So how do people actually pull it off? What is the process for actually completing a marathon?

Let’s start with the obvious: if you break down a marathon into smaller sections, you come up with a certain number of miles, 26.2 of them to be exact. Then you can break those down into half miles or quarter miles.

But what is the simplest, singular motion that causes a runner to complete a marathon? It is a single stride, which for the average person is between 2.1-2.5 feet.

It takes the average runner somewhere between 55,000-63,000 strides to complete a marathon. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? But now you have a specific number you can get your head around.

Interestingly, the number of words in an average non-fiction book is around 50,000 words. So you can think of writing a book almost like running a marathon.

How do you get it done? How does a runner complete a marathon, and how does a writer complete a book? You keep moving, no matter what.

The screenwriter and producer Brian Koppelman said, “Resilience is a writer’s best friend. Train like a marathon runner. Move a little further each day despite the pain.”

There’s no special trick to writing a book or to running a marathon, for that matter. Training, persistence, and action. Put one word after another and keep moving until you reach the finish line.

The post One Small Stride at a Time appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

We deal with a lot of obstacles as writers, but one of the biggest is rejection.

Rejection can come in many forms. A publisher or agent can reject your book proposal. Subscribers can reject your emails by not opening them. Followers can reject your social media posts by not liking or sharing them. Readers can reject your books by not reading or buying them. Clients can reject your services by not signing a contract or ignoring your emails.

Whatever form rejection takes… it hurts. And let’s be honest, it can hurt pretty badly. Some writers never recover from it. So how can we deal with it?

J. K. Rowling offers some great advice. She said, “Resilience and humility. These go hand-in-hand, because rejection and criticism are part of a writer’s life. Informed feedback is useful and necessary, but some of the greatest writers were rejected multiple times.”

So, the next time you’re rejected, remember that all professionals get rejected sometimes. Nobody has 100% batting average. Even major league baseball players only get a hit about one-third of the time.

So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep going. Professionals not only get rejected, they also never give up.

The post Rejection is the Mark of a Pro appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.