Five Things Wimbledon Can Teach You About Writing by Nola Passmore

Did you spend more time watching Wimbledon in the last two weeks than working on your manuscript? If you’re feeling guilty, fret no more. All that ‘tele-tennis’ can actually help with your writing. Here’s how.

Practice Makes (Almost) Perfect

Top players like Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams make the shots look easy. Powerful serves, effortless backhands, precision volleys. If only I had their talent! However, they didn’t master those winning strokes overnight. They practised each one thousands of times before stepping out on court. Now imagine doing all of it in a wheelchair as well. That's exactly what Australian Dylan Alcott did to win this year's inaugural quad wheelchair singles and doubles. You can read more about Dylan's incredible achievements here. If we applied the same discipline to our writing, readers would marvel at our powerful metaphors, effortless dialogue and precision plotting. It’s especially important to practise in your weaker areas. Study the craft, do writing exercises, seek feedback and practise, practise, practise until your words sizzle on the page.  For more detail on the benefits of practice, click here.

The Follow-Through is Key

In tennis, you don’t stop your swing as soon as the racquet makes contact with the ball. You have to follow through to add power and keep the momentum going. ‘Following through’ is just as important in writing. Have you heard or read some great writing tips? Then apply them to your writing in order to cement your learning. Did you promise yourself you’d write more this week? Month? Year? Then do what it takes to fulfil that promise. For more tips on following through, please see a longer post here.

Bad On-Court (Online) Behaviour Comes Back to Bite

 

There are a lot of wonderful players who show sportsmanship on and off the court—Evonne Cawley, Roger Federer, Ash Barty and Pat Rafter to name a few. However, we’ve also seen the dummy spits. Not only does bad behaviour alienate the player from the public, but it can also result in fines and loss of endorsements. Writers can also lose the good will of the writing fraternity through uncharitable behaviour (e.g. ranting about publishers who’ve rejected their work; debating with readers who’ve given unfavourable reviews; joining online writing communities purely to market their own books without giving back). In the writing world as in other spheres, we’d be wise to ‘do unto others as we’d have them do unto us’.

No Adaptability, No Grand Slam

In order to win a calendar year Grand Slam in tennis, you have to win Wimbledon, the Australian Open, the French Open, and the United States Open in the same year. In adult singles, this feat has only been won accomplished by two men (Don Budge and Rod Laver) and three women (Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf). One reason it’s so difficult is that the tournaments are played on different surfaces: grass for Wimbledon, clay for the French Open, and hard courts for the Australian and US Opens. (Though some surfaces have changed over the years). If players can’t adapt to different surfaces, they won’t win all four events. While you don’t have to ‘win’ at all types of writing, you can increase your opportunities by learning to write across various styles and genres. Different types of writing can cross-pollinate. Writing poetry can help you develop fresh imagery in your fiction; writing fiction can help you add more creativity to your nonfiction pieces. Why not experiment with those different surfaces? You might be surprised at the results.

It’s Not All Strawberries and Cream 

Did you know that 28 000 kg of strawberries and 10 000 litres of cream are used during Wimbledon? Well, some of that cream probably goes on the scones, but that still leaves a lot of strawberries and cream to tempt the taste buds. Tennis isn’t just about those delectable moments. It takes a lot of hard work and persistence to succeed. The same is true of writing. We’d all like to be the person who wrote their debut novel in a few weeks and then sat back as it climbed the bestseller lists. However, ‘overnight’ success occurs when writers buckle down and write through the hard times as well as the good. Some days, writing is pure joy. Other days, you want to kill your protagonist for creating so many plot problems for you. Hang in there and it won’t be long before the strawberries and cream are tantalising your writerly taste buds again.

(N.B. Blog Photos from Pixabay and Stencil, free creative commons use; Author photo by Wayne Logan. An earlier version of this post appeared on The Write Flourish writing tips blog.)

Author Bio

Nola Passmore (aka Nola Lorraine) has had more than 140 short pieces published including short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, devotions, magazine articles and academic articles. Her debut novel Scattered, an inspirational historical novel, is being published by Breath of Fresh Air Press in 2020. She and her husband Tim run their own editing business called The Write Flourish. When not writing herself, she loves to nag (oops ... encourage) other to write. One day, she should read through all of her blog posts and take her own advice 😄

Author Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/nolalorraine/
Author Twitter page: https://twitter.com/nolalorraine1
Author Pinterest page: https://www.pinterest.com.au/nolalorraine1/

The Write Flourish website: http://www.thewriteflourish.com.au/

From the Archives: Tips for New Writers

collated by Jeanette O'Hagan



Since its start in 2010, Christian Writers Downunder blogspot has shared a up-welling fountain of encouragement, experience, wisdom about writing for writers.

