I had a great chat with my illustrator yesterday. It occurred to me a while ago that working on projects with a team is just so much more motivating than trying to do it all yourself. That revelation slots nicely into the category of Things I Thought I Knew But Didn't Really.
There are probably a lot of things still in that category. But you don't know until you know, do you?
She really helped me feel confident about making poetry. In explaining how my poems are a bit of a mix of silly, random, deep, and spiritual, I heard my own voice expressing itself - which you don't get when you do it all yourself. And she got it!
It's motivating too, because you realise that someone else other than you is also invested and believes in it, just like you do.
Anyway, early next year she's going to start doodling, based on the heart and the spirit of what I tried to do with each poem.
It's interesting isn't it, trying to make that creative leap between hobby and profession? I still have a little switch that kicks in and tells me I'm not good enough to do it; there are plenty of other people I should leave it to; I should stick to my lane and not get above my station; you can't hope to be successful can you?
Well, maybe. But then maybe success for me is just doing it and making a few people smile. The Illustrator doesn't know me all that well, but she was genuinely moved by the draft I sent, even saying she laughed out loud at some of them! That's already a win.
Putting the work together in a nicely bound book then, seems like a great way to make a few more people smile - and that, even if I give them away for free and never mention it ever again - seems like a great way to change the world without crowing about it.
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