Risk: The Magic Ingredient of Life

Take a risk, no matter how small, and everything changes.
I once did a series of interviews with people who were successful with their creativity and there wasn’t a one who didn’t light up when I asked them about risk. It’s the fuel, the manna, the soul food. It’s also one of the most powerful components of life; without risking, we stagnate. Take a risk, no matter how small, and everything changes. If you’re so afraid of the risk you won’t take chances, you will never be creative. No way. It is impossible.

When I interviewed Nick Meglin, who has been the “idea man” for Mad magazine almost since its inception, I asked him where he thought risk comes into play in creativity. His answer was immediate and forceful:

“Right at the beginning and always, always..."
This is a very strong philosophy I have. You and I go to Las Vegas. And I buy ten one-hundred-dollar chips. That’s one thousand dollars. You buy ten one-dollar chips. That’s ten dollars. We go to the crap table. That man over there, we both bet with him. I put all my ten chips down that he’s going to win. You put down one one-dollar chip that he does. The man rolls a seven. I win one thousand dollars. You win one dollar. Who’s luckier?”

“You took a bigger risk,” I said. “You got more.”

“No, you were just as lucky because you bet for him to roll a seven and I bet for him to roll a seven. We’re equally lucky. What differs is what I was willing to lose—not happy to lose, but willing to lose for that risk. We both won on the same roll, the same number, the same bet, but I made a thousand dollars because I was going to risk losing a thousand.

If you don’t want to be told you’re a lousy artist by someone out there who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, don’t draw
“I tell this to my students—I taught drawing for twelve years—if you don’t want to be told you’re a lousy artist by someone out there who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, don’t draw. Don’t fill a white page with lines, because once you do it, you’re at risk. But if you are going to do it, put everything you can on that page, everything you are or what you feel, what you think, your perception, you alone, not what you’ve seen, not what you think you’d like to do. React to that model, be at one. You’re the only artist in the world drawing that model tonight that way, in your way. No one else can do it.

“Bet the whole roll and put yourself at risk. If not, you’ll never win. You may not lose, but you’ll never win. Go down swinging. Lose trying. But put yourself at risk. And that’s what creativity is.”

This was excerpted from The Art of Fiction Writing, by Emily Hanlon

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