Athletes train and condition themselves always aiming for the big event. Whatever they do in practice is done with their eyes on the prize. It's their focus point. The ones who are successful are those who kept that focus point. All that they did in practice, in games, studying playbooks and film--all those things allowed them to win the prize. They became successful in their field.
As writers, we are much the same. The prize we're centering on is publication. Not only one story published, or one book, but a continuation of that goal we've dreamt of.
We have a lot to do before we claim the prize, however. Just like the athlete, we train and condition by learning all we can about our craft. We attend workshops and conferences, read books on writing, and talk with fellow writers to continue our writing education.
We practice by writing draft upon draft. We begin by writing stories and poems and essays that will probably never be published. Hopefully, with each one, we get a wee bit better. The inchworm gets where he's headed a little at a time. He may be slow, but he makes it to his focus point. We can, too.
The athlete has successes and failures on the road to the prize. We do, as well. We need those rejections we get to inspire us to keep going until we have an acceptance, and then farther. We have writing projects that seemed so good when they were swirling in our heads, but once the words were in print, they seemed to sag rather than shine like we'd hoped. It's alright. It's experience. The more experience we attain, the better the writer we will be.
Doing writing exercises is part of our practice. They usually take only minutes but much can be gained. You might even have a few 'aha!' moments when doing a writing exercise.
When reaching that prize takes far more time than we'd thought, we get discouraged. That's part of this writing world. It happens to athletes, too, but the good ones will continue to keep their eye on the prize. How about you? Will you focus on the prize? Yes, you can!
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