Today we look at some tips for new writers from our bloggers.

Why Write? 

Passion, vocation, worship?

Many Reasons to Write by Anusha Atukorala

I pondered the fact that having reasons for loving things and loving people is great fuel. Take writing for instance. Why have you chosen to become a writer? Do you know?


I know why I write. It’s because inside this outer covering is a God breathed writer. I believe God has programmed me to write - perhaps there is a wee computer chip called ‘Writer’ embedded deep inside of me? Read more here.

Addicted to Approval? Writing with Purpose ... On Purpose by Josephine-Anne Griffiths

Have you ever questioned what your life’s purpose really is? I know I have.
What motivates me to write? What motivates others to sing or play an instrument?
What makes it worthwhile for each of us to awaken each morning, and do whatever we do over again? Maybe you are an accountant, or drive a truck – or you are a nurse or a teacher. Maybe you are the quiet, shy child at the back of the room, that no one has noticed yet. I am hoping that by telling you why I write and what motivates me, that perhaps you may start thinking about why you do what you do each day, why it is so important to you, and what makes it so motivating and relevant?  Read more here.

Make space and time to write

I Need A Personal Bubble For My Writing Space by K A Hart

A distraction-free writing space. Does anyone have one? I have lived in this house for four years and I still haven’t found the right spot. 

Somewhere that’s comfortable, but not too comfortable. A place with a view or inspirational pictures and famous quotes. Coffee, tea, a few snacks. Music. No music. A clean space, clutter-free. That’s what most writers suggest.


So. Writing space. Where have I made my writing space? Where have I not?! Read more here.

Practice, Practice, Practice 

Practice Makes (Closer Approximations To) Perfect by Nola Passmore

In other disciplines like music and sport, we understand that practice is an important part of skill-building. Sometimes I wonder if we really understand this as writers. We learn the basics of writing at school—grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, spelling. By the time we’re adults, we’ve written essays, reports, letters, and sizzling diary entries declaring our love for David Cassidy and the Osmonds. (Oops – that may have been my diary.) But have we really spent time practising our craft? Here are some reasons why we should value the good ol’ art of practice. Read more here.

Accepting Feedback

Writers: constructive feedback isn't going to kill you by Cecily Ann Paterson

Writing is such a personal thing. We’re told to ‘bleed’ on to the page, in a popular writing meme. We’re told to write what we know, and put our hearts into it. We inhabit our words and search our souls for meaning.

And then we ask for feedback.

And we’re supposed to just sit there and take it. Read more here.

Coping with discouragement

D-Day by Meredith Resce

In recent months, I have faced more than the usual amount of disappointments in both my personal and writing life. I recognise that this has affected my level of positivity, and if we were looking at it on one of those mathematics graphs, it has dipped below zero into negativity a few times.

Read More Here,

Invest wisely and beware of the pitfalls.

Aussie writer on the journey: Publishing pitfalls for new fiction writers by Narelle Atkins

One of the smartest things I did as a new writer was to join professional writing groups and connect with other writers. I gleaned valuable information from writing organisation newsletters, email groups and critique groups that helped me to avoid some of the newbie writer mistakes. There are a couple of things I’ve learned about publishing that I hope will help any new writers reading this post. Read more here.

Don't Do it Alone

All for One, One for All by Jeanette O'Hagan

So most of us don't live in garrets and most of us are not literally starving - though we might be if we tried to feed ourselves from our royalties (if we get royalties). And being seen and heard in a noisy, crowded book market can be daunting. So the struggles of artists and creatives maybe haven't changed that much over the decades, but one thing we don't have to be is lonely.  Read more here.

So ... over to you

Are you just beginning your writing journey? Do any of these things resonate with you? What questions would you like answered?

Have you been adventuring for a while? What would tips would you give to new writers? What things do you wish you'd known when you first started out?

Tell us in the comments below.

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Christian Writers Downunder is aimed at Christians writers (and those associated with writing field, e.g. editors, illustrators, reviewers and publishers) who live in Australasia. We have a dedicated team of regular and guest bloggers who share their experience and wisdom each Monday and Thursday.