I’ve been dabbling in a new hobby—rock climbing. It’s not the type of activity that I would
come up with on my own and is definitely out of my comfort zone. But, my husband and two adult sons were
climbing, so I finally decided to give it a try. It’s been six months and I
really enjoy climbing. Most of my
climbing has been in a climbing gym, though I did venture out on the rocks of Sedona.
Usually we will start by bouldering— free climbing on a low
wall without ropes. For those who have
never been an inside climbing gym, paths are created by colored boulders and
you can only put your hands and feet on the color you are attempting to scale. It took me a while to get comfortable
bouldering. Going up was fine but I was
scared trying to get down. I find the
higher walls where you have a harness and ropes much less stressful.
About a month ago, we went to the gym and I started to
boulder. Half- way up, I came down. It just I thought to myself, I don’t think I should
climb today. My husband suggested I try
an easier route. I took his suggestion
made it to the top and down, but something still felt off.
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| Falling Off Wall |
didn’t feel right.
One more try…then if I still didn’t feel right, I would
stop.
Three quarters of the way up the wall, I reached for the
next boulder and fell (about 15 feet). Dazed,
and neck when I landed. I knew I shouldn’t have been climbing that
day. I also knew after the fall, that I
better climb one more time or I might never climb again.
I stood up, the inside of my head and my neck hurt from whipping my head
I discovered that the lessons I learned about climbing apply to writing.
1.
Stay on the Path – Like following a colored
coded trail when bouldering in a gym, you need to create your writing path and
write. Identify a dedicated time for
writing in your week. Your writing time
is not for emails, surfing the web, or social media. Just write!
2.
Find people to encourage you and guide you –
Climbers watch each other scale the wall and provide suggestions on how to
master a trail. An effective critique
group can help you find a new direction for your story or polish your
manuscript. Critique partners are there
to urge you on, when you’ve hit the writing wall, or cannot muster the physical
intelligence to complete a climbing route.
3.
Listen to your internal voice – The day I fell
off the wall, I should have listened to my internal voice and called it quits
for the day. Sometimes when working with
agents and editors, you can get conflicting advice or be asked to do a rewrite
that just doesn’t seem right. A friend
of mine’s agent recently had her rework her manuscript before she sent it out
to publishers. She didn’t agree with the
changes, but made the changes. After it
was shopped around to a few publishing houses, the feedback she received was to
go back to her original approach.
Sometimes too many voices get in a writer’s head. It’s a delicate balance to know when to
follow your intuition and when to listen to the critiques you are receiving.
4.
The only way past your fear is through your fear. To be honest, I’m afraid of heights. I just had to climb to get past my fear. As a writer, what frightens you? Are you afraid of rejection? The only way to get past the fear of
rejection is to submit your writing for publication. When you receive a rejection, instead of
being demoralized, celebrate the fact that you are one step closer to finding
the right publishing house.
5.
When you reach…make sure you footing is
solid. – When I fell off the wall, I
reached without being in a stable position.
New writers often are so excited about getting published that they
submit their work before it is polished.
If you don’t know the basics of writing and the publishing industry, you
are not ready to submit for publication. WOW! Women on Writing is a great
resource to develop a strong foundation for your writing.
6.
After a big fall, get back-up and try again. –
Did you recently receive a rejection letter?
Have you been unsuccessful in obtaining an agent? Just keep writing, revising and when you are
ready, submit your manuscript. Keep doing it, and it will become a path you
have climbed before!
7.
You need instruction and training – Whether you
are writing or climbing, studying with experts will enable you to move your
work along. I had to take a ropes class
before I could belay someone else who was climbing under my guidance. You will need
to learn beats and rhythm before you can write a rhyming picture book.
8.
Take a break – At the climbing gym, when I need
a break, I go to something else. There’s
yoga, weights, juice bar, internet, big comfy chairs, or even a ping pong
table. There are times during your journey as a writer when it’s a struggle to
make a story work. My critique partner
was struggling with a piece and she said it was making her brain hurt. She needed to put the story away and do
something else. Sometimes working on
another piece is enough, but sometimes you just need to get out of your writing
chair and move.
9.
Practice…Practice…Practice – It’s been more than
a month since I’ve been to the climbing gym and I know I won’t be able to climb
routes that I’ve already mastered. The
more you keep climbing or writing, the stronger your writing or climbing
muscles become.
10.
Enjoy the journey — It’s not about reaching the
top, it’s about the climb. Being a
writer is a journey. Have fun and enjoy
the process. You will feel great the next day, even if a little sore!
Mary
Jo Guglielmo is a writer, educator, and life coach. For
more information check out DoNorth.biz
