Writing and the Long Distance Runner

by Rick on August 18, 2008

Picture this… the open road, two legs, and miles to go.  You start out strong.  Your legs carrying you over the tarmac in the cool morning air.  You feel awake, alive, and can envision the finish line hidden in the horizon.  You cover a couple of miles without slowing down.  And then… your lungs start to burn.  Your feel the beginnings of what may be a cramp but you push through it.  Another mile and your mind begins to wander.  You could stop.  Why continue?  What is at the end?  What do you hope to achieve?  Who really cares if you finish? Loneliness sets in and you slow down. Each step becomes an effort…

Now substitute the open road with a blank screen or a white sheet of paper.  Replace the two legs with a keyboard or pencil.  The finish line is the first draft of your completed manuscript. The miles are chapters.  You began with a vision and a story to tell. With each successive chapter behind you it becomes more difficult.  After all, completing a novel is quite an accomplishment.  It requires focus, stamina, skill, technique, and a lot of heart as well.  But most of all it requires a belief in yourself.  

No put yourself back into your running shows.  Where did we leave off?  Ah yes… each step had become an effort.  But now something has changed.  You feel a fresh burst of energy and instead of rushing through it you pace yourself.  You can use this second wind to carry you to the finish line.  In fact, you can see it.  It’s not just a shimmering mirage on the horizon anymore. You’re near the  end and you can soon rest. 

Congratulations.  You’ve finished your first novel.

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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Laurie 08.18.08 at 7:41 pm

Great analogy. I think the hardest part for me is that first sentence. Everything sounds wrong, stupid.

I have been trying a new strategy lately with challenges. It’s called playing the movie forward. Play the movie of your challenge forward to the possible outcomes; (note the semicolon) decide which one is where you want to be and then work to get there. For example: If there was a dangerously over weight person who felt defeated in losing weight, he could play the movie forward as to what it would be like if he lost the weight and what it would be like is he died prematurely and his wife had to raise his three kids alone with one salary.

Envisioning yourself going over the finish line is kind of like playing the movie forward. :O)

Rick 08.20.08 at 8:17 pm

I’ve always found the first few lines the hardest part of any writing project also.

Your strategy sounds a lot like visualization and the law of attraction. Are they similar?

Laurie 08.23.08 at 11:08 pm

In this strategy, one looks at all the choices and where they lead to. I think that is more like visualization.

I think the law of attraction is not using any force in the universe, like “The Secret” would have you believe. But more than the power of poitive thinking. I can’t manipulate some nonliving force in the universe. I can have passion about something and take action to increase the odds of it happening. I’m not saying there is no force in the universe, there is. But it is living and powerful and cannot be manipulated. You know me…of course I’m talking about God.