Be Afraid
August 5, 2002
7:27 a.m.
My friend Matt suggests a public Dare. In itself this is not a bad idea, I suppose. But, then, I'm also forced to think about this a little. Back in the good old days, a Dare was (pardon the pun) a novel idea. Back then it was about changing the way I looked at work. A book in a month, or a short story every week for an extended period of time. Wow. The difference is that now the idea of that kind of production is no longer very daunting, and so I'll admit I have difficulty getting up energy for a "Dare." < self important jerk mode > There's also another part of me that worries about this Dare thing these days. Quite honestly, the Dare thing has become the very thing that makes me uncomfortable about writers groups. New writers have taken this concept that I find so valuable and watered it down slowly but surely, first removing the need to actually finish a story (we'll only require 60,000 words, regardless of whether the story is done or not), then eventually even removing the need to actually produce anything (we'll just require sitting in front of our computer for an hour a day). Still they post to their sites, and trade commentary--they have a great time, but rarely does anyone actually finish a work. In this way, the Dare has become a social animal, and in this fashion, it's just a little to the left of silly. This is not how it used to feel to me. < /self important jerk mode > Still, I need to work like this. I need to have deadlines, and I need to hit them most of the time. I need to be progressing. My project for this week, for example, is to tear down the novel I've created out of the Stealing the Sun stories, and to rewrite the first half of the book. It will be done by Friday. There. I've stated it publicly. Is this a Dare? We're talking a heck of a lot of work. Just what is a Dare, anyway? I don't really know anymore. Now, Matt, I don't mean to pick on you at all. (We'll do lunch or something soon, eh?) Finding a way to be public about goals and targets has always been the reason for this site. In that sense, Daily Persistence was born to be a perpetual Dare. To Dare or Not to Dare, that is the Question. It's all got me thinking. And that can be a dangerous thing. Be afraid. Be Very Afraid.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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