About Curious and Careful

Post 1405:

What makes a good student? Some combination of raw intelligence (whatever that is) and work ethic, I suppose. Probably a competitive spirit, the will to beat your peers and yourself at the next task. The simple ability to stay awake can’t hurt. Showing up and staying up. And so on.

All that stuff is manifestly advantageous.

I read somewhere that pure curiosity is the most important ingredient for scholastic greatness. Makes sense. Wanting to know makes knowing a whole lot easier.

Maybe writing fiction is the same. Curiosity is the key. Though perhaps not the way you’re thinking. The act of writing and finishing something relies heavily on the author’s willingness to find out if it’s possible. It’s a rare person that can polish off a decent story whilst yawning in apathy.

Unlike academics, I don’t think intelligence is a huge factor in storytelling. I’ve read hugely successful novels that were clearly created by non-geniuses. Lackluster prose. Pedestrian vocabulary. Facile sentence structure. Adolescent characterization. Weak references.

And yet.

Somehow, with enough curiosity, they were able to put all that mediocrity into a bowl and stir it into a story people could understand and read. And enjoy.

The brilliant artist with great ideas and no interest in seeing what he or she can do with them is a tree falling in the forest. Bloody useless.

Before I finish I should say that curiosity can be dangerous. Finding out if you can make a story work is like venturing to a forbidden place. You may find treasure and wonder. Or you may find heartache and complete displeasure. There's a reason why most folks don’t scamper too far into the unknown, mentally or physically. That shiz can hurt.

Stay curious. And be careful out there. Cheers and see you after.