We're a football loving family. Both my oldest sons played, the elder in college and now he coaches, and my youngest son played until his heart condition took him out of that sport and made him a runner. I don't watch sports on TV often but the men in the family do. My husband and I will go to most of the games my son is coaching so we get in lots of gridiron time.
As my son the coach often laments, the game requires more than talent, strength and speed, thought those things surely help. It's a big mental game, much like writing, requiring personal strength on many fronts. You have to have your head in the game. Let's talk about that in depth.
Scout the competition and have a game plan. Read books in the genre you write in. What works in them and why are they successful? See the entire field and know all the sub-categories of your genre of choice.
Adjust your plan if it's not working. The team that makes the best adjustments will win. Are you trying to write dark fiction because it's popular but you're not comfortable? Adjust. And make sure your game plan fits the talent you're working with. Do you write amusing characters really well? Then do that and don't try to be what you're not.
You have to play hard. No pain, no gain is kind of true for writing. Who hasn't felt like crying or throwing something when an editor wants just one more rewrite.
Don't live on past glories. Just because your last book did really well, it doesn't mean the next one will be easy to write or promote. Each new project is hard work.
Play for the love of the game. Don't write because you hope to see your name on a banner at the bookstore. You have to enjoy it or there's no reason to do it.
When the momentum is on your side, keep it rolling. Don't ease off because things are going well. Keep the intensity and write on.
If you get thrown for a loss or have a turnover, don't let it get you down. Get back up and into that writing chair and try again.
How was my motivational pre-game speech? Do you write for the love of it? Does each new project seem as much work as the one before? Are you ready for IWSG? Are you ready for some football?
