THE MODERN INK SOCIETY
August 11, 2014
FEATURING GUEST TERA LYNN CHILDS
The Courage to Try New Things
Welcome to the fifth session of
THE MODERN INK SOCIETY!
During our lifetime we have a choice put before us again and again. Do we climb the new mountain in front of us, or sit and watch waiting and wishing for the courage to try. Sometimes it just takes a few words or encouragement to change the direction of our lives like it did for Tera Lynn Childs. Those words burn into our souls giving us the strength to do what our heart wishes.
~Vincent Van Gogh
Introducing, Tera Lynn Childs . . .
The Courage to Try
by Tera Lynn Childs
Every life is made up of moments that change everything. Sometimes we know in that instant that nothing will ever bet the same, but sometimes… Sometimes it takes a while to figure that out.
Growing up, I was math and science girl. I hated reading. I hated language arts. And I hated anything and everything to do with grammar. (Honestly, I still do. A little.) If someone had told 16-year-old me that I would one day become a writer—a published writer, even—I would have laughed them right out of the room.
I was going to be a doctor. Or a veterinarian. Or a marine biologist, environmental biologist, or even architect. But never writer.
Then I ended up in a graduate program for historic preservation (saving old buildings) in Columbia University’s architecture school. After two years, the final requirement for graduation was successful completion and acceptance of a Masters Thesis. Mine was on restoring historic theatres, and I dreamed of being called in to restore all the great and beautiful theatres of days gone by.
At roughly eighty pages it was by far the longest thing I had ever written. I was proud of my achievement, and when I walked into my thesis defense (basically listening to your team of advisors tell you everything that’s wrong with your project) I was prepared for the worst.
Then one of my thesis advisors said the most astounding thing. He had a PhD in architecture from MIT, generally could not speak in less than four syllable words, and was one of the smartest men on campus. After going over the basics of my paper, he said, “Tera, you are a very effective writer.”
He then proceeded to tell me that I needed to cut the word count on the first half of my thesis—the first, last, and only time anyone ever had to tell me I wrote too much. But that one phrase stuck with me. Tera, you are a very effective writer.
It didn’t hit me right away. In fact, it was several months or even a year before I thought about it again. After graduate school I’d gone home to live with my parents and basically housesit while they traveled for work. I lived on a dozen acres in the country and filled my time by bringing home a stack of romance novels.
The more I read, the more I wanted the characters to do and say things differently. That’s when I thought back to what my professor had said. I said the words to myself. I was a very effective writer. Maybe I could make the characters—my characters—do and say the things I wanted them to. (Anyone who’s ever written a headstrong character is laughing themselves silly at me right now.)
But I decided to try. My thesis advisor’s words gave me the courage to believe I could. And so I did. My life has never been the same since.
After reading Tera’s inspiring words I felt a desire to take on a new challenge, to push myself and better myself. I’ll sign up for that college class right now!
Check out Tera Lynn Child’s books. Click here to go to Tera’s website.
Join us for a Good Reads chat with Tera Lynn Childs August 28th, at 6PM Pacific Time. Win a copy of her books, “Oh My Gods”series, and “Sweet Venom.”
~Till next time,
Shara Lynn
This entry was posted in Featuring Authors, The Modern Ink Society.
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