I'm a fan of the first season of "Friday Night Lights" the TV series. Since writing the first post on this subject I've discovered some more ways writers can learn from football players in particular, but sports in general. The similarities between writing and sports are not as close as the differences are vast, but there are things athletes do that writers can mimic in their own way to help them get better at writing.

No Perfect Conditions

Writers will never have the perfect writing setup, just as no playing field will every be perfectly groomed. It might always be a little cold and your chair a little too hard. You may not like the light your lamp casts on your desk or you may not like how your pen never wants to write when you do. Writers are writers because they write in spite of all these conditions. Your task is to overcome these conditions and write; not write only when things are just right.

There Will Always Be Distractions

When you're on a playing field there is no end to the elements that distract and they aren't something that stops the game. You must play through them. Writers don't have to write in the snow or with gusty winds, but they will have to contend with other uncomfortable circumstances. A writer may have a life that doesn't allow uninterrupted hours of writing. This writer may have a child that will need attention every so often or can only write in between household chores. You are a writer because you write and it's up to you to conquer the elements that try to stop you.

Some Root, Some Jeer

During a game this is very evident; one side likes you and the other doesn't. Writers like to think that nobody won't like their stuff as long as they understood it. The truth is that the more fans you make the more detractors you'll make. Some people just like to be contrary, some blow elements of your writing out of proportion and use them to object to the whole work, and some just plain won't like you as a person. You can't and shouldn't aim to please everyone. Come to terms with the fans of the other team and you won't be bothered next time somebody boos your efforts.

Rituals Help Create Mindsets

Football players don't just come from home straight to the field and immediately play the game. There is an elaborate set of actions they go through that help them mentally prepare for the game. Writers who find themselves having trouble getting into the groove of writing may find they need to create some rituals. Writing where you do everything else (at home, for example) just doesn't work for some people. They need to get in the car, drive far, sit somewhere designated for writing, and only then do they feel the writing vibe. You might find a similar set of actions to prepare for writing that helps you get your mojo together. It could be as simple as assembling a ballpoint pen, folding 5 sheets of paper individually, taking a shower, walking around the block and sitting at your kitchen table. Rituals helps us understand importance of things. If writing's important to you and you don't feel it in your bones, a ritual may be the thing.

There Is No Phoning It In

Football players must show up and perform, people will know immediately if they don't. Writers can give partial effort for years but eventually it will catch up to them. Their career may never reach the level they'd like, their work may never get the critical praise they long for, or they just may feel an internal sense of malaise and regret what their work ethic lacks. People in general are always looking for shortcuts, ways to get more for less. The problem is most writers don't look for ways to get more of themselves on the page for less work, but rather more creature comforts and money for less effort. Instead of falling into the habit of doing less of what you should do in your writing, find ways to do less of the stuff in life that isn't as important and do more writing.

Writing is a practice. The more you write the better you write. Instead of seeing it a magic thing that only happens when inspiration comes knocking why not see it as breathing. Why not consider writing something you do as much as you can, circumstances be damned. If it rains, athletes still practice though it will be messy. When you don't feel like it, you should write anyhow even if it will be painful and seem a waste of time. All these things will work together to make your work ethic do the hard part of getting you to write while you can concentrate on conjuring inspiration instead of waiting for inspiration to find and motivate you.