When It Hurts, Swim Harder

As you know, my kids swim competitively with a USA Swim Team so obviously, this week they have been glued to the television watching the time trials from Omaha and cheering on the members of their team (and one of their training coaches, Megan Jendrick) as they race toward glory.

Megan Jendrick (Former King Swimmer)

This is a tough sport. When it comes down to it, as you stand on those blocks, the entire world disappears around you. Unless you are in a relay, now it is simply a battle between you and the clock. You hit the water and all you get to stare at is that black line at the bottom of the pool and let your body push to the wall and eventually to the finish. You simply cannot quit. And yes, there are plenty of times when your body hurts all over. The legs burn, your shoulders ache, you can't get enough oxygen, but you cannot quit. That is what a racer does, they look past the pain to that ultimate goal of potential victory.

Writing is very similar to this. There will be days when it simply hurts to write. It may be physical as you sit their for hours and your body really starts to ache. Shoulder, back, butt... you get the idea. Staring at that computer screen and your eyes start to really burn and hurt. We get it! We have all been there.



Ariana Kukors (Former King Swimmer)

There may also be days when the pain is mental. You simply cannot see your self doing this any more. It hurts to think of new ideas, or maybe the plot is just not going to where you want it to go to.

And then there are the rejections. We are constantly struggling with those letters saying "we were not good enough." O.K. In reality the reason for rejection is not about you but the story, and yet, our brain pushes us to make it personal.

But if you ARE A WRITER, and not someone who simply writes, you will push beyond this. You will find a way to make those dealines that laugh at you and come up on you too quickly. You will push beyond the mental and physical pain to get to that end goal.

The question is, how bad do you want it? Do you want it bad enough to push yourself until it hurts, and then take it to next level? Or, will you, stop when it starts to hurt?

Scott