’re managing. We’re figuring it out as we go and even getting creative. So if we can do this, then why can’t we can do something fresh and new on the wordsmithing front? Any new approaches you’ve come up with lately that are working for you? I’d love to share them as we all write on!
