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Knockout
The anticipation is killing you. You’ve waited for this given opportunity to rise and now it is upon you. You pull your sweat shirt hood up over your head and it covers your eyes. Your heart is beating so fast it’s merely a flutter in your chest as you walk down the dark corridor. You can hear your song thrumming through your veins as you reach the end. Your name is being chanted by the masses, the announcer brings you out and the crowd reaches a frenzy point. But you’re focused. You’re solid. There’s nothing in your mind but the ring and your opponent. You’ve sweated and bled for this moment. You’ve visualized your opponent’s face a thousand times on the bag as you beat the hell out of it with your fist and elbows and knees and feet.
This moment is yours. This victory… it’s all you can think about.
Your opponent is pacing inside the cage, eyes on you. And you return the stare, welcome it. You want them to see what you’re about to do. They should be scared.
You step inside and have a Zen moment, where the only thing you can hear is the sound of your own breathing. Out of respect you pound gloves and you cock back and smash into their face. You’re white on rice. Butter on bread. You think of all the times when you were told you’d never win. You’d never be on top.
You’d show them.
The opponent is strong. Round after round, the opponent takes it to you. Shows you no matter how well you do, you can’t beat them. Still you rail against it, you fight with everything in your being for the win.
And when everything you have, you plant a mean right hook into their kidney and then upper cut to the chin. As they start to straighten up, you put your foot into their stomach and with one last final stand, the opponent drops. The referee waves you off and the bell sounds.
You look around to your team. The ones who helped you get to where you are right now, holding the championship and beaming with pride and they feel it too. You finally did it. Everything you’ve worked for was all for this moment and there was nothing sweeter than the satisfaction of having it.
I watched UFC fights this weekend and if you don’t know anything about the UFC (Ultimate Fighter Championship) it’s Mixed Martial Arts fighting. The whole thing reminds me a lot of the uphill battle you have as a writer to get recognized and published. You have to sacrifice almost everything to get almost nothing in the beginning. You get no respect. You get no love. You fight for everything you’ve got to prove and in the end what do you have left? Sometimes a published book and sometimes a really nice (and sometimes not so nice) rejection letter.
Now, I don’t have any experience in this because as everyone knows, I can’t finish. Which is ironic. Don’t ask me why. It’s a gutter topic and I’m trying really hard to mind myself OUT of the gutter this week.
So I was curious this week. What do you guys liken writing and finishing to? I mean, I like to liken it to football and UFC fighting, what else can we make references to? And if you’re a reader, what Christmas reads are you looking forward to?
Books by the Crew
51 comments:
UFC, huh? Huge fan. I wrote a paper on Matt Hamill. My oldest dd has trained for several years in MMA. Hubs taught, I guess MMA, judo, jujitsu, and many other forms. So I can liken writing to UFC and football.
I've written blogs on how voice relates to music. But I don't think I've ever related it to anything other than running the hurdles.
I'm going to have to think on this one a bit and come back later.
Renee
Sailing. A voyage. Absolutely. The course you choose, the sails you set, the tacking back and forth, the crew...the duldrums. The ports you visit and finally...home anchorage. The finish. Followed by the lure of the sea and starting all over again.
What sport did I get hooked on... Love to watch the America's Cup sailing. Or any yacht race. I know...but really! When Dennis Connor blew a sail and managed to get a new one up and win the race? I was on my feet shouting!
Afore I discovered my pirate heart...I was always a sailor...
Sin,you had me right inside that fighter's skin for a while. Excellent writing! I don't really like the mixing of fighting styles though, and on the whole prefer boxing under Queensbury rules.
Interesting that Rene relates to running hurdles and second to sailing.
I think that writing is a very solitary occupation. I know that you have support groups, critique groups and can be part of a community, but when it comes to the nitty gritty you are on your own with a pen, a piece of paper and your thoughts.
The loneliness of writing seems to me to have similarities with athletics.Striving to get a book published somehow reminds me of Roger Bannister struggling to run a mile in under four minutes. As he reached the last lap there was the pain barrier, but the clock ticked relentlessly on toward 4 minutes, then the doubts came flooding into his mind as the tape seemed too far away, then the fierce refusal to yield to fate, the search for that little extra resource from within, then finally the gritting of teeth and the burst to reach the line, then the collapse from exhaustion on reaching the tape as the stop watch hand hovered over the magic 4 mins, then the deafening applause as the realisation dawns that he is the first man to run a mile in under 4 mins.
