A pro friend once said that if I wanted an object lesson in persistence, I couldn’t do much better than read something like Sports Illustrated or Outdoor or Runner’s World or just about any bio or autobiography of any athlete.
Athletes know how to grind it out, and I’m not talking about the daily grind either, although that’s part of it.
THE DAY
Up early, ready to work. Caffeinated. Did a bunch of housekeeping chores that couldn’t wait (well, they could, but I’d probably have put them off until too late). Started in working only to be interrupted, first by the landscapers (all nice guys, but the youngest likes to talk) and then installers who wanted to drop by and install a bedroom blackout shade. (God, I hope this darkens things up even more. There’s a street light right outside our bedroom window that just drives me bananas.). Then work until I had to stop and go to the gym earlier than usual because a contractor wanted to meet about the deck later this afternoon. I’d set it up late in the afternoon on purpose so the husband–who’s had zero input into the discussions–could be there. So, it goes without saying that the husband was a half hour late and then I got to listen to the contractor talk over the same points again while the husband then raised all kinds of different questions. I finally left the two of them to talk; I already know what I think, and for me, the bottom line is cost. Show me the breakdown, please.
Convinced the husband to go to the gym afterward, so I could have another couple hours of quiet to work.
WRITING OUT LOUD
GHOST IN THE MACHINE
Day 1: 4326 Day 11: 2500
Day 2: 2085 Day 12: 500
Day 3: 3011 Day 13: 1000
Day 4: 2652 Day 14: 3700
Day 5: 3210
Day 6: 3450
Day 7: 0
Day 8: 2756
Day 9: 4580
Day 10: 2670
Blog Post:
The first time I ever heard the term “grinding it out” was when someone asked Tiger Woods how he played so well. (This was, of course, way back when he was playing well.). Anyway, he said that, a lot of the time, he just had to “grind it out.”
Now I don’t play golf, but we all know what grinding means. We have all heard work as being “the daily grind,” though not as something you do to get better at whatever it is your job is. “Grinding,” in that instance, means just getting through the day. The notion of “fun” doesn’t enter into it.
Sports people and pro athletes know this better than anyone. There are just days or whole stretches of days when you keep going. It’s like what Belichick said to his team when they got back to winning by beating the Texans last night: “Just gotta keep grinding it out — every day, every week . . .There’s no shortcut from here to the end.” (http://nesn.com/2015/12/bill-belichicks-locker-room-message-to-patriots-gotta-keep-grinding-it-out/)
Now, did the Patriots have fun winning? You bet. Did they love every second of it; was it fun for them? Well, winning is fun. Losing is not. Pro athletes play to win, not necessarily to have fun, although I do remember John Madden once saying about Brett Favre–I think this was during one of those snow games where the Packers are shellacking the Giants and Favre’s throwing snowballs at his guys–“Oh, he’s just having fun.”
So–for Favre, at that moment–it wasn’t about the grind. It was about knowing he was going to win and relaxing into having fun doing it.
Why am I hung up on this?
I know a pro writer who always says that if you’re not having fun writing, there’s something wrong. You’re doing something wrong. I understand where this writer is coming from, but I don’t necessarily agree because sometimes writing’s grinding it out. Belichick is right: there’s no shortcut that will get me past a problematic point or hop me over a bump to the end that I won’t have to deal with eventually. There’s no shortcut through the dreaded middle third. Yeah, you can leap over it, I guess, but you got to fill in that pothole eventually.
Sometimes, writing is a grind. Sometimes, writing isn’t fun because it is a job. Writing is also about discipline.
I’m very aware of this right now because, on the one hand, I’m grinding it out: knowing where the problems are, understanding that there is no shortcut and that I have to deal with the plot holes, the dearth of characters that would help me round out the primary protagonist, the degree of backstory that needs to be there only shown not told.
It’s like I said yesterday: one step by one step. Grind it out. Get the words down. Keep moving forward.
Do I feel good about my words today? Yes. Did I have fun writing them? Yes, there were large swaths of time when it was fun and time passed quickly.
But am I still impatient? Do I want a shortcut to the end?
Oh yeah.
***
What I’m Watching:
Back to The Art of More: 1.5 episodes. I can’t decide if I want the main character to get a life already and kill these other, very obviously bad guys, or I’m just impatient because I’m just impatient. But the back and forth is getting to be a bit much. Like, how many crises with these same two bozos do the writers expect me to swallow? I still like the show, but I’m also losing patience with the character. He can’t get more boxed in than he is already. So something has to give. (Hell, I could be talking about my book.)
***
What I’m Reading:
The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel. Still liking this, not ready to chuck it. In fact, I hear my pillow and the book calling me now.
