Writing is Like Running a Marathon

Okay, so this isn't a new idea. A lot of writers are runners, too, and I always thought the whole endurance thing was the connection. After all, it's taken over five years to write and publish Lost Edens (drop in the bucket compared to some).

What I think it is, though, is a very quiet competitive nature. After months of training (or writing) you finally get to the race (or publication), get through the miles, come to finish line, and think I could have done better.

So you get your running shoes on again, or pull out the pen and paper again, and start all over. So maybe it isn't that writing is like running a marathon as much as it is that being a writer takes the same mindset as a runner. Or that the motivation to either write a book or run a marathon might come from the same place?