The analogy isn't perfect but I think the same range of emotions may confront the writer when the first acceptance letter arrives! *g*
I've finished a few manuscripts by now, and at first, I'd cry with relief and thrill. Now I just sort of smile and move right on to the next---because they're never finished until they're in print. I'm on a treadmill at a steady pace. I've fiddled with the dials, so if I'm fighting anything, it's myself.
I've finished two manuscripts by now. After I wrote number one, I cried tears of relief and thrill (very much like Maggie wrote). With the second one, I just went oh, that's good and went through three different story concepts for romances---actually wrote 30K of one---before I started writing the new WIP about in October. So I flounder in between books, trying to decide what I want to do next. And yeah, I definitely think I'm my own worst enemy. No question about that.
I've always likened writing and publishing to the high school cafeteria and the cool table. I walk in with a stack of puddings and jellos and Tasty Cakes on my tray and try to sit at the cool table. They just laugh at me and say all that junk will just make me fat and no one will want to sit with me. So I toss it away and go back on line and fill my tray with good, healthy food. The kind of food that fills you up and leaves you contented. Now when I walk over to the cool table I find there's plenty of room and everything on my plate brings me nothing but praise and an invitation to sit at their table as long as I want to.
I am still emptying my tray of all the empty calories. I'll keep the pepper crusted filet mignon, twice baked potatoes, savory biscuits and wash it all down with a nice Pinot Noir.
Great blog, guys. Sorry I don't get here as often as I like but when I do it's always marvelous. I really like sitting here at this table.
Losing weight. It takes discipline and optimism and determination to continue even when you only lose a little or even gain weight. You have to get into the mindset that "this is not a diet, this is a lifestyle"--same with writing. This is not a hobby, this is my career--so treat it like a career. Hobbies are too easy to set aside, disregard, and dismiss--which is certainly not adding any self-esteem to your already fragile ego.
You have to love yourself where you're at and for who you are right now--even if you're unpublished and can't imagine ever being a NYT's bestseller. But at the same time, you need to dream about being that person--because only by thinking it's even possible will you start to do the things you need to accomplish it.
Losing weight is all about burning more calories than you take in--just like writing is about sitting down every day and putting words on paper, even if they're crappy words. It's about doing it every day. It's about not scrapping the whole project when you binged one day...or even a week. And writing--like dieting--comes with a ton of books on how to do it better, faster, quicker, with more proven results and guarantees. Like Adtkins, South Beach, WW and Oprah--there are books where you plot, where you pants, where you do some of both; there are books that focus on character, some on setting, some on plot--all of them guarantee if you follow their plan, it'll make your book a bestseller. If you follow it precisely. And don't stray or binge.
Eventually you find with losing weight that you find the way to diet that works best for you and you'll find a goal weight that isn't like Nora Roberts, perhaps, but that is healthy and maintainable for you. You'll stop judging yourself and comparing yourself to other dieters.
*LOL* Q, my BodyPump instructor is ALWAYS saying something similar to us when we want to stop doing the biceps or lunges track (and we always are)--"You have to want it more than it hurts."
That works in writing, too. *LOL*
Thanks for saying we're the cool table, Santa. Even if that cool table is made of planks and bolted to the floor. :) And you're always welcome!
I guess I relate writing to running a race. But it's a long distance race. A marathon. So right now I'm in the "training for the race" phase. Which means a) it's okay to pace myself and b) it's okay to feel good about whatever little progress I make. As long as I don't take my eye off the goal line completely, then I'm good.
I completely forgot I blogged today.
*frown*
Good morning wenches and pirates!
I haven't always been such a MMA fan. I have to be in the mood for it and I can't go see it live without feeling all mothery and protective.
Yeah, different sorta image for the ninja pirate, I know.
We're too much alike Renee. It's freaky.
Chance, tis why you live on the sea as "argh" bartender! Yers born to the sea, you tis. Great visual about the sailing. I've never been a fan of anything that could strand me in the middle of the ocean with sharks, but I am a fan of a hot coast guard out to save my booty.
More fun to be a pirate than just a sailor. Sailors are for play and hostages. *g*
Q, I had planned on rewriting the blog for today, but as you can see, I forgot that I was even blogging today, let alone actually put forth the effort to change it. I didn't think it was the right tone I was trying to set.
