Skateboarding and Writing

Two things I never thought I’d make a serious go at: writing and skateboarding.

But it’s been a couple years since I entered the writing game and I’m still going strong. Then shockingly, a few months ago I went off on a wild hair and got my first skateboard. My rationale for getting into both was surprisingly similar. I wanted to see if I could do it. It was a whole new thing to learn, which I knew very little about.

I remember talking to one of my best friends on the phone and telling her I’d heard about a thing called Nanowrimo. The thought of writing 50k words in a month was daunting at best, but I decided to see if I could do it. I didn’t know anyone who wrote seriously. I didn’t know anything. After that I realized I wasn’t done. I mean, I had finished the 50k words in a month but I wasn’t done with writing or with learning about writing. I discovered Miss Snark and started learning about the industry. I connected with writing friends, wrote more, learned more, wrote more again. Soon I was researching the publishing industry every day until about a year later I got an agent. Turns out even then I wasn’t done.

Around finals last semester I saw a skateboarding video and started wondering if I could do that. I didn’t know anything about it, certainly didn’t know anyone who skated. I started reading some about it and how challenging learning to skate could be–especially past the age of 12. But, like writing, there wasn’t a lot of overhead involved in learning to skate. I could pick up the sport for cheap to see if I liked it.

It’s funny how alike these two hobbies have become for me. I’m going through the exact same process. Trying a bit myself, meeting a couple people who know more than me, learning from them…repeating. There is still a lot of “voyeurism,” for lack of a better word. I enjoy reading about other people’s stories and watching and reading about how they learned to skate just as I still enjoy reading about other authors’ writing journeys.

This week I went to my first skatepark and on my drive home I started thinking about the parallels between writing and skateboarding. There happen to be quite a few and as I learn more I’ll continue to share, but for today, here are two:

Technique – This is that annoying foundation that everyone wishes they could pass over to get to the fancier bits, but the longer it’s ignored the  more it comes back to bite you. Without a certain comfort level with the basics, your writing comes out stilted and awkward. Without a certain comfort level on a skateboard, anything “fancier” you do comes out also looking stilted and awkward (aka me right now). But this can all be worked out as long as you continue to try to work on your technique. Figure out how to do it right, then worry about breaking the rules.

Rejection - Rejection hurts. In writing–emotionally. In skating–physically. Whether it’s an editor or the cement, running into a dead end sucks. Rejection can really shake your confidence. But you know what? You can’t get any further without experiencing some rejection. You aren’t going to learn anything skating if you’re not willing to fall on your face a couple times. And you are never going to get to “yes” in the publishing industry by foregoing the chance of sometimes hearing a big fat “NO.” At the skatepark this weekend, though, I learned that there is one thing that boosts confidence about 10,000%–knee pads. And elbow pads…and wrist guards…and oh yeah, a helmet, too. Up to this point, I hadn’t had any protective gear, so seeing how much more I was willing to do with everything on was a huge eye opener. So, I started thinking what the equivalent was in terms of my writing life? What gave me more confidence?  Beta readers and my writing friends. Nothing will protect you from a fatal blow like beta readers. Like if you have an manuscript that you know needs work, sending it straight to an agent or editor may result in some ugliness. But if you can send it to a trusted beta first, the results may still sting a bit, but you’re not going to break anything, you know? You’ll just dust yourself off and try again. So thanks, Beta readers, for keeping my writing career from sustaining anything life-threatening.

So that’s my extended analogy for today. I’ll upload video of me falling for your viewing pleasure when I get a chance. Maybe for the next post on Skateboarding and Writing.

In other news, I’ve actually been able to use my little learning experience as research for Scout, who now skateboards. Totally something she would have done anyway, so it’s cool to be able to include some real references and experience in the book now!