The Writing Life: Sting Like A Bee, Float Like A Butterfly
Writing is a lot like boxing. The path to success is a hard fought battle. In Rocky, we see how the challenge to be a champion, to race to the top of the steps, to emerge with the heavyweight belt, is an arduous journey. Boxers have to learn to jab and punch. Writing is the same way. Learning to punch with sharp lines, to jab with a scene that comes out of nowhere, requires intensive training. A boxer needs to stay light on his feet, dancing left to right. A manuscript which is bogged down with heavy writing will never win a fight. Sting like a bee, float like a butterfly… What does that mean for a writer? For me, that means giving the reader the zing they are looking for, offering a dramatic, near impossible barrier to success for my protagonist, then delivering a grand payoff that restores the reader’s hope and optimism. Reading should be like watching an evenly matched fight where you are waiting with bated breath to see who will remain standing. A good book carries you away to a world where surprises await, a random punch can take out a main character, and every victory is hard fought. Ultimately, you want your readers to feel transported, like they are the ones in the ring fighting, throwing the punches, that they exist within your character.
The path to becoming a writer means learning to take the punches and getting back on your feet. You’re going to hear things about your book that you don’t like. You’re going to have reviews that are less than stellar. You’re going to have critics. A glass jaw will shatter. An iron jaw takes the blow then fights back, improving, editing, and cutting where needed. A writer’s success depends on remaining upright, sustaining a sense of self-worth even as the blows rain down. Writers are full of doubt, insecurity, and a large measure of self-loathing over every word they write, worrying that it is never going to be good enough. They are vulnerable to punches. A single soft tap to the jaw can take them to their knees. “This book is derivative, a scrapbook of other stories told better…” These words can cut like a knife. But the true writer stays on his feet, weaving, jabbing, punching, even as the brow is bloodied and the eye swells closed.
Rocky didn’t win that first fight. But he stayed on his feet. He took the punches over and over again and didn’t give up. You should do no less. If you’re going to write, you have to learn how to throw a punch. And how to take one.
Keep writing!
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