I'm part of the Olympic Blog Relay set up by Nicole at Write me a World. What a fun idea, right? The goal is to be helpful and inspiring to writers and relate it to the Olympics, because lets face it... Olympic Fever is highly contagious!
I want to share a little something I learned from Kevin J. Anderson at the LDS Storymakers Conference this year.
"Nobody publishes an unfinished book."
I know! Surprise - surprise! We all know this, but I never really thought about it much until the words came out of his mouth. It doesn't matter if you only have 1000 words left to write - if you don't finish it, it's not going to get published.
Do you think that the amazing Olympic athletes we get to watch compete would be where they're at if they didn't finish the job? Would they be where they're at if they tried every sport half-way?
Of course not! They find their dream and they work and train and practice until they've mastered it!
If your dream is to see your amazing story, neatly bound, printed, adorning bookshelves at the store or even better - fitting nicely in a pair of readers hands as they eat up every word... then FINISH IT! Cross that finish line! Then keep practicing. Clean it! Polish it! And keep writing. That dream will come true!
I'm going to quickly share this video because I know that the road to reaching our dreams isn't always easy and this is one of the most amazing and inspirational clips EVER!
Sometimes there are bumps in the road. Maybe it's a bad review, or maybe we're lacking confidence. What matters is that we keep going. That we keep fighting and we finish the race. And it's okay to use the love and support of others along the way! I know many of you have lifted me when I needed it and I love you for it! Thank you!
What or who inspires you? Who's your support team?
Also - I promise to do better blogging today. I've been writing like crazy, while trying to get a job, and planning a birthday party for my daughter this weekend. Chaos!
33 comments:
Great post, and very true! I need to remind myself of this several times a day lol!
A lot of people think just a dream can get them published. No so, it's a lot of hard work. Dreams matter but so does polishing and finishing that manuscript. Thanks for the post Leigh.
Good advice.
I think there are a lot of us who didn't realize what finish it means too. Typing The End is just the beginning sometimes--at least for those who don't write flawlessly!
Great post and a good reminder to keep heading toward the finish line
Great post, Leigh!
I try to remind myself that for every one of those moments - the athlete winning a medal, an author holding her published novel in her hands - there were thousands of other moments of intense training and focus and pushing through blocks, etc. that brought the person there. It makes it a little easier when I receive a rejection or when I'm stumped by a scene. :)
I need this. I'm pushing to get my book done - the way I want it - but done. ARGH!
yes, I need this too. I really need to get going on my WIP. Other writers inspire me--all of them, at varying stages of their careers!
Practice, practice as in writing & revising until it's done.
This really hit home today, as I'm dragging my feet through another round of edits with my book. I just want to be querying it already, but you're right: I can't do anything with it if it's not finished. Just gotta shake off the "I'm so sick of working on this" feeling and get myself in gear.
Thanks for carrying this leg of the relay, Leigh! :)
Awesome post as usual. I love your reminder that the work doesn't necessarily stop once you reach the finish line.
Loved Kevin's speech! And I will forgive you the blogging if you are writing :)
Oh yeah -- finish what you start!
Wonderful post!
All of my blog followers have been a huge help to me! I don't know how I ever lived without y'all :)
I just finished my rewrite, and I'm sending out to betas today. Go me!
I'm really not much into the olympics this year. I watched the opening ceremony and it felt underwhelming. I did like the American gymnastics women's team.
Amazing post! So very true.
I was thinking about all the time the Olympians have put into training and what "normal" things they don't do because their hours are spent diving and swimming and shooting :) Sacrifice is a good word for it, hopefully with success at the end.
Support everywhere from blogging, love it!
Good luck with the job and the party and of course the writing :)
Great advice! My IWSG post is comparing the olympics to writing too (I'm thoroughly caught in olympics fever). But this is superb advice.
Great post! Very true! *on with the trainers*
My support team is my wife and the awesome blogging community!
I was talking to Jen last night and was telling her that if we stood at the end of this journey and looked back, BEFORE we started it, there would be NO WAY we'd put ourselves through this. But thankfully, we have no frickin' clue what we're getting ourselves into. So we finish one thing and then we do the next and then we do the next and at each stage we get down and feel rejected and yet we somehow pick ourselves up. This. Is. Hard. So yes, we must finish this step, so we can conquer the next one and the next one and the next one.
I have a couple Yahoo! Writers Groups that help me out. I could not do this without them. And hopefully they can gleam something off me that makes them a better writer too.
I love Kevin Anderson! This is a great post - and your tie in to the Olympics is spot on!
I agree with everything you said! Athletes are truly amazing. A lesson in dedication for us all.
I love this post, and this is an awesome idea! Thank you for sharing!
So many things inspire me--great writing, movies, crafting and even food!
:)
Good luck with your writing and everything else!
Great point! It's like one of my favorite lines from Win a Date with Tad Hamilton - "your odds go up when you file an application" - or something like that. :)
That one single quote is a great battle cry. Thanks for sharing it.
thats so funny! i was just thinking someone shouldve done an olympic blog hop! this is a great one!
thanks for the awesome advice & encoragement!
All my blogging friends are a huge support (and my hubby, of course), but especially when I read great posts like this. I'm near the finish line with my current WIP... I just have to keep going!
I agree wholeheartedly. I'm trying to reach the finish line with some of my drafts.
Great advice. My boys inspire me.
You're right, I can't imagine an olympic runner five feet away from the end of the race just deciding it was close enough to call it a win.
If you do that someone else can, and will, take your spot.
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