“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
–Andre Gide
This is one of my favorite quotations, because I need to remind myself of this frequently with regard to my writing. In my life, I’m up for adventure and change and challenge. But in my writing, I find myself sticking to what’s safe all too often.
This week, I’m doing Young Author Conferences all week, and one way I’m risking losing sight of the shore is by using a workshop form that is challenging for the kids. We aim for a certain form, but not formula, and the results are mixed. But when they’re good, they’re really good! And we all have fun giving it a try (well, except for the occasional kid at the back of the room who wishes we were writing poems via videogame.
Where do you need to lose sight of the shore?