Marathon Training...for Writers?

I'm blessed to be surrounded by friends who care about their health. My best friends are mothers, in their early thirties, and most of them are done having children, so they've begun bringing their "baby" bodies back into shape. Last week I had them over for an evening of visiting around the campfire and three of them are either training for half marathons, or they've run them.

It was interesting to hear them talk about their training programs. Since I'm not a runner, I couldn't relate on a physical level with them, but I could on a writing level. In February of this year I decided I was going to start training for a marathon of a different kind: publication.

The difference between writing for fun and writing to be published is like the difference between taking a stroll through the park on a Sunday afternoon versus running 26.2 miles in one day.

Could you imagine the average person waking up one morning and saying: "I think I'll run a marathon today"? Never! It takes months, sometimes years of hard work, dedication and tenacity to be ready to run that far. So why would the average person wake up one morning and think they could produce a publishable novel?

To be honest, I was that kind of person. Before February I had done some writing here and there. I've had publications in Minnesota Moments Magazine, I've done freelance writing for numerous organizations and I started a family blog last fall, but none of those things was anything like writing a full length novel.

So, with very little training, I wrote the first draft of my first novel in about three months. I was proud of myself (how many people can say they actually finished a novel?), but I knew it wasn't good. Wasn't anywhere near publication ready. That's when I decided, if I was ever going to get published, I would have to start a serious training program.

Since February, I've learned so much about writing a novel. It isn't for the faint of heart. My training has pushed me to the edge of everything I know and asked me to go even further.

Amidst the character layering, spiritual journeys, plot development, Black Moments and Inciting Incidents I've been learning about, I've discovered there are five essential components for seeking publication:

1. Commit to the Long Haul. When the going gets tough, or the work becomes exhausting, get up and keep going. I've committed to this. It's going to be hard. It's going to require sacrifice. It's going to hurt. But I know how much I want it - and that desire far out weighs the desire to quit.

2. Train with the Best! I've discovered that there are some GOOD writing coaches out there. James Scott Bell, Susan May Warren, Jody Hedlund, Rachelle Gardner, Randy Ingermanson, just to name a few. Study them. Learn from them. Discover what tips and secrets, along with hard fought principles, they've learned and want to share. I can't stress the importance of getting a good coach. It makes all the difference.

3. Don't do it Alone. Get a good cheering section to help you achieve your goal and encourage you on until you've hit the finish line. For me, that's been my friends and family in my personal life, who surround me and believe in me, even when I don't believe in myself. And it's been the amazing, faith filled writing friends I've made online since February. Meeting other authors, in all stages of their journey, has been the best thing I've done in my writing career. I've met and interacted with multi-published authors, who astound me with their wisdom, debut authors who are just beginning to see the fruit of their labor, agented authors who wait in anticipation to hear the word "contract," and aspiring authors, like me, who are just beginning and learning right along side everyone else. What do all of us have in common? A passion to write the words that God has placed on our hearts and to do it with grace and humility.

4. Seek God and His Timing. This one is the most important and the hardest to do. As someone with a dream, we want to push and push until we see it come into reality, but we have to realize that there are limitations. Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. God has a perfect plan. If we try to do things in our own timing, in our own strength, we'll fall flat on our face - just as a runner would if they pushed themselves too hard. As God is fitting each piece of the puzzle together, we want Him to hurry up so that we can see the big picture materialize. What we need to remember is that He can't fit the wrong piece in at the wrong time - each piece must be put in the puzzle in order so that the next piece can fall into place. 

5. There's No Fast Track to Getting Published. Like everything else worth doing, it's going to be hard. This is the best advice I found when I was looking up marathon training, and it applies to both the runner and the writer: "Don't worry about your speed. Just focus on covering the distance."

What about you? Do you feel like you're running a marathon towards the publication line? If you're published, what's the best advice you have for others on the same course? What have you learned is essential to seeking publication?