Monday, September 24, 2012

Motivational Monday


...ARTISTS HAVE TO TAKE A DIVE. AND EITHER YOU HIT YOUR
HEAD ON A ROCK, AND YOU SPLIT YOUR SKULL AND DIE, OR THAT
BLOW TO THE HEAD IS SO INSPIRING THAT YOU COME BACK UP
AND DO THE BEST WORK YOU EVER DID.

BUT YOU HAVE TO TAKE A DIVE, AND YOU DO NOT
KNOW WHAT THE RESULT WILL BE.
(Maurice Sendak)

Well, this past week I took that "dive" - I went to the most amazing writing conference and I have returned energized and inspired (if not overwhelmed and exhausted!) Will what I come up with next be "the best work" I ever do? I don't know, but I am definitely ready to challenge myself even more. Over the next week or so, I'll share some of my notes and what I learned in a handful of blog posts. 

Have you ever taken that "dive" Mr. Sendak refers to? What did it feel like - scary, exhilarating? What was the result - an amazing creative project or more of a lesson learned? 

15 comments:

  1. Sounds great! Good luck with the results of that dive. Here's hoping for something amazing.

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  2. Sounds painful!
    Glad the writing conference energized you.
    And we might fail if we take the dive, but we'll definitely fail if we don't.

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  3. Laurita - thanks! I'm aiming for "amazing" - why not, right? :)

    Alex - ha! What a great point - we only fail if we just keep standing on the bank or the diving board.

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  4. Hi Madeline,
    How exciting! Like you, whenever I return from a conference I am energized and ready to write.
    I'm looking forward to reading your notes from the conference.
    Donna

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  5. Donna - I have pages and pages and pages of notes so I'll be pulling and posting a few of the highlights for you all. I hope it's helpful. :)

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  6. those results seem awfully extreme! aw, what the heck, right? you only live once!

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  7. I'm so glad you are feeling so energized again. Yay!! I can't wait to read more about what you learned.

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  8. Julie - thanks! I hope I'm able to do the info some sort of justice. :)

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  9. Hey! Something to look forward too! Can't wait to hear all about it!

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  10. Pam - like I mentioned above, I hope I can do the info the justice it deserves. :)

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  11. Great quote - it's easy to be too scared to take risks, isn't it?

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  12. Simon - it's so easy to talk yourself out of doing something bold and risky. Of course, it's helpful to think it through a bit, take things into consideration, before you leap but it's also so easy to talk yourself out of taking that leap.

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  13. That sounds fantastic! Sadly I still haven't been to a writing conference, just workshops and lectures here and there. I can't wait to hear more about what you learned!

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  14. Jillian - I've been to a few weekend type things where there are different panels on different topics, etc. but this was the first week long one and the first one focused solely on craft, on making the story better. It WAS fantastic! :)

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