ARE YOU A RISKY WRITER?

Recently, I signed up for a blog by John Matthew Fox. This was an interesting post, and I thought I\’d share. If you are interested in signing up for his blogs, you can at https://thejohnfox.com/start-here/

Hey Bookfoxers,

Recently I was at a camp where teenagers took turns riding BMX bikes off a ramp into the cold waters of the lake.

It was nighttime, and they had lights along the sides of the long pier, and music blasting, and had a phrase the audience chanted before every jump: “It’s … Bike Jump Time!” The bicyclists were not professionals – they just volunteered to try to help their team win (each jump was scored by judges).

Bikers accelerated toward the ramp and then did a trick: a twist, a complete backflip, a handlebar revolution, or went for distance and funny motions on the way down.

As I watched with the thousand other campers, I thought to myself: this is exactly what writers do.

We saddle up, strap our helmets on, and gain some momentum, trying to jump off into the unknown and land the trick of a book. We’re the Evel Knievels of language. And if we’re lucky, we gain the appreciation of those paying attention.

But writers frequently don’t take enough risks. They play it safe. They try to write a book that seems palatable to their imagined readers. They try to write a book that doesn’t offend anyone. They write a book that won’t embarrass them or make their parents and siblings dislike them.

This is like the boring biker who pedaled slowly and jumped off the ramp without any fanfare – he just jumped straight and sank into the water.

Low scores for you, my friend.

Even if you fail, you should be attempting a splendiferous trick with your book: Go for the handlebar 360 with a salute on the way down. Go for the double backflip.

Yes, it’s risky just to write a book, to put anything from your brain out into the world, just like it’s risky to get on the bike at all. But if you’re going to do it, really go for it!

There are so many ways to take more risk in a book.

• Have a high-concept novel with a do-or-die payoff (mysteries are like this – either you nail the ending or the whole book flops).
• Push the boundaries – a sex scene, a truly offensive character, a controversial topic.
• Experiment with an innovative structure – multiple POVs, multi-generational stretch of time.
• Write a genre you haven’t attempted before.
• Write a gargantuan book.
• Write about a topic that seems extremely personal and sensitive.

Remember: No-risk writing is second-tier writing.

Now, it happens infrequently, but sometimes I edit writers who have taken too much risk. They’ve attempted a book too long, or too ambitious, and they haven’t pulled it off. But still, I appreciate the ambition, the attempt, and know if they have that kind of fire, eventually they will succeed!

It’s much harder to teach risk than it is to teach technique. I’d rather mentor a writer who is taking all the risks and failing than one who is playing it safe and succeeding.

Writer, please take more risks. Grit your teeth, pedal hard, and speed off the ramp.

As you soar into the air, do the thing you’ve always dreamed of doing but never had the courage.

Until now.