Are you ready for some football???

For fans like my husband and I, the annual 6 month long hiatus is finally over – football’s back! To celebrate its return, let’s have some fun and connect the dots between my favorite sport and my favorite passion (and career)  – writing books. 

Preparation Meets Mental Toughness
You probably associate preparation more with book writing than mental toughness, and vice versa for football. But the reality is, both activities require Grit and a Game Plan to be successful. 

Prep work like creating a writing habit, conditioning your writing muscles daily, and putting together a process that will get you from “once upon a time” to “the end” lays the groundwork. But when it comes time to put pen to paper, hour after hour, day after day, word after word, and chapter after chapter, it ultimately comes down to one question: How badly do you want it? 

In football, there are a ton of victory stories about miracle moments where underdog teams came back from certain death and claimed victory from the jaws of defeat (Patriots v Falcons, 2017 SB for instance). What if you applied that same mindset, of winning at all costs, to finishing your book? Prepare first, but also know when it’s time to end your preparations, trust in your playbook, and hit the ground running!

Never Take Your Foot Off The Gas
Never assume you’re done until the confetti rains down from the ceiling! As an author this means staying dialed into your book project all the way through inspecting the final proof, fine tuning the details of your launch, all the way through to your long-term marketing plan. Accuracy and attention to detail are two of the things that got you here – now is not the time to drop those key traits by the sidelines!

Running Plays vs. Passing Plays
On any given writing day, assess the situation, your available time, writing conditions, where you are in your writing plan, and your mental energy, and decide whether it’s a writing day, an editing day, or a brainstorming/research/development day. Trying to “force it” and calling for the wrong play, rarely ends well.

Celebrate Your Victories
In recent years, some of the league’s younger players have been criticized for excessive celebrations or as I sometimes jokingly refer to them, “full scale Broadway show numbers in the end zone.” 

But kidding aside, I understand the thinking behind the mini-victory parties. Acknowledging your accomplishments, even the small ones, provides healthy, positive reinforcement and forward momentum. 

I say, when it comes to writing your book, bust out the Broadway show numbers whenever you need to  – after you’ve powered through a particularly challenging but ultimately rewarding writing day, when you complete chapters, sections, and of COURSE when you finish your book. Save the really good celebration for completion day. One ghostwriting client booked us a spa day and fancy dinner the day we sent her first book off to the publisher!

Happy football season Ink Fans and thanks for being here! Be sure and join my Ink Authors Facebook group  to sound off on this blog post and anything else book-related on your mind.