It’s no secret that I LOVE snowboarding. I ride about 20-30 times per year, and when I’m off the hill, I’m thinking about when I can get back on the hill.
I’ve also been a writer for my entire life. I have notebooks full of stories and journal entries. I’ve written fiction and non-fiction and participated in writing classes and writing groups.
Today, I had the strong urge to write. I didn’t have a topic or genre in mind, I just knew I wanted to write. But, it was frustrating to have this (admittedly romanticized) vision of sitting down and having some amazing piece flow out onto the page. Our society tends to frame creative endeavors as the result of moments of ecstatic inspiration, like lightning striking the artist so that she can’t ignore it. While yes, that does happen (and I’ve had maybe one such moment in my entire life), the reality is that writing is more like a practice that you have to work at, just like snowboarding (or yoga, or hiking, or really any pursuit that you’re extremely into). So, I started a list of things that I could learn about writing from my riding. Creating the list helped me see my disappointments and fears about writing in a new way.
I love snowboarding, and it’s hard, and I fall and have bad days, and I still continue to head up to the mountain every chance I get. My goals aren’t to become a professional snowboarder or to tackle the hardest runs; instead, I want something I can enjoy doing, progress at my own pace, and feel good about afterwards. Those, I realize, are also my writing goals.
After a day spent on the hill, I’m completely at ease, supremely happy, and full of anticipation for the next time. That’s what I want out of my writing life.
So, here they are, five things about writing that I learned from riding:
#1: Show up. Put on your gear and head to the mountain. Get your pen and paper (or laptop or tablet) and head to your writing space.
#2: Practice health. Nurture your body and mind with exercise, rest, and healthy food and relationships. Physical and mental effort are part of snowboarding and writing. Doing them more, and keeping your body healthy between sessions, will make you a stronger rider and writer.
#3: Make mindful mistakes. If you fall down, stop. Take a breath. Feel the adrenaline coursing through your body. Assess the damage. Do you need to stop for the day? Consider what went wrong. Stand up. Slowly, in the present moment, try again. Observe every little part of what you’re doing. Keep practicing. If you hit writer’s block, stop. Take a breath. Feel the body’s physical response. Assess the damage. Do you need to stop for the day? Consider what went wrong. Sit up. Slowly, in the present moment, try again. Observe the details of your movements. Keep practicing.
#4: Seek guidance. Ask for help when you’re so lost that you’re scared you’ll never make it back (to the bottom of the mountain, or to the page). Have a trusted friend watch and give you feedback on your process and form. Find an expert who can show you some tips on improving your form so you can tackle that black run (or your next story or article).
#5: Push past the fear of failure. Stick to the green runs some days when you just want some easy groomers. Write something easy and fun. When you get bored with that, try some blues and blacks. Try a new style of writing, a new genre, or a new topic. When you’re at the mountain, staring at the trail map, consider your mind, body, and spirit. What do you need today? Where’s your head? What do you want to work on today? You will fail, and then you’ll get back up and do it again and again and again. Just for the pure pleasure of it.
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