A fall from grace…

Or better yet, a graceless fall.

While working around the house the other day, I attempted to clear a branch off the roof but instead of employing a ladder for the task (the obvious solution) for some unknown reason (laziness?) I decided to climb on a concrete flower pot to reach the limb and was only inches away from seizing it when the pot I was standing on teeter-tottered and just like that I was on the ground and knocked nearly senseless. It’s startling, really, how even a fall from a short height can inflict pain, injury and embarrassment, especially when the landing pad is a cement walkway.

The mishap might have soured me and ruined my day had it not been sandwiched between two uplifting conversations I had, one in the morning with an author and the other later that evening with a film producer, about determination, ambition and the creative process. I’m fascinated by what motivates people to create, their routines and especially where they find the willpower to continue in the face of adversity, rejections and fallow periods.

The author, for example, has published a number of popular legal thrillers but, in an effort to stretch his creative muscles, has embarked on a speculative track to write a historical fiction novel that’s set in the Midwest in the mid-1900s. The project has had its rewards as well as its struggles. It’s been a trial, switching genres, attempting to accurately capture the issues of class and race during the period and ensuring the voices and traits of the characters he portrays are authentic.

When asked why he abandoned the proven formula he had established in the legal category and risk alienating his readership to write historical fiction, he cited a desire for a new challenge and a “need to write.” I have no doubt the novelist would love a best seller, but he’s already tasted success. It’s in the work itself.

The film producer has several blockbuster movies to his credit, but his first big hit was a study in perseverance. He hired Mario Puzo, the author of The Godfather and co-author of the movie’s screenplay, to write the script for his movie only to determine that what Puzo submitted wasn’t suitable. He then turned to a stable of writers to piece together another script. Along the way, the director he had hired for the project left and had to be replaced and on top of all that, no studio was interested in the movie so he was forced to raise money from outside investors to make the film.

He could have given up, but refused. He was determined to see the project through because, at the end of the day, he said he understood that the creative process is often 90 percent grit and 10 percent inspiration.

I’ve learned we all slip and fall from time to time but if we get back on our feet there’s a reasonable chance we’ll continue to move forward..