Today I’m encouraged about writing after reading these words in Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant:

Ultimately, the people who choose to champion originality are the ones who propel us forward. After spending years studying them and interacting with them, I am struck that their inner experiences are not any different from our own. They feel the same fear, the same doubt, as the rest of us. What sets them apart is that they take action anyway. They know in their hearts that failing would yield less regret than failing to try. (p. 28)

And these:

Simonton finds that on average, creative geniuses weren’t qualitatively better than their peers. They simply produced a greater volume of work, which gave them more variation and a higher chance of originality. (p. 35)

I’m no genius. I may never have a truly original idea. But if I keep showing up, keep trying, keep adding to the volume of my work, I might find the variation of words that will be the thing that I have to say. Adam Grant says that quantity is the most predictable path to quality. Lucy Calkins often reminds us that volume matters.

Volume of words?
Volume of ideas?
Volume of forms?
Volume of wordplay?

Just as volume is determined by the size and shape of the container, I’m wondering if I put limits on the size of the container of my words.

Maybe I need to turn up the volume.

And remember that so many little things can speak volumes. Even silence.