Climb That Mountain

Ask any mountain climber: Anything is easier than going up a mountain. Mountain climbing is all about risk; you risk loss of resources, injury, and even death when you go up a mountain. The bigger the mountain, the greater the risks; just consider all of the corpses around Mount Everest.  

It is a lot easier and a lot safer to not take risks. Taking risks should be avoided, because of all the possible harmful consequences. Only a lunatic should take risks.

But...you're a writer. You can't play it safe. You've got to take risks. You've got to explore a direction where nobody else has been to figure out what the deal is. Sometimes you need to go up on a mountain just to see what you can see. 

One of the cool things about going up to Mount Everest is that it gives you the big picture. It's one of the highest places on earth; you can actually see the curve of the earth and that alone is probably worth the price of admission. The problem is the you've got all these people that are cowards, that are scared and have learned that playing it safe is actually exactly where they like being. However, you're you're a writer, you can't afford to play it safe. You can't go over the same territory everybody else does, you need to figure out something different, something that makes it your own. 

Something that will give your audience a different perspective on the same thing, or an entirely different thing. You've got to figure out what your perspective is on things, and sometimes that means going to places that are hazardous for everybody else. Yeah, there's the possibility that you won't come back; if you go in the cave with the dragon, the dragon may eat you. At the same time, there is possibly you and the dragon, hit it off, talk history, and find out that you have a lot in common. For that matter, you could actually kill the dragon and then have a really cool story. 

But the bottom line is you need to go into that cave; you need to take the risk and at least make the attempt at overcoming it. Everybody else can takes the little safe jobs and they're cool. They don't have to worry about looking for bigger, better things. You on the other hand, you need to climb that mountain or it's going to drive you crazy. 

You need to climb that mountain just to see what's there. You need to take risks just to see what will happen. So charge ahead, take the risks, and see what's there. And you can't unless you climb that mountain.