Fail Gloriously

I was going to talk about doubts, because though I love my wip, I have a ton of them. I love the premise and think it’s marketable. But although marketability is important, I still worry. Did I write it well enough? Did I put enough romance in it? Will I send it to the right person at the right time?

Despite my worries, I’m proud of what I did. The book was a new direction for me. It was fun and it was scary. It didn’t come easy. It stretched me.

I found two quotes on failing gloriously that I wanted to share them with you.

“If you know you are going to fail, then fail gloriously.” –Cate Blanchett

“It is one thing to fail gloriously, and if one has to fail, it is best to fail gloriously. But to aspire to fail gloriously will only assure that one does. The best reason to fail is because you aspired toward greatness. The best way to succeed is to avoid failure. It is better to succeed gloriously than to fail gloriously, and glorious failures rarely know the joy of glorious success. I am speaking, unfortunately, from experience.” –Robert Kennedy

While I was cleaning the other day, I listened to and occasionally watched a rerun of a recent episode of Bravo’s The Fashion Show (taking the place of Project Runway, which has defected to Lifetime). Two designers were in danger of being cut. One had played it too safe, and the other had tried to make something that was too hard, something that might have been glorious if she’d had more time. The judges sent home the one who played it safe.

So though the other designer failed in her goal of making a glorious dress, she was rewarded for failing gloriously. If she’d played safe, she might have been the one going home.

With my previous book, I put my heart into it. I didn’t play safe, I didn’t go halfway. When I sent it out, I got great comments on my voice and my characters, but almost everyone said the book wasn’t marketable. In the end, I failed gloriously, though rejections never feel glorious. I’m too focused on succeeding gloriously. But you can’t get the glorious success without taking a chance on gloriously failing.

So here I am, taking chances again. My next book is paranormal, unlike any book I’ve read or heard of. Again, I think it’s marketable. I do learn from my mistakes. I’m excited about the idea and eager to start writing it.

What do you think about this? Do you take the chance that you might fail gloriously in order to create something glorious?