“Many people with an idea want others to tell them their idea is worthy. Why is their approval of your idea necessary? That’s a sales question, not a writing question. If you want thousands to know you, that’s an ego problem, not a writing problem. I say, if you find it interesting, do it. If you find it worthwhile or meaningful, that’s enough. Your idea is good because it’s yours, and it means something to you. If even one person gets value from what you make that justifies your efforts. That person might be a close friend, a distant stranger, or possibly even yourself, years later, when you rediscover this amazing thing you made, amazing simply because you made it. Your book idea is good because it’s yours. Whatever it is it’s good enough to be the book that you write. If an idea lingers in your mind, and won’t leave you alone, just do it. The only chance for sanity is to get the idea out of your mind and down on paper or on a screen.”
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Yes, permission to be great is for cowards. But if your work is truly a revolutionary idea or a good piece of prose, the world is missing out if not enough people know about it.
A good book or a good idea pounds away at your brain until you must get it out. It haunts you because you want to know if others feel as passionately about it as you or if they know a better way around a situation. It’s not always about ego, sometimes it’s about progress.
But I love the quote, and the words are relevant for those scaredy cats that are in it for fame and fortune. :-)
Thanks, RD Carter, for your comment. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read Scott’s whole piece.