My daughter Amanda ran the New York Marathon yesterday. She hadn’t trained properly. She was sleep deprived. She walked for several miles.

But she finished.

Amanda is a surgery resident (surgeon-in-training) so she had plenty of excuses for not being prepared.

But she finished.

The last two miles – and especially the two-tenths of a mile after Mile 26 – were killer, she said. “Why don’t they put more signs so you know when you’re almost there?” she asked.

But she finished.

There is nothing more exciting than “spectating” a marathon. After the Mile 8 sighting in Brooklyn, I took the subway into Manhattan to catch my daughter at Mile 17. And then raced to catch two more subways to wait at the finish line. As a spectator, you are part of a massive event which runs through all five boroughs of New York City.

So which is more challenging? Running 26.2 miles or writing a book?

Full disclosure: this wasn’t Amanda’s first marathon so she knew what to expect. She knew what it was like to get up at 4:30 AM to get to the starting line and how to handle the crowds while you are waiting.

The answer is that running a marathon and writing a book are both difficult, hugely challenging and, let’s not kid around, painful.

They have a lot in common:

– Running a marathon and writing a book are often Bucket List items.

– Preparation, both mindset and muscles, helps. But gutting it out is what gets you to the finish line.

– Having a game plan is crucial. Knowing when to run, faster or slower; knowing when to walk. Knowing when to free write, when to get a shitty first draft down, when to revise.

Both require absolute clarity about your goal: FINISH.

– Running long distances and writing a book are both exhausting. They aren’t comfortable experiences when you’re in the middle of them.

– Both are a way to expand your perceived limits, to reinvent yourself!

So if running a marathon is on your Bucket List, go for it! I’m happy to spectate.

If writing a book is on your Bucket List, I can help you:

achieve clarity on your Big Idea (this is huge; it’s the WHY of your book for your reader)
– organize so it’s easier to write
switch up your writing modes so you can get past obstacles like writer’s block and procrastination (remember how Amanda ran AND walked to get to the finish line)
– know when your draft is ready to hand over to an editor
– deal with uncertainty about finishing (yes, you can!)
– decide whether to self or indie publish, or pursue traditional publishing

Tell me what’s on your Bucket List (running or writing??)

Use my private email [email protected] to tell me the top two things on your Bucket List. Is writing a book one of them?

Yours in possibilities,

Debbie