#Artistic Risk

Write What Frightens You, Free What Follows

Beyond craft lies an ethical charge: the sentence you fear may be the sentence a reader needs. Audre Lorde’s “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” (1977) argues that withholding truth magnifies danger, while speaking it redistributes power. Likewise, memoirs that name harm can shift public discourse—consider the cultural ripples of survivor narratives like Chanel Miller’s Know My Name (2019). Thus, to ‘free the next page’ is also to free a future reader. When a writer puts the unsayable into words, they create a linguistic path others can walk, modeling how private pain can become public knowledge—and, sometimes, collective change. [...]

To Make Great Art, You Must Be Willing to Be a Fool - Paul Valéry

True artistic innovation comes from experimenting and daring to fail. By embracing the possibility of looking foolish, artists explore new techniques, ideas, and perspectives that can lead to greatness. [...]

Be Courageous and Write in a Way That Scares You - Hollyn Smith

Writing ‘scary’ topics often brings with it the fear of judgment—from readers, peers, or even ourselves. The quote hints at the idea that confronting such fears allows a writer to break free from constraints, shedding the fear of what's 'acceptable' or 'safe.' [...]