Writing is like Golf?

Maybe not.  

In my other author persona, as Your Uncle Ralph, writing for entrepreneurs at LearningEntrepreneurship.com, I often use the analogy that business is like golf.

Maybe the analogy applies to writing too. There are many similarities in writing and golf – how to get better and how to achieve the success you’re seeking, however you might measure it. The similarities include the need to have a plan and a process, to avoid the mistakes, learn the fundamentals, study the best practitioners, and practice, practice, practice.

But perhaps that’s where the similarities end. In writing, you don’t have to keep score and count every stroke. Nobody’s watching. You can ignore all the missed hits and keep them hidden from view. Continue writing, revising, and re-writing until you’re ready to share the final product. Then after you’ve heard from editors and early readers you can go back and do it again! Revising and re-writing until it’s acceptable to agents, publishers, and ultimately the reading public. It’s much harder than playing golf!

So I think I’ll forget the golf analogy for writing and stick with my own preferred description that writing a novel is like a weird combination of a lonely marathon endurance race and a fiercely competitive team sport. It takes talent and hard work with all the participants contributing their best efforts for the book to arrive at the finish line. The championship trophies and cheering crowds of admiring readers and fans may still not happen as expected. The writer may have to accept that satisfaction lies in having finished a novel and learning how to do it better. Then it’s time to get back to work and start on the next one, recreate the creative magic and indulge in the joy of writing.

Meanwhile, enjoy your reading and your golf!

Del