Some of you know that I’ve been training to run a relay leg in a full marathon. The marathon was this weekend and I was completely unprepared. And the worst part was at the last minute I traded with another member to run her leg instead because it was longer and she’d been injured lately. Long story short, the run was cancelled before I even took off due to the heat, yet I was not made aware of the situation and ran 7 miles anyways, uphill in extremely hot weather (hence the reason for cancelling the race.)
You may ask yourself “What the heck does this have to do with writing?” And my answer. Plenty.
Those closest to me know that I’ve been at the writing thing for a couple years and have made great strides. As of lately, I’ve been more motivated and ambitious about my writing and getting myself published. I’ve surrounded myself with great writing friends who I can bounce ideas and MSs off of. I’m taking a query letter writing course. Bought books on writing. I follow countless authors and agents on Twitter. I’ve even submitted a short to an on-line publishing company (keeping fingers crossed; haven’t heard back yet on my full submission!). I’ve even started writing another MS as well as finished a short story that I’m preparing to submit.
All of this work I’ve been doing is like the training I did for my run. I said in January of this year I was going to run in the marathon as part of a relay. From there, my partners and I mapped out a training running schedule that we held each other to. Now, I sit at my desk completely sore because I accomplished my goal. I ran 7 miles in a marathon!
For my writing, I said in January, I wanted to get an agent and move one step closer to getting published this year. And so far, I’m taking a class, sharing work with others and completed a short novel, a short story and edits to a MS.
Just like with my running, in writing I’ve had set backs. In running, I developed bad shin splints and was sick for most of our run days and never fully felt ready for the run. Same with writing, I’d recently gotten back some notes on a MS and at first, I felt crushed. I thought it was ready to go. But after some soul searching and long nights talking to a friend, I concluded that it needed some work and we were going to get it done. I wasn’t going to let one thing ruin the entire process just like with my running. I stretched and put meds on my shins and was physically ready for the race.
I guess the point of the story is if you set a goal don’t give up when you’re faced with setbacks. My friend did a similar post recently about changes she’s made in her writing life. Go check it out.
In case you’re wondering. If I’d known about the cancelled race and offered to still run or sit out. I would’ve ran and even with all the pain associated with it, I’m still glad I did.
