Running Back to the Beginning
I restarted a running program recently. I’ve been running since about 2015 and even completed a marathon in 2017. But in recent years I’ve been less consistent and since 2020 my running would be described as occasional. But after breaking my wrist I decided to get back to running. So, I’m following a program on the Peloton app that is designed for beginners.
I had to really talk to myself about how restarting and being a beginner again is not a bad thing. I’m listening to my body. I’m retraining my body and my brain. And I’m building a strong foundation to progress.
I bet you’re wondering why I’m telling you all this? Well I think there are a lot of parallels to writing. Whether you’re reading this as a new writer or an experienced one, you can learn a lot from having a beginners mindset.
What would you do now if you were starting up as a writer? You would set solid foundations now for future progress. Maybe you need to set boundaries with your family and friends to protect writing time. It might be setting up a desk in the corner of your home. Or maybe for you, it’s spending time building a healthy pipeline of ideas. What would you tell beginner you? It’s never too late to go back and reset.
And sometimes what you need is a break and spend time resting and recovering. It’s a key part of any running program and I definitely need to do it as part of my writing career.
A final takeaway for me is that you should also sometimes push yourself. A running program is not always about running at a comfortable pace. Sometimes you need to do something hard. With writing that might mean trying a new genre or category, digging deep into your own memories to find the heart of your story, or submitting to a contest or querying for the first time.
I’d love to hear about where you’ve noticed parallels between your non-writing and writing lives. Comment below!
New Book News!
I’m thrilled to be working on this book, Dear Mr. G, with Gracey Zhang! If you don’t know Gracey’s work, check out Lala’s Words and Nigel and the Moon (links are affiliate). Her illustrations are beyond beautiful.
Book Events
It’s been fun to get out to book events this past month. I met Kelly Yang at Linden Tree Books where she talked to an enormous crowd about the inspiration for her books including her latest, Private Label (affilate link).
And just last night I went to Kepler’s for my friend Joanna Ho’s launch for her YA, The Silence That Binds Us (affiliate link). I can’t wait to read it!
Here she is on stage with fellow NYT Bestselling Author Abigail Hing Wen (who talked a little about the movie of her book, Loveboat Taipei!)
Happy Reading!
Christine xo