Though, I'm glad you liked it *g*
I don't know much about boxing. I prefer the sucker punch and run method myself. LOL
Writing is a very solitary occupation, which is why it's easy for me to liken it to something else. For me, everything is about the individual experience you gain from it. Even as playing on a team, you're still inside yourself experiencing the "game". Writing is about internalization brought to the external outlet for others to pick up and become enraptured with.
And honestly if I tried to run a mile under 9 minutes, my arteries would probably rupture and my heart would explode and my leg muscles would turn into a liquid ball of lactic acid.
The four minute mile analogy was very visual, Q. Wonderful writing for a crisp Friday morning.
Maggie, I understand that treadmill analogy. I hate working out. Hate it with a passion. So if I'm going to do anything I get on the treadmill and tell myself, "If you do thirty minutes, you'll be done." From start to finish its a struggle but after that cooldown pops up, it's a rush of relief. Very easy to liken that to writing because there's nothing I like more than to be finished!
Of course the only thing I've finished this year is blogs. LOL
Ely, as writers, we're all determental to ourselves. Because for some reason, writing is a perfectional sport and since we are human, perfection is out of our grasp but we struggle to attain it anyway.
I'm notorious for writing about 30-50k and going to something else because I have different ideas in the middle of writing something. I'm flaky (hence not finishing anything- ever). I well admit to it. LOL
Santa! Welcome aboard babe!
I was always outside with the smokers, so I dunno what the cool table is like. Did you know Ter bolted the table to the ship after she caught us stripping on it and surfing the main deck? Secretly I think she was worried we'd fall overboard. LOL
But now I think she uses the table for her own private shows after we all sneak off to get the hoo.
I eat junk food as a staple. So if I'm sitting at the table I need chocolate and rum. LOL But all that other stuff sounded nice. Especially the potato.
Maybe I need to hide underneath the table. I'll be like the table gremlin.
Sin, you're already a gremlin. A very cute one, but a gremlin nonetheless.
*pops a piece of fudge in her mouth*
Why go to the trouble of hiding, Sin? I'm sure there's a camera around here somewheres. ;)
Renee
Hellie, only you can liken dieting to writing. But it's perfect. Because some days your light on the calories you take in (light on writing words that make sense) and other days you have a PMS day and must intake as much crap as possible (other one of those days where you write alot, but none of it works in the grand scheme of things) and then there are some days (once in a great while) that flow perfectly and you feel like you've finally matched the puzzle pieces perfectly and the eating and exercising is as close as you'll ever get to achieving perfection (wonderful writing days where it comes natural).
I love it!
Renee, are you saying we videotape for blackmail later?
I'd never.
Ha.
Ter, you're going to make it babe! Sometimes all it takes is that extra push and helping hand to get you there especially after you've been thinking for the past 10 miles you'd really like to sit down and have some rum.
That's why you can't feed me after midnight. I go apeshit crazy.
Well, nothing like finding the similarities in two obsessions. Doesn't mean it's right. I could probably list 5 ways Will Ferrell is like Jack Sparrow and it'd be true--but it doesn't make him Johnny Depp. Just makes me a spin doctor.
Sin - It would help if I wasn't trying to run two races at once. LOL! One thing at a time!
And it's these giant tankards of rum y'all pass me along the way that keep me going. And those hammock breaks are kind of nice too....
Yes, but sometimes you just need to be a good spin doctor in order to get through the day.
Yes, run one race at a time. Gives more focus time to be better than just good, you'll be great!
One of those, just because it's your reality, doesn't mean it's real, sort of things?
Nothing is real. It's all an illusion.
Nice.
Ah, f****ng hell. *downs a good bit of rum* I just enrolled for the spring semester. Damn it all. What the hell was I thinking?
Sin, I never said blackmail her. I'd never either. But I would like to know...Will Ferrell and Johnny Depp in the same thought. *Shivers* I need some more rum. A lot more rum.
Renee
Thanks, Keanu....
Hi ladies! Greetings from Fl. :) I just wanted to get a comment in here.
I think I've said before that I think of the process of writing like being in a turbulent, passionate relationship. The beginning is that part where you feel like you just can't get enough of your characters and plot. The middle is the time where you run the risk of getting bored and losing interest. The end seems to swing between the bliss of a HEA and the disgust of a breakup.
:) Great blog, Babe!
But there better not be video footage of the boat.... *shivers*
All tapes are burned nightly.
