One Small Idea

I spent most of last week online attending a virtual writer’s conference known as WriteOnCon What a great experience for me and all the other attendees. And what an amazing thing these organizers have accomplished.

They started with an idea, grabbed it by the horns and took off with it. By thinking outside the box, they managed to bridge the gap between 11,000 authors, agents, and editors across the globe. And next year it will most definitely only get bigger.

Why would they do such a thing? They all have agents, and most of them are working on book deals, or have books being released in the next year or two. They didn’t create this conference for themselves. They did it because they believe in paying it forward. This is their way of serving the writing community. Of giving back to the world. This is their way of reaching out to other authors and saying, “Here, let me give you a hand.”

And it has nothing to do with selling their books. But because of their efforts, books will sell. It’s a side effect, but not the reasoning behind the plan. For them, it’s about service. And maybe a little about Karma. It’s about a community of people taking hands and holding onto each other to make sure every single person has the means and ability to make it to the top.

It leaves me wondering what more I can do to help others around me. Am I stuck thinking inside the lines, too afraid to venture out and do bigger things? Are you? I don’t think service has to include thousands the way it did for these particular authors. It could just be one person. One person for whom you can make a difference.

There’s no way to know who will be that person for you, so all you can do is try every day to pay it forward to someone, to do something for another person, and eventually, it will come back. A side effect of something bigger and better than you ever realized.

All it takes is one small idea. Think about it.