How Hard Could it Be?


Wherein Our Heroine Does not Downplay the Difficulty.

In the world of endeavor, there are difficult things that look difficult, and there are difficult things that look easy (or easier than they truly are, at any rate). Many, if not most, Olympic sports fall into the first category. No matter how "easy" an Olympic diver makes a triple whatnot with a half-twist look, it is hard to ignore the work necessary to produce that dive. For the second category, certain forms of art and literature are easy marks for those who like to say, "How hard could it be?"

I am not sure how many people who have uttered those immortal words have actually attempted the thing that they dismiss, but I am willing to bet it is small. It is easy to sit on the sidelines and scoff at an effort you scorn to attempt. It is hard to make the attempt itself - that is, to really make the attempt to produce something of worth. As soon as you set brush to canvas or fingertips to keyboard, it becomes evident that talent, practice, hard work, or some combination of any or all of them is necessary to produce something you would be willing to show to someone whose honest opinion you valued.

I have had some kind friends suggest I write a novel. I am not ready yet - I know this. But when I finally set out on this endeavor, it will not begin with, "How hard could it be?" Nobody likes to try for a swan dive and end up with a belly flop.

Posted: Monday - January 31, 2005 at 08:31 AM         | |


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