What writers can learn from athletes

Fitness and creative writing are two of my greatest loves in this life, which I know is a bit of a paradox. Sports and arts are seen as two ends on a spectrum. You’re either an athlete or you’re a creative-type, right? In the battle of jock versus nerd, is it really so rare to find someone who is both?

Athletics and writing have more in common than you know when you strip them down to the bare principles. Things like tenacity, practice habits, consistency, goal-setting, and other critical elements of sports performance are absolutely applicable to the world of creative writing.

Today, I really want to talk about athletics and how the tenets of success are similar to those in the creative writing world. I want to bridge the gap between the nerds and the jocks and show you what writers can learn from athletes.

What do writing and sports have in common?

Writing and sports have much more in common than you might think. Writing is a skill, just like anything else, and participating in sports also requires a certain amount of skill, but of course those skills can be learned.

There are talented writers, just like there are talented athletes, but as the famous saying goes: hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Writers and athletes both need to practice and work hard at their craft in order to improve and be competitive. They also need a mindset of perseverance.

What do I mean by a mindset of perseverance? Just like in athletics, you will have setbacks in your writing. You will meet adversity in the form of query rejections and negative feedback. You will have days when you don’t want to sit down and write. You will look at your work and compare yourselves to others.

Athletes do this, too, and it’s an insurmountable issue if you don’t have the mindset of perseverance. This is what athletes and writers have in common. Both must have an inner drive to do the work, to become better, and to enjoy the process.

Critical skills for writers and athletes

The inner drive to persevere and overcome adversity is only one of many skills that writers and athletes have in common.

Writers can learn critical skills from athletes, which might surprise you, but practice, hard work, preparation, and performance are all aspects of the sports world that writers should learn. You don’t need to be an athlete to write well, but you can acquire their skillset to excel at writing.

Here are a few more critical skills for writers and a little information about each skill.

Practice

Athletes and writers both need to practice. I am a firm believer that a strong writing practice is a critical writing skill, and you may even want to consider adding a little movement to your writing practice. Moving your body can be very beneficial for your mental processes.

Consistency

Similar to practice, consistency is a critical writing skill. Athletes know this at a cellular level because only long-term effort will affect an adaptation in the body. It’s science, after all. You can’t lift one weight or run one mile and expect results. Yet writers get hung up on their first novel, expecting greatness on the first try. Show up every day to write for an entire year, and you will find that your output looks nothing like it did on day one.

Hard work

All of that practice and consistency will mean nothing if you only give a small effort. You must work hard in order to improve. Hard work is a critical skill for writers. Athletes already know this. Writers should learn it. You have to work hard and work diligently in order to produce a high-quality product.

Tenacity

Tenacity is a critical skill for writers and athletes alike. You will face adversity as a writer. You will receive negative feedback. You will be rejected from publications. You may encounter mental health issues, work-life balance challenges, and even injuries that prevent you from writing.

Write anyway. Being tenacious is critical to success. Get up when you are knocked down. Keep writing.

Preparation

Being prepared will go a long way when it comes to seeing success as a writer. Athletes don’t just get up and go. They ensure they have the proper nutrition, supplements, hydration, and their equipment is specialized for their sport. Treat your writing practice like you’re about to run a marathon. Think about the things you need to prepare before you enter the arena. This will ensure you run into minimal issues.

Performance and Competition

Writers and athletes both go into the arena. As a writer, your performance might be as big as publishing a book, or it could be as small as sharing your work in a small group setting. Either way, you will be performing through your work and likely competing, as well. There are many, many other writers in the world, and if you have any hope of readership, you will be in competition for their eyes.

The journey and the destination

If you’re very results-oriented like I am, then you need to learn this lesson fast. The goal of writing is the finished product, but if your only joy in writing is having a finished product, you will have a miserable writing career.

An athlete’s favorite part of their sport might be the competition, but if they don’t enjoy the work that goes into preparing for that competition, they’re going to have a bad time. Think about a Tour de France cyclist. If every moment of their daily rides is an unmitigated nightmare, they will go insane before they even make it to the starting line. And truthfully, an athlete who doesn’t enjoy the difficult work of training won’t make it to be a top-level performer. You need to have joy in your heart for the work in order to make it to the top of your field.

Writing is the same. To become great, you need to be obsessed with writing. You need to pursue it relentlessly and with joy and excitement. It’s not the destination that matters; it’s the journey.

Writing practices vs. training sessions

Your desk is like a gym if your writing is like a sport. Your facility should be fully stocked with everything you need to write like a pro. Practice sessions for writers and athletes both need to be tailored to the ideal finished product. They must be well-maintained and conducive to the work being done. Here’s what I mean.

Your writing practice should be taken seriously, as if you were training for a major athletic event. Your desk should have all the tools you need to complete each practice session. You should work with diligence and focus during your writing sessions. Write as if you are being held accountable.

The one thing I cannot tolerate in writers is laziness. If it was easy, then everyone would do it. Not everyone can train like an athlete or perform in a sport. Writing is similar. You may not be a natural talent, but you can be a hard-worker, so sit down and write. Dedicate yourself. Here are some absolute don’ts for writers and athletes.

Don’t be lazy
Don’t make excuses
Don’t quit early
Don’t compare your work to others – you are YOU!

I include the last one because it’s the mechanism that will cause you to quit. Seeing how far ahead others are in their writing is a great excuse you can use to totally give up on your own writing. Don’t! Write, write, write!