In 1836 the young naturalist on the left returned from the Galapagos. He was 27.
He knew precisely the significance of what he had seen.
But he told nobody.
For twenty-three years.
It took Charles Darwin twenty-three years to finally write and publish the book that had been burning a hole in his heart and mind. On The Origin of Species became (and remains) perhaps the most significant story humanity has ever received.
Why did Darwin delay?
Because he was afraid. Period. He was afraid of the backlash; of the ruckus; of being branded as a heretic. On some level he was simply afraid of being wrong; afraid that his intellect and instinct had simply been barking up the wrong tree for all these years.
And on the deepest level, he was afraid of the cruelest fate of all. He was afraid of being completely and utterly ignored. Of being greeted by a quizzical look and a shrug. Seriously? Is that all you've got?
Darwin kept his book unwritten, and his boldest thoughts unexpressed, for precisely the same reason you've kept your own ambitions parked in your garage all these years. You're afraid of having your very best work greeted as ordinary; "basic"; run-of-the-mill. Whatever.
What if Darwin had never dared?
Stephen Jay Gould has said: “I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.”
If you have a story to tell; and if you are in possession of the near-miraculous good fortune of having the ability and circumstances to tell it...how dare you keep it to yourself?
What strange and rare circumstances have contributed to you reading these words, right now, when 99.99999% of the planet never will?
Our Written Out Loud Adult Novelist's Program gives you the three things you need to write, finish, and publish your book this year: a mentor, a structure, and a team.
And yes, we're not just for fiction writers: write your memoir or non-fiction book here as well.
I will hand you your published book at StoryCon 2023 at Yale University before the year is out. I'll be writing and publishing my book right alongside you. And I'll be there on your journey this year, every step of the way.
The year that changed your life begins March 20. Enrollment is limited. Register now.
-Josh