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Posts tagged ‘writing mantra’

Sep 3

Swimmer Diana Nyad reaches her goal: Lessons in persistence we can draw on as writers

“You don’t like it. It’s not doing well. Find a way.” Diana Nyad’s mantra as she swam from Cuba to Florida.

On her fifth attempt, Diana Nyad, 64, met her goal Monday to swim 103 miles from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida. It took her nearly 53 hours.

Nyad, made her first try in 1978 at the age of 28. She made more recent attempts after turning 60, battling jellyfish stings, asthma, dehydration, and sharks. In this final attempt, Nyad swam without a shark cage and had a support team who went before her to clear the way of jellyfish and sharks. She also wore a special mask to protect her face.

For anyone who has goals, whether they’re to make a record-breaking swim or write and publish a book, Nyad’s example offers a lesson in persistence.

One of the things that has helped me reach my personal goals has been finding people who inspire me and whose example I can follow. I followed Nyad’s progress since her attempt in 2010 and this weekend as she met her goal.

According to a CNN story, as Nyad came ashore, she told reporters she had three messages: “One is we should never, ever give up. Two is you never are too old to chase your dreams. Three is, it looks like a solitary sport, but it’s a team.” Read more

Mar 8

Craft your writing mantra with these six tips

In Carly’s post “Boost your writing ambitions with a personal writing mantra,” she writes about the benefits of developing your own writing mantra. At the beginning of this year, when I set my writing goals for 2012, I decided to give this a try.

My main goal was to build up my publishing credits by submitting my work to literary journals and contests. I have plenty of work ready to submit but over the last few years, my life got ultra busy, and I just wasn’t taking that extra step to get my work out there. So I decided on the phrase, “Progress on Purpose,” because it reminded me that any progress I make is because I am consciously and purposely making it happen.

It was a nice idea but I found that I could never remember the mantra! Maybe my brain stuttered over the alliteration or maybe they were just words that I wouldn’t normally use (being the laid-back-country-girl that I am). Just this week, during one of author Bob Mayer’s online courses, I discovered a new writing mantra that I can easily remember and that has more meaning for me: “The more I do something, the easier it becomes.”

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