Writer's High

Magazine covers like this make we want to punch someone:

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like NO ONE on earth should ever run smiling like this. Especially on the cover of a magazine when she has abs like this (or at least, when photoshop has given her such incredible abs). WHO runs smiling like this?!?!?! Anyone?!?!?

I don't believe it's possible, but I'm sure there are runners out there who might argue with me. Congrats to you, if you are a happy running woman. Well done! I will never understand how that's possible.

Just like this supposed "Runner's High" I've heard runners talk about in happy tones of delight. They talk about this high as though it's the Holy Grail of being a runner. And I believe it exists, I just don't think I've ever (or will ever) experience it. Runners I've talked to tell me that you reach a high through hard work, and consistent running, and sticking with it long enough.

So to all of you runners out there, run on! I hope you enjoy your runner's high. I would like to posit a theory about another type of high: a writer's high.

I had a writer's high yesterday.

It was AWESOME.

For other writers out there, I know that you know what I am talking about. When you get into the groove, fall into a pattern, and you write and write and write. And when you are done, it feels amazing. But in the midst of it, it feels like a lot of work. You usually don't smile in the midst of it. At least, I don't. But I smile when I'm done.

Last year, at the Jackson Hole Writer's Conference, Anita Diamant said something that stuck with me. She said that she knew writers that talked about loving writing, but that she wasn't sure that she agreed. She was pretty sure that she loved the "having written" part of being a writer, rather than the actual writing part.


And I understand her point, because writing is hard work. The "having written" is inevitably a great feeling, a "writer's high."

So my point is this: writing is a lot of hard work. I had a professor (who is brilliant) that used to say that being a good writer is 10% talent, and 90% putting your butt in the chair and just doing it. I agree. You can be the most brilliant writer in the whole world, but if you don't sit down and do it, it doesn't matter. The writer's high is a great result for that 90% hard work you put in writing.

Just like a runner's high requires consistency in your movements and exercise, a writer's high does too. You have to stick with it in order to reach that high.

And with that, I go back to my manuscript.

Happy Writing!