I do NOT look like this when running. Part of me wishes I did.
“Just to that tree there, then I’ll stop and walk.” I must say this to myself dozens of times on every run.
I’m fine at running downhill, really, I’m very good at that. But I’m rubbish at running uphill. I gasp for breath, my muscles burn, my knees wobble. Rubbish. I look nothing like that woman in the photo. Perhaps I’ll get someone to take a picture of me in the act just so you can have a laugh.
But if I pick a tree, not too far away, and tell myself I’ll just keep going until that tree and then we can reconsider, things look much better. The hill becomes less daunting, and I often get past quite a few trees before I revert to ‘walking smartly’.
And it’s the same with writing.
For me, in particular, novel first drafts. The whole task seems so daunting at times. I tell myself I’ll just write the next 1000 words and then we’ll see…
I know I mentioned this on Twitter, but that “tree to tree” method works wonders. It’s allowed me to go from getting stuck right at the 1/5 mark of a novel draft to getting all the way to 4/5! I just have that final stretch–boy, what a stretch! But it’s doable if I just pace myself, set the word count goals.
I’ve told this to other writer friends and they’ve also produced more. I think it’s just great.
Wishing you well on whatever your current project is!
Thanks, Elisa. From a psychological point of view, breaking things down into manageable bite-size goals that hide the greater objective sometimes make everything much less overwhelming!
I feel for you. I’m only at the planning stage and I’m alternating between ecstasy and dread. I suppose that produced a current which drives me up the hill…hang in there, Claire.
May your tail wind blow you strongly upwards!
A wonderful analogy.
By first, where did I put my running shoes….
You are so right. As a writer/runner I feel the same thing…Weirdly I posted about this on both my blogs today.http://giniamoffatt.blogspot.com/2011/04/poetry-in-motion.html
Great post
[…] read many articles, interviews and blogs where writers reveal that they’re keen runners (Claire King’s blog entry has particularly stuck in my […]