My Improbability Drive

This week I am taking inspiration from Douglas Adams and building my improbability drive.

According to his biographies, Adams generated a beloved alternate universe, creating it out of his ideas, with all the skills he’d honed and developed for many years. Then he took a crucial step toward creating the classic franchise we know and still love: He demanded the support and hard work of other talented people. He trusted contributors to support his discerning concept of what the Hitchhiker universe MUST sound like and ultimately BE.

You can hear what that sounds like in the Primary and Secondary Phases of the original BBC Series. I’ll probably be listening to it again during my 18 hours of travel to the UK next week.

That trust introduces both coincidence and improbability alongside talent and hard work in the equation of Adams’s success.

Would Arthur Dent be as compelling if the role hadn’t gone to Simon Jones? If there had been someone else “Peter Jonesy” enough at hand, would the program have been a sensation? If the BBC Radiophonic Workshop hadn’t bought into the seemingly mad ideas Douglas had for audioscapes, would it have become a cult hit? 

Everything came together in a way that made the radio series incredible enough to commission a book, and the book to lead to more books, TV, games, and the rest, because Douglas had a vision, and, according to his biographies, a manic work ethic when it hit—especially when he was working collaboratively.

But overall, the mega-success of a comedy science fiction BBC radio drama was pretty improbable.

I’m taking the improbability to heart and
using it to power my creative drive.

Like Douglas, it is easier for me to put huge amounts of time and energy into something when I am working with other people. So this week, I’m trying to take the improbability idea to heart and use it to power my creative drive. Reduce the improbability factor by factoring in collaborators.

I want great maps for my book. An excellent cover design. A layout that is useful to carry around and easy to read while on the move. Figuring out how to take the suggestions and feedback from my beta readers, incorporate what makes sense into the final product, and let the rest go figures into this calculation of success improbability. I want to get a group of talented people who can do what I can’t to jump in and work their magic.

Ultimately that will make the book better while fighting the feeling inside that it is absolutely improbable that I’ll ever lead a tour, launch the app, or hand someone my finished book. I’m lost in the vastness of possibility and feel as powerless as Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect shot from a Vogon airlock.

It is a nerve-wracking and intimidating time, but it will be so worth it to have a book I’m proud of in the hands of my fellow fans.