Tuesday, May 22, 2012

How to Create Opportunity

Photo Courtesy klsmith77
In January I wrote a post about personal risks writers experience as a matter of being a writer called What Risks Are There in Writing?  The last quote in that post dealt with pushing limits, risking failure.  The relationship between risk and success has been heavily on my mind since I attended the Pikes Peak Writer's Conference.

"The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open."  ~ Chuck Palahniuk

At the conference, two authors (Linda Rohrbough and Kevin J. Anderson) influenced how I now perceive risk.

I attended two sessions by Linda Rohrbough. One session was how to write what is known as "the elevator pitch." It was a fabulous session, which did help my create a three sentence pitch for Finding Meara. So impressed by that session, I went to her workshop on plotting tools the next day.  Again, she delivered an excellent workshop, and gave me some ideas on how to keep my plotting straight.  She has some of the tools she showed us on her website, so you might want to check it out.

Kevin J. Anderson presented a workshop on the business side of writing with his wife, author Rebecca Moesta. Both have a long list of books, novels and screenplays they have written, edited or just plain have been involved with.  What thrilled me, though, was that they have written for Lucas Film, and Kevin Anderson wrote for the X-files and co-authored with Dean Koontz.

I attended Linda Rohrbough's pitch session first. In it she explained cognitive dissonance, which is when your brain tells you that you're nuts for doing what you're doing.  She said, and I believed her, that if your mind starts freaking out, you are most likely doing exactly what you should.

I liken it to the saying, "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." If we don't shake ourselves up, and push the limits of safety (be that emotional, financial, professional) we don't have the opportunity to experience something different.  We limit the opportunities success has to find us.

Photo Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Then I attended the workshop by Kevin Anderson and Rebecca Moesta. What struck me most in that workshop was how Kevin Anderson's career worked out.  I can't remember everything, so I hope I don't misspeak. 

What I remember clearest is that, while he had to be in the right place at the right time for the opportunities to come knocking, he didn't back away once the opportunity knocked.  Several times during the workshop, he related being invited to join a project, and even if he was knee deep in the middle of current work, he agreed to take on the new project.


He didn't do so out of desperation or because he was afraid to let the opportunity pass.  When he related the stories, he said "I thought, 'I could do that.'"  He had confidence in his abilities and what he could accomplish.

Each of those opportunities put him in the position to be in the right place at the right time for more opportunities, which snowballed into more opportunities.

I don't think any of us should run out and start committing to things we can't accomplish.  Not following through on anything is a career-wrecker, no matter what career you have.

What I did take away from the conference was to look for the opportunities, and then push ourselves a little to accept the challenge.  Be confident in our abilities to "git-r-done."  Don't wait until everything looks perfect and ready and safe.  Sometimes we have to grab life, tell our collective heads to shut up, and give success a chance to find us.  We have to take a risk.

Have you taken a risk that paid off?  Have you ever regretted not taking a risk when the opportunity presented itself?


20 comments:

  1. This is so true Lara! The incoming President for the Tallahassee Writers Association asked me to become the new editor for their online Newsletter and I was like sure. Next thing I know, I'm doing a bio and I'm in there listed as the new Editor with biography and all. I'm invited to the board meeting and boom, I'm doing more than I ever thought I would be. :)

    Sure, I can do it, but I never had the opportunity. Someone just presented one and I took it. :D

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    1. Congratulations! And who knows where the next opportunity will come from!

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  2. Those are wonderful lessons. I have several moments in my life where I didn't take the leap when offered to. Now I just recognize opportunities for what they are and jump

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    1. I consider them calculated risks - not risky enough to really get into trouble, but still require a leap of faith!

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  3. This is so one of the reasons I'm a 'Yes' person. And of all the things I've done to take risks, even though I was totally scared, I've never regretted them. Sound advice. :)

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    1. It's such a good thing to be able to look back and be happy with how everything has turned out. I always think to myself, "Will I be able to live without knowing what could have been?"

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  4. "Not following through on anything is a career-wrecker, no matter what career you have."

    Oh my God, everyone should have this posted on their mirrors! Great post. Great stuff. So true.

    I try to always be open to things but yes, one or two things have slipped past me because I felt afraid. Now I try to do that thing where if I feel afraid, then I should definitely do it because it will take me out of my comfort zone!

    Great post!

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    1. Thanks! I find the older I get, and with more responsibilities (ie. children) I am more cautious, but when I was younger, risk made life interesting. :)

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  5. I recently heard Kevin Anderson speak at a conference earlier this month too and I was amazed at his writing career. He really is an inspiration for being prepared for opportunity and not being afraid of it.

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    1. Oh, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels that way! Most of the workshop he and Rebecca Moesta did I knew about, but the inspiration to be courageous in the face of risk was precious to have learned.

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  6. Great post, Lara. Thanks for sharing your feedback on the sessions you attended. I totally agree that if you don't dare to try, you'll stay in the same place you've been in. If you don't think you can do it, then you probably won't get it done.

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    1. Thinking you're going to be successful certainly makes getting it done easier, so I think you are absolutely right!

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  7. I have squashed so many voices in my head and taken so many risks it's scary. But I can't say anything I ever did has been wrong. In the end, it's all added up to give me forward momentum as a writer. My own worst enemy is me, thinking I can't do something.

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    1. Those self-doubting voices can shout the loudest. I don't know how other people handle it, but lately I've taken a "You might be right, stupid voices, but I'm doing it anyway." I guess we have to wait to see if it works or not! At the very least, I'm taking risk and completing what I start...

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  8. Wonderful post, Lara. Sounds like a great conference.

    I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities where I didn't take a risk, but I can't think of any of the top of my head--probably there were a number of them involving the stock market ;)

    I think visiting a foreign country for the first time and doing it alone was a risk that paid off for me. The first few days were rough, but after that it was nonstop awesome.

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    1. Thanks, Mike! I wish the stock market was easier to have success on. I would love to be independently wealthy. That is brave, to go to a foreign country by yourself. I'm really glad it all turned out to be such a fabulous experience. How long did you stay? Is this Norway, or a different place?

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    2. Yeah, it was Norway and I stayed there for 2 weeks. I ended up loving it there so much I visited it two more times :)

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  9. I'm taking a big risk right now with the editing biz. It's not huge, but it gives me great satisfaction. I feel good about helping others. Also with the writing...still plugging along with that. Having a little risk simply makes it more exciting. If opportunity knocks, I just hope I'm home!

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    1. I agree, risk does make life an adventure. I think that I create and task small risks with writing keeps me from having to move. I've always gotten bored and then move.

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  10. I recently attended a conference where Kevin J. Anderson spoke as well, and the idea that we have to accept opportunity, and sometimes take a risk with it, hit me too. It's a good reminder to me to try different things with my writing, and to take those risks and find those opportunities. Thanks for sharing!

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