In honorof NationalWomen's Health & Fitness Day (September 25, #NWHFD #fitnessday), Iwanted to share some lessons I learned from running.

 

In Marchof 2011 I started jogging. Despite the occasional illness, injury, and ‘I don’twanna,’ I’m still getting out regularly. On one long and rather tedious solorun, I started making connections between jogging and writing and life.

 

Get Some RunningBuddies

 

It helpsto have inspiration. I started jogging with a Couchto 5K group that met twice a week. Having the regular schedule kept us ontrack. The program helped us pace ourselves, starting with short runs andfrequent walks, and working up to a 45 minute run. We also had an experiencedleader to offer advice.

 

Severalof us continued running together after the program ended. I wouldn’t get outthere as often if people weren’t waiting for me. I’d be tempted to stop early,if I didn’t have the encouragement of the group. Hey, peer pressure ispowerful! You might as well make it work for you. Plus, it’s more fun to runwith other people.

Forwriters, it’s important to find the right peer group for your needs. For many,this is a critique group. They may be large or small, meet in person or online,have open or closed membership, get together weekly or monthly or as needed.Finding a group that suits your needs is invaluable.

 

Otherwriters share goals and deadlines, checking in with a friend daily or weekly toreport progress. There’s that peer pressure again! Even a non-writing friend canhelp hold you accountable. (But choose carefully. Most people don't understandwriting or the publishing business and have no idea how long it takes to getsomething published. Many people don't even realize that you may never sell amanuscript. You don't want someone making you feel bad because you haven'tfinished and sold your novel within six months.)

 

Finally,social groups can provide camaraderie and networking. I live in a small townwith a science and engineering college; I know far more computer geeks thanwriters. But by making monthly trips to Albuquerque to attend a writingmeeting, I’ve made many friends who understand what I do. I’ve also madeconnections by teaching workshops and guest speaking for groups like Sisters inCrime. For those who can’t attend in person, online discussion boards,listserves, and online classes offer information and a sense of connection.

 

It’s Distance, Not Speed

 

It reallyis about the journey, not how fast you get there. Pace yourself, and enjoy thejourney, or you might burn out along the way. If you can see the end, or atleast imagine the cheering crowds and free food, it might give you the extraboost you need to keep going. But take time to enjoy the sights, and theexperience will be a lot more fun.

 

As awriter, don’t focus so much on the response to your query letters. Sure,celebrate successes, and try to learn from disappointments, but put most ofyour energy into enjoying the journey. (That works for the rest of life, too.)

 

Robin LaFevers had a post at Writer Unboxed about keeping creativeplay in your writing .

 

But Keep Moving

 

A slowpace may get you there, but if you have a long way to go, you might as well doit running. A marathon will take a lot longer at a stroll than at a jog, even aslow jog. Run when you can, walk when you need a rest, but keep moving. That’sthe only way to reach the end.

 

Take thetime you need to learn and practice your writing craft. Do as many drafts asyou need to polish your novel. Don’t rush, but do keep working. Write a page aday, and you’ll have a complete draft in a year. It may not be perfect, but itwill be more than what you started with.

Practice Makes Perfect, or At Least Lessens the Pain

 

If you’re training, you need to get out regularly. Running once a month will just leave you sore and frustrated each time, and you won’t see any progress in your fitness.
It’s the same with writing. Establishing habits and sticking to them will keep your mind fit. Writing several times a week will hone your skills and make it easier to get started next time.
Beware of Shortcuts

 

If I map out a 5K run, but take every shortcut, that could cut the distance down to 3 1/2K. Easier, sure, but that won’t prepare me for running a 10K. It’s the same with life. Whether you’re trying to switch careers, meet the right man or woman, or finish a novel, some shortcuts may help, but others may do more harm than good.

 

I workwith a lot of writing students. The beginners want to know if they’ll getpublished after taking one course. Nobody wants to spend 10 years learning howto write, but you need to do the work in order to earn the reward at the end.If you beg your friend to send your rough draft to her editor, you’ll blow yourchance to make the best use of that connection. If you self publish your workbefore it’s ready, you’ll waste time that could be better spent working on yourcraft.

 

Sometimesthe long, hard path is the only one that gets you where you want to go.
Push Yourself Sometimes

Withenough practice, you should get better. When I started jogging, it was astruggle to go for 10 minutes without a break. Six months later, I could makeit through 45 minutes without stopping.

 

And thenI plateaued. Jogging had become comfortable, if not easy. Why cause more painby trying to go farther or faster?

 

Because that’s the only way to get better. And mostlikely, it’s the only way to stay interested. Fortunately, one of my joggingpartners is great about coming up with new workouts. We add in some sprints oneday, do hills another day. We choose different routes on different terrains.Variety keeps it interesting, which makes it easier to work hard.

 

With mywriting, I find that I get bored if I become too comfortable with something.After publishing a dozen children’s books as ChrisEboch, I wanted a change. I began writing romantic suspense for adults,using the name Kris Bock. This broughtnew challenges – writing books two or three times as long as what I was usedto, exploring romantic subplots, delving deeper into character. I didn’t alwaysget things right the first time, but I became a better writer – and I renewedmy interest in writing.

Online, on-demand writing courses

 

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