Marn - I thought your motto was "just keep swimming". LOL! I think there's a triathelon (sp?) analogy in there somewhere.
You're welcome, Will.
Fantastic blog! Great writing, Sin!
I'm with Terri, it's like a marathon to me. I actually trained for a marathon last year and didn't get to the race point. I know I'll do better in my writing but is it ever a battle! Sometimes I'm excited to write, sometimes I dread it. Other times I'm searching for support. All the same between writing and training for a race.
Did someone mention chocolate? ::runs off to vending machine::
Oh good Lord, Dory is back in my head. *rolls eyes*
Marn, how's the weather in Florida? Hope it's warmer than here.
Renee
Beautiful blog Sin. Awesome writing as always. I've always envied your descriptive writing:)
At the moment I compare my writing to a relationship with a discarded toy. When I was small I can remember receiving new toys for Christmas and abandoning my former toys. Months later I would dig through the toy box and unearth one of these former toys. It was like discovering buried tresure, and all the good toy memories would come rushing back. With excitement I would pull it from the heap of toys and spend an afternoon rediscovering the joy I felt the first time I opened that toy.
Everytime I open the file that contains my WIP, I feel that old familar rush of longing. the desire to pick up the characters where I left them. To tell their story and give them the HEA they deserve. I tinker with words and scenarios until I become frustrated when I can't find the words I need. I quietly close the file until the next notion forces me to unearth the shadows of the characters in my mind.
Christmas reading....Just finished Lisa Kleypas' Wall flower Christmas, and absolutely loved it. It was so good to read a follow up on some of my favorite Kleypas characters. The main storyline is also good.
Hm, I forgot about the Wallflower Christmas. I haven't seen it on the shelves, must be why I don't have it yet. Or I've been distracted by all the freakin' xmas crap going on. Or work. I need to get groceries. And clean the house.
Marn! Greeting from sunny MO! How goes it in Florida? Didja get there okay?
I love all these descriptions I'm getting today on how to liken writing to something else. We should all colaborate and make a book to sell for Christmas. The Pirate's Way- analogies on Writing and Rum. Heavy on the Rum.
Stephie J! It takes a lot of guts to even TRAIN for a marathon! Let alone step up to the start line. I'm a chicken. I won't even try for a half. I applaud you regardless!
PS. Lis...
WRITE!
Shake and bake.
Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
I can just see you getting in someone face and shouting that. LOL
WOOOOHOOOO! WOOOHOOOOOOOOO! Hey, driver, drive these!
Please be 18. Please be 18. Please be 18.
Hey Cap'n, whats happening to this ship?
Yesterday the bos'n forgot to post.
Today the quartermaster forgot she was on duty.
Lapses like this on a British navy vessel would lead to Court Martial.
Still, I can forgive such talented writers anything, especially at Christmas. Give them each a cracker (in the English navy that translates to rocket) *g*
Why Q, you wanna flog me for my lapse in memory *g*
Naughty Sin! Q, you don't know what you're tempting here! Okay, on second thought, maybe you do!
I might enjoy being press-ganged by England's finest... Oh, sorry, got a little distracted.
Yes, we're all whacked out due to the holidays. (That's the excuse we're using anyways.)
I would love a British cracker! I keep hearing about them in Harry Potter books, and I think they would be so cool to have! (I assume Harry Potter's a bit more...sophisticated since crackers at Hogwarts tend to provide hats, chess boards, and live mice...)
Whew! Just got off the road, rushed in ta read all the bloomin' pirate thoughts...wish I'd been able to blog and drive... No, bad idea.
Q, bite yer tongue! We ain't the British Navy! We be pirates...lapses is expected...uh, mandatory.
Sin, want a Bo'sun Burner? Extra rum and I sets it on fire! (Looks nicely scientific that way... :))
Obviously I'm oblivious on this ship because I have no freakin' clue what a cracker is in British terms.
Wait.
Are we talking about rockets? Or are we talking about *rockets*?
*shaking head*
I need a drink. *skipping over to Chance for my Bo'sun Burner* Fabulous dear! Cheers!
*downing it* Whew... Keep the flame away from my mouth otherwise I'm going to be doing circus tricks and burn the sails. Again.
I always wonder'd what happ'nd ta the sails... Tol the Cap'n it weren't me doing the bungie jumpin'!
*sly glance* I might have had something to do with that hole in the main deck too.
*skittering off with a keg of rum* Happy weekend wenches!
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