And Make Your Dreams Come True
The other day, I was thinking about another similarity between writing and running: the best things in life take time. That's not to say that you have to sit around and wait forever for things to happen. On the contrary, you still have to take action. How do you eat an elephant? If eating an elephant represents you reaching your dream of some big, lofty goal, then you simply do it one bite at a time: start small.
How to Get Published: Start Small
If you want to get published, you can kind of go one of two ways with it. You can set your sights on one of the "Big Five" publishers and keep trying until you make it, which might take a lot longer. Or you can start small and try to get a few publications under your belt with smaller publishers.
You might get a letter to the editor published, a poem accepted into an anthology, or a magazine article or short story accepted for publication. You might do a guest blog post, get a work-for-hire or ghost writing gig, or explore copywriting. You could write a piece for the local paper, an online magazine, or enter a contest.
There are lots of ways to get published when you start small. You don't have to stay small, but these smaller publications can do a great deal to build your confidence and skill level. When you start small and keep on writing, bigger things are bound to happen. Keep going!
How to Run a Marathon: Start Small
If you've ever considered running a marathon, but you don't quite feel up for the challenge, start small. Run a 5k. Then a 10k. Then a half marathon. Run lots of 5k and 10k races. By the time you run your first half, you'll be ready to take on the full 26.2.
Lots of runners got started later in life. Even after the kids were grown and moved out. I started running in college. I took a jogging class. After I graduated, I ran in my first 5k. Starting small is a good thing. It builds your muscles and prepares your mind. Go get 'em, tiger!
Another Way to Think About Starting Small
When you're ready to take on the big goal of a novel or a marathon, you can still start small with baby steps as you work your way through the process.
You can begin a novel with five basic plot points. It's a baby step in the right direction. As you work toward the final manuscript, your word count will no longer be considered small.
When you begin your marathon training, you'll want to have a base of at least 2-3 miles a day, 3-4 days a week. You may run a lot more than that, which simply gives you a stronger base to work from. Once a week, you'll do a long run. You might start off with a 4-miler. Or maybe a 6 or 7-miler. It doesn't really matter, so long as you start small and build from there.
Before you know it, you'll have a long run of 18 miles and you'll finish it strong knowing you could have done more. This is what you need in the final build up training weeks for your marathon.
What are some of your own writing and running accomplishments? Click here to share a comment.
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