What I Learned as a Writer from Derek Jeter

As a diehard New York Yankee fan I have reveled in the tributes to Derek Jeter as he wrapped up his amazing career this September. Reflecting on what other have said about Jeter, it struck me that his achievements and approach to the game of baseball contain valuable lessons for writers.

Maintain a consistent level of productivity. Jeter was never the best player in Major League Baseball (MLB). For most of his 20 years in baseball, he was never even the best player on his team. Yet he leaves the game ranked first on the Yankees in hits with 3,465. That’s right. Derek Jeter had more hits than Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle, just to name a few Yankee Hall of Famers. He stands sixth all time on the MLB list in hits. How did he do it? He was consistently productive. He had eight seasons with 200 or more hits, the gold standard in baseball. The lesson for writers? Be productive. A writer who at the age of 20 (the age Jeter was when he broke into professional baseball) committed to writing a book a year would have 20 books by the time he reached the age of 40. Sure, the first three or four books might not be good, but over time if the writer developed her craft, she would have a vast library of books to her name.

Develop solid work habits. The corollary to maintaining a consistent level of productivity is work habits. Jeter’s devotion to staying in shape and taking extra batting and fielding practice to stay sharp served him well over the years. Similarly writers must adopt the daily writing habit. As Steven Pressfield wrote in his classic book, Turning Pro, one of the traits of a professional is showing up for work every day. But, the daily writing habit is not enough. Writers must commit to lifelong learning through reading craft of fiction books, reading fiction and nonfiction, attending conferences and engaging with other writers. It’s the only way to get better at writing.

Show respect for the game (craft). This may seem a small point, but when Jeter got the game winning hit in his last Yankee Stadium game, his shirt tail came out as he was mobbed by his teammates. Jeter tucked it back in before doing any television interviews. MLB gave umpires permission to be interviewed about Jeter and a veteran umpire said he knew the kid was squared away as as rookie by the way he wore his uniform. Opposing players said nobody had more respect for the game than Jeter. As writers we must respect the craft. Read great writers. Honor the best practitioners of the craft and learn from their example. Conduct yourself with class on social media. Give back to the profession. Help young writers.

Understand your audience. When addressing Yankee fans in public, Jeter always said he didn’t know why they were thanking him. It was he who should be thanking the fans. He was the most fan-centric athlete around. And we writers must never lose sight of our audience. It’s not other writers; its readers. Don’t write for other writers, Write for the readers.

Is there a person you look up to who has taught you valuable lessons as a writer?

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Revision Checklist Revisited

I blogged awhile ago about the importance for writers of developing a revision checklist. Since I am in the throes of revisions to my work-in-progress (WIP), I thought I would revisit the topic.

Keep in mind as you begin to tackle revisions there are two levels: the marco and the micro. Macro issues are the big stuff:

–What is the premise? It is clear to the reader? Is it stated early in the story?

–What is the theme? The theme might not be evident, even to the writer, upon completion of a first draft. Every writer works differently. Some cannot put a word on the page until she works out the theme. Others have to discover the theme as they write. I’ve done it both ways, but knowing the theme when at the start is a clear advantage as it allows the writer to tailor the story to support the theme.

–What is the main character’s internal goal? Is it evident? It is introduced early in the story? Are the obstacles placed in her way plausible? Are the stakes high or will the reader say, “Who Cares?”

–Does the ending pay off the story? Spend a lot of time on the ending and make sure it pays off the premise and is not predictable.

Here are some good questions on revisions posed by author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford. Read the post.

Once the writer has finished the macro level revisions, it’s time to tackle the micro level changes. Writing on the Grub Street blog, author Mary Carroll Moore offered a useful series of five checklists a writer should complete as part of the revision process:

–Continuity check, This list focuses on continuity in terms of locations, characters, and objects. Seemingly minor details can trip up the writer. If the living room is located to the left of the front door on page 30, it cannot be placed to the right on page 200.

–Table of Contents against Chapter headings, page numbers, etc. This is obvious, but important. I like to save this one until the end, when all other changes have been made.

–Beginning and ending of each chapter and the book as a whole. She offers three incredibly helpful tips here. One is this: if a chapter ends with one point of view character, make sure there is an identifier early in the next chapter when that point of view changes,

–Sentence and paragraph length. When writing long-form fiction, it’s easy to get this wrong. Too many long sentences and blocks of text will feel daunting to the reader. Break up sentence and paragraph lengths for readability.

