For the Love of the Game

If you were to ask one hundred writers what single piece of advice they would give to anyone considering writing, you’d get probably get one hundred different responses. Some may reply “show don’t tell”, while others would give a sad smile and say, “find a less painful pursuit, friend.”

          My response would be this: you need to love the game.

          Some writing purists might think this crude terminology, but ultimately writing is a game. And just what is that game? Simply this: there exists an excellent novel out there, and it’s your job to write it.

          In order to achieve this goal, in order to “win”, you’re going to have to do what any great athlete does: practice.

Practice, practice, practice.

Then practice some more.

And there’s something you’ll need to keep in mind concerning this particular game: you’re going to lose.

A lot.

Between writer’s block, negative feedback, and straight up inexperience, you and failure will be more than familiar. You’ll be downright chummy.

This is not an easy game.

That’s why you have to love it.

You must so love the idea of crafting stories and characters that come alive and spark fire in a reader’s imagination that all of the failures and disappointments slide away without sticking. You must be so enamored with rich dialogue, so infatuated with well-crafted plots that the time you spend writing and rewriting doesn’t feel like a sacrifice, but a privilege.

I have not won this game. I may never win. Even if I work at it my whole life, the prize of true, untainted excellence might always elude me.

But that’s okay.

Because I love this game.