Monday, January 04, 2010

Risk Taking

My eldest niece Amelia is trying out for her school play this afternoon.  This is a big step for her - she is extrememly talented but at the same time extremely shy.  She wrote her own musical this summer (aptly named "Amelia: The Musical") but will only sing it for family members.  She giggles and tells jokes with the best of them - but strangers often wonder if she is capable of speech when they meet her.  You get the picture.

Taking risks can be scary - particularly when we are writing.  I have found this to be especially true with adults and teachers of writing.  When I ask teachers the last time they wrote something with and in front of their students to model for them - they often look at me as if I had four heads.  But the safest place to take risks, in my opinion, is in our writing.  We can write and revise and re-write and edit - we can experiment with voice and word choice - we can tear it up and start all over again from one line if we want.  The beauty of writing lies not so much in the finished product as in the process.

To honor that - I found this video snippet interesting:

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