–Final grammar and spell check. Enough said.

Read the full post.

Finally, Fiction Writers’ Mentor offers an excellent editing checklist here.

Self-published writers often shortchange the revision checklist in their eagerness to publish. Reviewing these checklists and others available on the internet can save writers a lot of embarrassment.

What about you? How do you go about revisions?

Book Review: The Authentic Swing, by Steven Pressfield

Don’t be fooled by the slimness of The Authentic Swing: Notes from the Writing of a First Novel, by Steven Pressfield. While it clocks in at just 143 pages, The Authentic Swing packs the power of a 300-yard drive straight down the fairway in golf.

The author of Turning Pro and The War of Art, Pressfield’s books on writing focus not so much on the craft, but on the mindset and habits of the writer. The Authentic Swing tells the story of Pressfield’s hard knocks journey to publishing success. He was writing spec novels when he decided to pen, The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life. The novel would eventually become a movie.

Pressfield preaches a tough love message in Turning Pro and The War of Art. Writers must overcome Resistance and develop serious working habits to develop into professionals. The Authentic Swing touches on these themes, but is more philosophical. Consisting of short chapters, the book makes interesting parallels between writing and golf. In golf, every golfer has an Authentic Swing.

“To say that there is no such thing as the Authentic Swing is to build upon the concept of not-learned-but-remembered,” Pressfield wrote. Later, he elaborates on the meaning. “What is the struggle? It’s the quest to connect with one’s true ground,. To become who we really are. It’s the search for our true voice.”

The chapters are brief (one or two pages) and easily digestible. For example, in a chapter entitled, Finding the Theme, he quotes Paddy Chayefski: “As soon as I figure out the theme of my play, I type it out in one line and Scotch-tape it to the front of my typewriter. After that, nothing goes into the play that isn’t on-theme.”

The chapter, How Writing Works, consists entirely of this: “The Muse gives you stuff. That’s how writing works.
The writer’s job is to get out of the way.”

In How Writing Works, Part Two, he wrote: “The trick to writing, or to any other creative endeavor, is that once you start, good things happen. You can’t explain it. You don’t know why.”

And then there is this pearl from the chapter, My Philosophy: “The act of writing, or the pursuit of any art, is that adventure by which the Knower injects himself into the Field. You go in not-knowing and you come out knowing.”

This is the kind of book that should be read twice to capture all the useful nuggets.

Joan Rivers: Lessons for Artists

As the tributes have poured in for the iconic Joan Rivers, the one word that struck me was “fearless.” Jimmy Fallon used the word to describe Rivers on his Tonight Show tribute.

Joan Rivers was a trailblazer, launching her career in standup comedy in Greenwich Village during a time when there were few female comedians. I recall watching Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller (another important figure who blazed the trail) perform on The Ed Sullivan Show back in the 1960s. Their comedy was different from the standard standup fare. They were edgy, irreverent, and self-deprecating.

Rivers’ breakthrough occurred when she appeared on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, which eventually led to a permanent guest host role. Later, Carson would end their friendship over her decision to host a new latenight show on Fox.

What I remember most about Rivers was her no-holes-barred style. She was fearless. Nothing was off-limits. She made the red carpet a must-see event with her quick, acerbic wit. Her fashion takedowns on the show Fashion Police skewered Hollywood’s biggest stars.

In the span of one month, we have lost two legendary figures in comedy, Rivers and Robin Williams. I recalled in reflecting on Rivers’ life a comment made in relation to Robin Williams. I couldn’t find the reference, so I will paraphrase. Basically the tribute centered on the premise that comedians must overcome fear (that word again). Fear is a natural emotion in the performing arts. What if I’m not good enough? Am I going to humiliate myself in public, in front of an audience? What if my jokes offend people? The tribute basically concluded that comedians and performers must have no fear. Fear is paralyzing. Performers of all types cannot be at their best if they let fear control them.

The same premise applies to writers. Are you afraid your subject matter is too edgy? Are you afraid you are going to offend people? Worse, do you fear you are not good enough? Are you afraid critics are going to publicly savage your work?

Joan Rivers conquered her fears. She was absolutely fearless. Writers can take a valuable lesson from her. RIP, Joan Rivers.