Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Defying Gravity



In the words of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West . . . i'm through accepting limits because someone says they're so. some things i cannot change, but until i try, i'll never know . . .


Of course, these words are from the musical Wicked and the fantastic song Defying Gravity.


Something has changed within me. Something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. too late for second guesses. too late to go back to sleep. it's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap. it's time to start trying to defy gravity.


I think, as writers, we need to continually try to defy gravity. We need to challenge ourselves with every single word we write! Every word, every sentence, every paragraph, chapter, and ending should . . . defy gravity.

So if you care to find me, look to the Western sky, as someone told me lately, everyone deserves a chance to fly, and if i'm flying solo, at least i'm flying free . . . to those who ground me, take a message to them from me . . .tell them how i'm defying gravity . . . and nobody, in all of Oz, no Wizard that there is or was, is going to bring me down . . .

I think if we become complacent in our writing, believe that there is nothing left to learn, no greater ideal of perfection to strive for . . . then we are not only cheating our potential readers, we are also cheating ourselves.


So, my challenge, dear readers . . . try defying gravity.


And, in the words of Elphaba . . . kiss me good-bye, i'm defying gravity . . . and you can't hold me down!


Scott

6 comments:

Michelle D. Argyle said...

That's one of my favorite musicals, and I love that song. I definitely aspire to defy gravity, and hope you can too! Rules and limits can go... ya know.

Tess said...

What a great post today, Scott. Very inspiring :)

It's songs like this that remind me of our individual potential. Wonderful stuff.

Scott said...

Lady Glamis - as you probably saw on my Facebook page, I absolutely LOVED the musical. Seriously, it was one of the greatest moments of my life . . . so far! I was listening to the song on Saturday and the words just started flowing for this blog post. I'm all about defying gravity. I have another musically inspired post scheduled for Friday.

Tess - thanks. This post was one of those that gave me the good goosebump moments as I was writing. I love those moments. The song is truly inspiring. I think, too often, we don't give ourselves enough credit, and don't dare to, well, defy gravity. It is only when we do dare to defy gravity that we aspire toward our true potential.

S

Davin Malasarn said...

Right on, Scott! Yes, we have to keep pushing ourselves, trying new things, seeing our work in a different way. I admire you for pushing yourself so hard!

Elana Johnson said...

I adore WICKED. And that song. It's so true. Where's Abby? We need a Defying Gravity badge! Or something.

Scott said...

Davin - as much as 'we' are our on worst enemies, we can also be our biggest fans, and our biggest motivators. Yeah, that's a lot of personalities. : ) I think everything boils down to people believing in their own abilities, and then pushing themselves that extra bit so they can . . . defy gravity. : )

Elana - Defying Gravity, As Long As You're Mine, and No Good Deed are my faves from the musical . . . in order of appearance! Why don't you have Abby create the badge? That'd be a nifty award. I wonder if she can make the award sing the song?? Now, 'that' would be wicked cool!