Writing Advice: Courage & Tenacity ~ How Writing Is Like Hunting

Author Steven Rinella, in his book Man Eater, Adventures From the Life of an American Hunter, draws an apt comparison between writing and hunting:

“I worked for a long time to bring this level of patience and tenacity to writing, which can be painfully boring. At its worst, when it’s a seemingly endless string of hours spent waiting for a sensible passage to appear across a computer screen, I recall the silent, lonely and uncomfortable days that I’ve endured in the woods. I imagine that the idea I’m trying to put into words is an elk that’s out of sight but, perhaps, slowly headed my way. In both disciplines, there are things I can do to help bring about the result I want: In the case of hunting, it’s important to maintain silence; in the case of writing, to maintain an incessant clacking of keystrokes. Ultimately, I found that success for each often came down to my ability to endure discomfort and boredom long enough for the desired result to happen along, magically, on its own. And when those moments came, I discovered that the writer and the hunter both need the reflexes and bravery to go in for the kill.”

(The author of three books on hunting. His most recent is “Meat Eater: .” (NYTimes Book Review, July 19 2013)