A Weighty Issue...

I went to a strongman competition the other day. You know the kind of thing, lifting a car, pulling a truck etc. All a bit Geoff Capes and all good fun. The thing that struck me was that, whilst some competitors were well-muscled and oiled up and had all the girls drooling, a couple were a bit porky with no obvious definition to their big thick-set arms and legs.

Guess who had the most strength though? That’s right, the big lads who didn’t concentrate on how good they looked but on sheer strength and I thought there was a bit of a comparison in this to writing - bear with me I’m not mental!

You see a lot of writers harp on about their qualifications in creative writing (and by writers I don’t mean people that have made it onto Waterstones shelves and that you’ve heard of - I mean the people you haven’t) and how they’ve had ‘productive’ chats with agents and publishers etc and it’s only a matter of time. To me, they’re the showy ones who are flexing their ‘muscles’ to impress you but can’t really move the truck. Whilst they’re doing that though the people who aren’t shouting about what they’ve done or who they know, are quietly getting solid results with their work as they diligently go about learning their craft and applying their skills.

These are the people who will make the breakthroughs and ‘shift the truck’ (as well as loads of books!) and that’s the only reason I’ve put on weight lately...just so I can be a proper writer...

Honest!