What a weekend for sports!
My beloved Detroit Tigers are pushing through the ALCS series with mixed results. It's frustrating to watch games that should be in the bag get lost in the final innings. Yes, I'm a little bitter this morning. :)
On a higher note, my somewhat beloved Detroit Lions are 4-2! They look more disciplined this year, and I am very happy with the addition of Reggie Bush. I still watch with one eye open and one eye shut, but it feels good to win some games.
Unfortunately, my beloved University of Michigan Wolverines have struggled all football season, and Saturday broke their winning streak. *sigh* Unless the offensive line gets better, I don't see us winning key games.
Autumn is my favorite time for sports. This year both my kids are involved in fall sports too, and they had a great weekend. We've been blessed with incredible weather this year. No sitting out in pouring rain for this mom. :)
Right after Halloween my brain switches to all things Thanksgiving and Christmas, so for now, I'll embrace baseball and football. And who knows? Maybe this year will the be year one of my teams wins the big championship!
Do you watch fall sports? Who is your favorite team?
Have a fabulous Monday!
Showing posts with label detroit lions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label detroit lions. Show all posts
Monday, October 14, 2013
Monday, October 29, 2012
Improve, Stagnate, or Decline: WSG 28
Writer's Survival Guide 28: Improve, Stagnate, or Decline
My favorite NFL team is the Detroit Lions. For the last two decades, the Lions struggled. They rotated through coaches, players, and they could not find a way to win. Every season ended with frustration. Fans wondered why? Why can't this team get it together and win?
Coach Jim Schwartz took over four years ago. He brought a fresh enthusiasm to the role, and, with a first round, first pick quarterback--Matthew Stafford--fans waited in hopeful anticipation that the Lions would turn around.
They did.
It took time, patience in the face of injuries, more smart draft picks, but last season, the Lions actually made it to the playoffs. It looked as if the rough years were finally behind them. Surely, they would continue to improve, to advance, and maybe even make it to the Superbowl at some point?
This season the Lions are struggling. They're plagued by penalties and they don't look like a cohesive unit. Many experts say the team lacks discipline at the coaching level. Off the field, there have been arrests and poor behavior. Needless to say, if a team can't win games, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for them to make it to the playoffs this year.
Football is a tough sport. Many factors go into what makes a winning team. And nothing guarantees they keep their spot at or near the top.
Writers face the same challenges. Whether we, like the Lions, struggle for years before finding success, or we find success quickly, we have to mentally outfit ourselves to write strong.
One writing myth is that at some point we won't have to work as hard. We'll "write that perfect first draft" or, since readers loved our last book, they'll automatically love our subsequent books. This is dangerous thinking. We, like football teams, have to continuously work hard to make our books shine. We have to be disciplined, humble yet confident, and we can't take anything for granted or we risk stagnating and declining.
Writers have to push themselves to continue advancing in their career.
We can never get complacent with our writing. Writing shouldn't be easy. Each book should challenge us--force us to examine exactly why we're writing it.
I'm not saying writing isn't fun, rewarding, or any other wonderful things. It is. But if we stop examining our work for good plot structure, conflict, pace, grammar, and characterization because we think the work we did in the past was good enough, well, we're on our way to stagnating and declining.
Every book gives us a chance to improve our writing.
What do you think? Is there ever a time we can stop examining our books and still be assured they're good?
Have a terrific day!
My favorite NFL team is the Detroit Lions. For the last two decades, the Lions struggled. They rotated through coaches, players, and they could not find a way to win. Every season ended with frustration. Fans wondered why? Why can't this team get it together and win?
Coach Jim Schwartz took over four years ago. He brought a fresh enthusiasm to the role, and, with a first round, first pick quarterback--Matthew Stafford--fans waited in hopeful anticipation that the Lions would turn around.
They did.
It took time, patience in the face of injuries, more smart draft picks, but last season, the Lions actually made it to the playoffs. It looked as if the rough years were finally behind them. Surely, they would continue to improve, to advance, and maybe even make it to the Superbowl at some point?
This season the Lions are struggling. They're plagued by penalties and they don't look like a cohesive unit. Many experts say the team lacks discipline at the coaching level. Off the field, there have been arrests and poor behavior. Needless to say, if a team can't win games, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for them to make it to the playoffs this year.
Football is a tough sport. Many factors go into what makes a winning team. And nothing guarantees they keep their spot at or near the top.
Writers face the same challenges. Whether we, like the Lions, struggle for years before finding success, or we find success quickly, we have to mentally outfit ourselves to write strong.
One writing myth is that at some point we won't have to work as hard. We'll "write that perfect first draft" or, since readers loved our last book, they'll automatically love our subsequent books. This is dangerous thinking. We, like football teams, have to continuously work hard to make our books shine. We have to be disciplined, humble yet confident, and we can't take anything for granted or we risk stagnating and declining.
Writers have to push themselves to continue advancing in their career.
We can never get complacent with our writing. Writing shouldn't be easy. Each book should challenge us--force us to examine exactly why we're writing it.
I'm not saying writing isn't fun, rewarding, or any other wonderful things. It is. But if we stop examining our work for good plot structure, conflict, pace, grammar, and characterization because we think the work we did in the past was good enough, well, we're on our way to stagnating and declining.
Every book gives us a chance to improve our writing.
What do you think? Is there ever a time we can stop examining our books and still be assured they're good?
Have a terrific day!
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