The agony of defeat

As a kid, I looked forward to hearing the loud, brassy opening music to the ABC Television’s Wide World of Sports and Jim McKay’s opening narration. You knew you were going to see and hear something special.

Shots of faraway places and events would flash across the screen and McKay in his recognizable voice would say, “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport… the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat… the human drama of athletic competition… This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports!”

ABC Television – Wide World of Sports

As an adult, the words still hit home with me. My dreams of becoming an athlete never materialized, but I find McKay’s words perfectly describe what it means to be a writer. Like the scenes in the opening credits, when the writing comes together, I most certainly feel the thrill of victory. I may as well be lifted off the ground by my imaginary teammates. I’m so happy I’m walking on air. I’m rich from collecting my pennies from heaven.

And when the words don’t come, I can very much relate to the agony of defeat and the famous Yugoslav ski jumper Vinko Bogataj who lost his balance, hurtled out of control, tumbled and flipped, and ended up crashing through a retaining fence near a crowd of spectators before coming to a halt at the 1970 International Ski Flying Championship in West Germany. He suffered a concussion and broken ankle and was featured at the start of the Wide World of Sports show for years to come.

The agony of not being able to write or find the right words is the worst feeling in the world.

I write about both feelings today in my piece, The Ups and Downs of A Writer, on The Heart of the Matter. When things are flowing, you never want it to end. When the words don’t come, I wish I had a magic elixir, but I don’t. My go-to writing advice is actually pretty simple:

• Keep the pants in the seat. You can’t write if you don’t try. Keep at it.
• Shoot for singles and doubles, instead of home runs. Like a lot of things in life, our enjoyment comes down to expectations. Instead of going for a knock-out or a home run, I try to put together one good sentence. It could be a work email. It could be a note to my wife. It could be my grocery list. I don’t care. I tone down my expectations and try for baby steps.
• Just get it down. When the words seem like they’re not coming, I try to just get something down on a page, anything. You can’t sift, you can’t edit, you can’t massage if there’s nothing on the page.
• Keep it simple, stupid. I remember A.A. Milne wrote about a silly bear. I remember that the end of the day, for all their complexity, Stephen King, John Grisham, Kathy Reichs, Tom Clancy, John Paterson and most every big name author is writing about human emotions. It’s the same for literary authors too like William Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, and Toni Morrison. Keep it simple stupid.

What works for you?