Why Writing a Book is Like Running a Marathon
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It’s been a very long time since I’ve written on this blog – sorry! My only real excuse is that I was working on Tracing Your Medical Ancestors until April and I’ve found it really difficult to catch up. I completely underestimated how much physical and mental energy was needed to write the book – you’d think I’d know by now as this was my fifth!
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When I was going through my usual rough patch during the writing and editing process, I realised that the whole thing was a bit like running a marathon, but without the improvement in fitness and weight loss... Not that I’ve ever run a marathon, dodgy knees put paid to that! It probably sounds crazy but writing a book is like long-distance running because you have to be incredibly disciplined, require lots of stamina to keep going when things get tough, and need bags of energy, both mental and physical. The publisher’s deadline is the equivalent of the race’s finishing line. I had to burn the candle at both ends to meet my deadline and afterwards, I was totally exhausted. Are there any other authors out there who see the similarities, or am I the only one?