Is writing like football?

I’m no expert at football or writing but I think football is like writing. Both disciplines involve practicing, planning and producing the goods. On the day of play (or writing) what you achieve will always be questioned, by those who are watching you and by you whilst you’re playing (writing).

During lunch today, I happened to catch France vs South Africa play in the World Cup. This was not because I’m a fan of football but because one of my brother’s is and he was already watching. I saw South Africa score. My brother sighed and shook his head. I’m not sure who he was supporting. Like someone who is clueless about these things, I asked him if France was supposed to be better than South Africa. My brother’s answer was definitive ‘yes.’ I had to leave to write so I had to leave during the game. I didn’t know how it was going to end. On my way out, I tweeted:

Isn’t France suppose to be good at football? France is losing; I’m winning; 1000 written; 1000 to go after lunch. How are we to end?

I managed my 2000 words daily quota. I won on this competition of words and play whereas France lost to South Africa (1-2). What’s this got to do with writing you may ask? Good question. I’m getting there. On my way to do some writing, it made me think about my daily word quota. Often I start the day wondering; I sometimes find myself asking consciously and I’m sure subconsciously as well if I was going to make my daily quota. It is like playing and watching football, you never know if you were going to succeed.

Stupidly, I started thinking why a good team like France could be defeated by the supposedly underdog. It made me think of sport in general which I’m not an expert of either. South Africa and France trained hard I’m sure.

What could give South Africa an advantage?

Then I started thinking about the difference in weather. Why? Well, I wouldn’t be able to function well in extreme hot or cold weather. For instance, if I was to write in Alaska. What would a writer in Alaska have that I don’t have? One, if we were both as dedicated and as determined, would be the fact that I’m not familiar with Alaska, its climate and the way things worked there. I wouldn’t have an established routine. I don’t know where to buy my groceries etc. If you’re a person who cannot stand the cold, it will take you longer to get used to the weather. If you don’t know your way around the area, it will take you longer to find the necessities just to live and so on.

So what has this got to do with writing?

Football, like writing is a skill. When you’re playing in an arena that you’re unfamiliar with, it’s up to you to familiarize yourself with it. I jog easily at home in London but when I tried it in Sri Lanka in the mountains 3000ft above sea level, I struggled with breathing.

When it comes to writing, dedication and determination help to get you where you want to go but without the familiarity of the arena or environment you’ll be operating in eg the publishing industry – you may get there; it might just take you longer. Getting familiar with what is required of you in your external environment and what’s going on internally (thought processes) would help you plan and achieve your writing routine better which in turn builds up your self discipline muscles. It is self discipline that keeps you going and the more you do it, the better you get at it.

It made me wonder how long the French team or any European team took to acclimatize themselves to their environment and to train in that environment. In sport, my guess is the home team always have a slight advantage especially if the climate is different for their opponents or if most people watching were supporting the home team or that they’ve played on the same grounds before. It’s so easy when you’re away from familiarity and routine to think you’re going to perform just fine. It’s easy to think you don’t need to know the publishing industry or practice at the discipline when it comes to writing.

In the writing arena, to perform fine is to acclimatize yourself to the publishing environment if you’re not familiar with it yet and get yourself in a writing routine. Of course it’s unrealistic to think that you’re not going to get roped into unexpected activities in your daily routine. That’s just life. Those I call dud days; such days allow you not to feel guilty and embrace what you need to do.

I managed my 2000 words today because I followed the same routine that I have been doing since March. It took a few months to get into that routine but once you get into a habit, it becomes second nature. Everyone’s writing routine is different so you will have to find your way; trying every way possible until you find the best way for you. For me, I get out of the house to Blackheath Halls and type on my laptop; away from the kitchen which has the distractions of TV and the fridge; away from my room that has the most deadly of distractions – the Internet; and away from loved ones who I’d find hard to turn down so I don’t get roped into doing an errand that cuts into my writing time.

Last week, I lost my way a little when concentrating on setting up my new blog so no writing got done. Every time I want to veer away from this writing routine, it doesn’t work and I can hear all the excuses I could possibly use. For example, going out would just aggravate my hayfever; I can write at home with the internet, Twitter, Google reader, the TV on; if I stay home I don’t have to do laundry etc. How easy is it to fool yourself? Very. You fool yourself and in turn this fools those around you to think that it is okay if you’re not writing, that you’re so flexible in your routine that you could do it after doing other things. You fool yourself that it would be okay until you find that at the end of a day of distractions you have no more energy for writing.

Like football, to ensure you do your best to meet that word quota, you need to organize your time into a routine consisting of planning, practicing and producing the goods.

“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim; have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” Orison Swett Marden – Writer and Physician

STATUS: Achieved my daily quota of 2000 words.