Why Writing a Novel is Like Running 50 Miles--Part 4

What you really need right now is an aid station.

There is nothing like seeing happy, cheering faces when you are at a race. And when these people have the sole purpose of making sure that you get anything you need, those miles do seem just a little bit easier.

While doing the 50 mile race this year, I asked for the chance to get inside one of the vans to put my hands to the heater. Then the nice driver offered me her warmer gloves (which I accidentally took home at the end of the race). She offered me her hat and her coat, as well (which I didn’t take.)

At other races, I have had people take off my socks and shoes, clean my stinky feet and put new socks on (not mine) after bandaging my feet thoroughly.

I’ve had people stay with me to help me get through a really bad mood, walking up a long hill when they would probably have preferred to run it.

This year, I had to stop with terrible stomach cramps and ended up collapsed at the side of the road. A car drove up and a man got out to ask me how he could help. At first I thought he was just a random, kind stranger. But he actually had salt tablets and chicken broth in his car and they helped me just that tiny bit more to get up off the ground and keep going.

In writing, you need aid stations, too. When your novel feels like it has fallen and it can’t get up, there are friends out there who will read it and tell you that they love it despite its flaws, that you should keep working on it.

There are also people who will simply make you laugh about life and about being a writer.

There are writing retreats you can go to, or you can make your own. Or you can just get a phone call or an email from someone who understands.

But it’s not just writers who can be your aid stations. Your family (hopefully) even if they aren’t writers can do things like listen and tell you they love you. They can tell you that they are proud of you.

If you are in need of an aid station, ask for it. Don’t suffer in silence. Everyone has been at a low point and needed cheering. Or get yourself a mini aid station by going out and getting chocolate or whatever makes you feel like keeping going.

Buy yourself a card. Celebrate every mile, on a run, as well as on the writing journey to the end. I’m not talking about when the book gets published, either. Although do that, too. Celebrate that you got through this day.

When I first started racing, I did a number of races that didn’t have T-shirts or medals or anything. There was no award for finishing. And I decided that I deserved an award, so I went on-line and bought myself a few medals for those races. It seems silly, but I still have those early awards and they still matter to me. Those races were hard and I deserved something, so I got it for myself. I paid $5 for a little medal and so what? I’m needy.

I take my kids out to dinner any time I sell anything (sometimes only ice cream). I remember my friend Janni Lee Simner said that she decided one day that no one was ever going to give her a certificate that said “Real Writer,” so she made one herself. Do that.