Be more audacious

And who knows what will happen...

Photo by Alena Jarrett on Unsplash

Hello! Thank you for reading The Honesty Box. If you’re new, welcome, and I’m happy you’re here. Today, I’m writing about audacity.

What’s the most audacious thing you’ve ever done, or the most audacious thing you’ve asked for – and did you get it?

Audacity - where you do something rather outlandishly bold - has kind of a negative connotation, don’t you think? But I reckon we could all be a bit more audacious.

If you’re asking an audacious question, the worst thing you could get a is a ‘no’ and a little embarrassment. The best? If the answer is yes, and you can reach for the stars.

I’ve done two audacious things in the past couple of weeks. The first was rather a long shot, but I enjoyed having a go.

I asked superstar New York literary agent Madeleine Morel if she would represent me. She rang me up during a recent trip to the UK, and that was my first question to her. I’ll give you a little background before I tell you what she said.

Who was I to ask such an audacious question of arguably America’s top ghostwriting agent?

Madeleine represents Pulitzer prize-winning writers and best-selling authors, matching them to celebrities and billionaires who want to write books about their lives but don’t have the skills or time to do so. She works with top publishers and artist management companies and only the best writers will do.

Penning a book for someone else, with them as the author named on the cover, is known as ghostwriting. It’s a legitimate, skilled and potentially well-paid job, but one that is shrouded in mystery to a certain extent.

Madeleine told me that many of the current top-selling non-fiction books in the US were written by ghostwriters, whether they are credited or not. “Everyone wants a book,” she said; business is good.

So, who was I to ask such an audacious question of arguably America’s top ghostwriting agent?

Well, let me explain how we spoke in the first place. I’m a member of the London Writers’ Salon, and each week the founders run a video Q&A with a brilliant author, publisher, agent or newsletter-writer, and people like me get to ask questions.

Asking for what I want is not a forte for me, so I’m trying to do it more often

Several weeks ago, the writer and “world’s most prolific ghost” Daniel Paisner was interviewed by the London Writers’ Salon. He has written more than 70 books including more 17 New York Times best-sellers, for the likes of Serena Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Denzel Washington, and he mentioned the New York agent who represents him and said that if anyone got in touch with her - Madeleine - it would be OK to say he sent us.

The next day, I looked Madeleine up, sent her a polite email, and asked whether she would consider speaking to me for 15 minutes on the phone sometime.

And so, a few weeks later, I found myself daydreaming at my desk overlooking the width restriction on the street by my flat, when a UK number I didn’t recognise popped up on my phone.

It was Madeleine, and after a little chat about the period of mourning we were in for the Queen, I popped the question: would she represent me? She said no, which was fair, because I am not (yet!) a best-selling author with the sort of profile her clients have.

But she did, very kindly, make some suggestions about where I could find useful industry sources, and other people who represent ghostwriters (I have ghostwritten a book for an entrepreneur, which won a Business Book Award last year, so I do have some form in this area). I thanked her very much for her time and got on with my day.

“All too often, it is audacity and not talent that moves an artist to center stage,” Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

Do I regret asking this highly audacious question? Not at all. To be fair, I did ask with a laugh in my voice, and I absolutely expected her to say no, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Asking for what I want is not a forte for me, so I’m trying to do it more often. What I have been fairly good at in my career is hustling, which you have to do to get on as a freelance writer, but I’d like to take it to the next level. And there’s a reason I’ve been thinking about audacity lately.

I’m reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, which is a 12-week course that helps you unblock your creativity. Many people would like to be more creative, but we either don’t think we’re good enough, feel that doing something creative well is too much of a mountain to climb, or simply don’t recognise that we are creative beings, and the book gently pushes us to challenge ourselves.

People like Elizabeth Gilbert, Alicia Keys and Pete Townshend are fans, and while the book is 30 years old, its techniques are still highly relevant.

In the book, Julia has this to say about audacity: “All too often, it is audacity and not talent that moves an artist to center stage. As blocked creatives, we tend to regard these bogus spotlight-grabbers with animosity,” she writes.

“This is not just jealousy. It is a stalling technique that reinforces our staying stuck. We make speeches to ourselves and other willing victims. ‘I could do that better, if only…’,” she carries on, before concluding: “You could do it better if only you would let yourself do it!”

Julia sees audacity as somewhat negative, but I really think it can be positive. The meaning of audacious is “showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks,” and I repeat, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

While Madeleine said no to me, she was kind enough to point me in the direction of information that may help, and now it’s up to me to make the most of that.

I asked: Could I come and dance with your performers at one of your club nights?

On to the second audacious question. I’m trying to open myself up creatively, and I want to pitch ideas to places I really want to write for.

Part of this means allowing time for creative thinking – coming up with brilliant feature ideas requires research, effort, and craft – and it also means asking bold questions. So, my second bold question was one I sent via email to a top disco club night promoter this week. I asked her this: Could I come and dance with your performers at one of your big London club nights?

Yes, I would love to have an amazing night out (aged 45 and with no dance background other than spending much of the late 1990s going clubbing, this really would be an audacious move), but mainly it would be to understand life as a dancer during the current disco renaissance.

Big-name DJs get the crowds in but it’s the performers who make the night go ‘pop’ and I’d love to know everything from why they do it, to how, and what day-to-day life is like doing a hugely creative and very physical job, often until dawn.

If the answer is yes, the next step will be to pitch my idea to a newspaper or magazine, which will also be a challenge. And if the answer is no (or I don’t get an answer), I’ll try asking someone else. Maybe this question is like a three year-old asking to go on MasterChef, but I’m willing to give it a go. I’ll let you know what happens.

Have you been audacious lately? What happened? I’d love to hear about it. Let me know in the comments below.

Things I like

Be more confident

The best-selling author Jodi Picoult recently featured in a Q&A with the Guardian. This is my favourite response:

“What is the most important lesson life has taught you?”

“If you believe in yourself, eventually somebody will look twice to wonder why you have that much confidence, and that is often the break you need.”

Enough said.