Playing the Writing Game Well

The Associated Press

The 2012 Olympic-Winning U.S. Women's Soccer team just won their fourteenth game in a row on Wednesday. 

Whether you like soccer or not, you must admit, that's a pretty impressive record. 

This was also their head coach's last game, and I'm sure, they wanted to send her off with yet another win. 

But, though they went into their fourteenth game looking pretty good for the win, they didn't lead start to finish.

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." --Ernest Hemingway

Even though you may go into writing thinking you could win, you may not always lead--or end up the victor. Sometimes when you go in thinking you have the advantage, you find yourself humbled. 

No writer knows it all; every writer has more to learn.

Remember that writing is a changing art. There are a lot of changes going on in the writing industry now, just like there were a lot of changes going on ten or twenty years ago. Every decade, every year, offers something new. We, as authors, as writers, always have something to learn about the writing craft and industry.

"I am sufficiently proud of my knowing something to be modest about my not knowing all." --Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

If you go into writing thinking you have a chance of losing, you might just find yourself more prepared to win than you thought. A writer's humility can be one of their greatest assets. 

Through humility, we are willing to learn. 

If I go into a forum or ask a fellow writer for a writing critique, while thinking I have nothing left to learn, you can rest assured that I won't learn a thing--even if I get some awesome feedback.

On Dreams

Writing is one of those fanciful careers, the stuff dreams are made of. It's so easy to get discouraged. In this game, the U.S. came back from a one-point deficit, to score four more times.

They ended up beating Australia by four points. They not only started strong, they finished strong. 

While ending the first half tied, the U.S. women came out after halftime refocused. The game ended with a score of 6-2.

Start strong, end strong. 

You will have peaks and valleys in the writing game. 

You will make goals, but you will get scored on. 

Just make sure that you don't let the times you get scored on prevent you from finishing strong. Refocus your writing life, and start scoring goals.