5 Ways to Train for Creative Work Like an Athlete
Want to write that novel? Approach it like a marathon.
I used to think my two passions — writing and rowing — used fundamentally different parts of my brain. In rowing, I found a certainty I cherished: the clarity of the stopwatch, the feedback of the coach, the gratification as my rowing improved. Writing, on the other hand, was all about delay, mystery, subjectivity.
So for a long time, I used my sport as a way to hedge my bets. I could be a better, more successful writer, I’d tell myself, but I was too busy on the water. I could be making more progress on my novel, but, you know, instead, I was busy using that time to improve my aerobic capacity.
Then one night, faced with a rejection letter that hit me hard, I decided it was time to cut my losses, put my energy elsewhere, and quit writing altogether. I got my backyard ready to make a cathartic bonfire of my manuscripts. (You laugh, but I Googled the permitting for fires at that time of year and had my equipment ready.) But as I was combing my house for more papers to add to the pile in my arms, I finally realized why I’d been so willing to let writing fall by the wayside. Even though what I wanted most was to be a successful writer, I was so afraid to fail that I had never really, fully tried.
