Q & A with author Mark P.J. Nadon

What Fitness taught me about writing

Q: “How do you stay motivated during the writing process?”

A: Fitness & writing fiction have a few things in common.

I approach writing with the same philosophy that I approach fitness: Just do a little bit, either every day or nearly every day. Over the years I struggled to be motivated to write. I had a lot of other priorities that I let take over. People do the same with fitness, prioritizing other things instead of getting fit. For me, fitness was one of the things that got in the way of writing (by choice). Training for ultramarathons and building a fitness company took all of my mental energy.

That’s not to say I didn’t do a little writing. One of the fitness classes I taught was called mission day. On that day, generally once a week, I planned an “operation” that required the group to work together to complete. Often those missions included a storyline that we followed for different periods of time. Although I didn’t put all my writing effort into it and made it up as I went along, I still kept the creative side of my mind activated and fed.

These days, I put a lot of my energy into my writing. Whether it be in the form of writing more books, editing books, or marketing. I have days where I feel motivated and it’s easy to hit my writing goals. And I have days when it’s the hardest thing in the world to make myself do. On those days, I still try to do some things, just like in fitness, I try to stretch a little every day, even if I’m not putting in full workouts.

I believe the key for me to hit my goals is to set a target, establish little goals along the way, and find a way to hit those little goals. Weeks or months might pass where I feel like I haven’t gotten any closer, but I have to believe building mental muscle will eventually get me there. Words add up, until eventually I have another book written. That’s how I wrote over ten books.