Page 78 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

chapter three
MAKING THINGS TO SELL
O

VER in Oberammergau, Germany, there is a colony of people who, for
generations, have been wood carvers. They specialize in religious carvings.
Years ago, when the only outlet for works of art was the church, the founders
of this little colony began carving religious statues and selling them to
churches. They became so much interested in the history of the men whose
likenesses they portrayed in wood, that they conceived the idea of re-enacting
their lives. Thus out of one art developed a greater art and soon the
Oberammergau Passion Players became famous the world over. But the
Passion Play was the result and not the cause of their success as wood
carvers. Today, in ritualistic churches all over the world, the religious
carvings of Anton Lang and his associates have become very valuable. Proud
indeed is the church, whether it be of the Roman or the Anglican faith, which
boasts a wood screen or a crucifix carved in Oberammergau.

Now if the Oberammergau wood carvers were only one or two people it
would be easy to dismiss their great success on the grounds that they had a
natural gift for carving. But nearly every person in Oberammergau carves,
and carves unusually well. Which simply goes to prove that being able to
make anything well is not so much a matter of being gifted, as it is being
interested enough in what you make to be willing to acquire through patient
practice the skill that success requires. There is a world of wisdom in the old
saying that genius is one-tenth inspiration and ninetenths perspiration.

You frequently hear people say: “How I envy So-and-So; if I only had his
gift of being able to write.” It is true some people have more natural ability
than others when it comes to expressing themselves on paper. But you will
usually find that the permanently successful novelists and shortstory writers
got where they are because they liked to write in the first place, and then
wrote, and wrote, and wrote until they perfected a style or specialty which
made their work stand out above the crowd and catch the imagination of the
public. It has been said, with a good deal of truth, that if you have aspirations
to be a successful short story writer, the way to begin is to write a hundred