Linear as bent

The mighty mighty Os

August 24, 2008 at 3:09 pm 4 comments

The Olympics have come and gone. After a fortnight of frenzied physical spectaculaire, which was just as much fun for the participants as the viewers, we fall back to the history books, the evaluations and a visual record of the games. Whatever we might think about the Olympics, it is undeniably a celebration of athletic achievement and sportsmanship, and a triumph of logistical coordination.

I’ve been on both, well, more like three sides, of international sporting events. As a programme manager, an official and an athlete. It’s always more fun being an athlete at the Games. Obviously that doesn’t happen overnight. A whole bunch of people helped put you there, plus years of obsessive practicing.

That’s the thing, practice. Practice, like the basics, gets you to master one level before you progress to the next. For a some-time writer like me who’s been slacking off, it’s the lack of discipline and hazy mental focus that = lazy. Does that mean I’ll never be a top writer because I’m not putting in the hard yards? Possibly, maybe, it depends. Success, for me, is not measured by objective standards, but by subjective satisfaction at reaching a mark. That might be completing a page a day, an hour a day, a novel a year, a workshop a year, two submissions a year – whatever feels right at the time. Some marks are um flexible, perhaps too much so.

Having a coach or mentor would certainly get me back on track. Create a programme and stick to it. What say you?

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