Lately, I've felt beaten down every time I miss a self-imposed deadline for myself, and then I have to remember: Life Happens.
I went on a snow trip to Park City, UT last week and hadn't been on a snowboard in three years and it had been five years prior to that. With that much time in between I feel like I'm re-learning everything: balance and strength, confidence on both edges, boldness to cut turns (and wouldn't you know I'd be goofy-footed on top of it all).
I'm a cautious snowboarder, as well, which tends to make me nervous that some other riskier newbie is coming up behind me and is going to plow me over. Yeesh. But I returned in one piece, with wonderful soreness to prove what a great workout it was out there.
So what does this have to do with writing and deadlines? Let me draw a bit of a comparison...
BE CONSISTENT
Writing takes consistency. If I wait too long in between I can feel like I'm learning all the basics over again. But, man! When I give it the time, even if I've been slacking up until that point, it feels SO GOOD to get the kinks worked out and exercise those atrophied muscles, and maybe even labor with some that I forgot I had.
KNOW YOUR WEAKNESSES
My first attempt at snowboarding I caught the wrong edge and landed on my backside, clutching my wrist to my chest, unable to take a breath. And I was at the base of the mountain. I had to sit out for the rest of the weekend and was convinced I'd broken my wrist. I later found that it was only a bad sprain, but my manual capabilities were drastically diminished afterward.
Since then I have added wrist guards to my repertoire and fall with a lot more confidence. :)
In writing, I know that I have difficulty showing emotion rather than telling my reader what the character is feeling, so I add tools to my repertoire-- I make a note when I read a good example of showing emotion. If I watch a TV show or a movie that is rich with emotion I can exercise my craft by attempting to capture the emotion of the scene in words.
When I reinforce my known weak spots, I give myself the opportunity to turn them into strengths.
GET A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS
I have funny friends. I have clever relations. That used to discourage me. I'd think,
I'll never be as naturally funny as Tim, or Danielle, or Charissa, or Kate and I'd lean toward shutting down. Can I just say-- that's stupid. (Or as Danielle would say, "That's tarded again.") It doesn't matter if I don't have Tim's quick wit-- I have time on my side when I'm writing a book. It's okay if I'm not situationally clever like Danielle, or vocabularily astute like Charissa, or don't possess a humorous outlook like Kate. I don't have to be those things. I can make things up as I go-- or I can borrow.
On our snow trip I needed a good jacket and my friend had one. In fact they gave me the newest one they owned and it served me well. So well, in fact, that I had to unload some of my own layers in order to not overdo it with the warmth.
Having cleverness and wit that surrounds me is a blessing, and, luckily, with friends who are generous, I can borrow from their stores and bring character and situation to life on the page in a way that pays tribute to the inspirational people in my life.
WORK AT
YOUR BEST PACE
Next, I needn't worry about those who are sweeping past, and maybe even cutting fancy turns and whizzing by like a pro when I'm flat on my derriere. Again. I push myself up, brush myself off, and stop trying to be someone else. It doesn't matter how many times I fall, whether I fall up the mountain or down it, no matter how many barriers appear to be in my way, no matter how many times I catch the wrong edge or seem to lose my bearing on the peak. My work will take as long as it takes and when I finally arrive-- when I've reached the bottom of the mountain-- I'll have something to show for my work that no one else has written... and as so many professionals remind me... that no one else
could have written.
So, I press on.
Write on, writers. Write wisely.
