Running and Writing: Focus, Endurance and More

“Most of what I know about writing fiction I learned by running every day.” – Haruki Murakami

The quote above is taken from Haruki Murakami’s brilliant memoir ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’. He happens to be both a writer and a runner, as do I. Runners and writers are very much alike. They are both, in essence, solitary characters, often confined to long, lonely hours of mental or physical exertion, in order to achieve their goals. They constantly push themselves to go further, to achieve more each time they do the thing that they love. For runners, it’s miles. For writers, words.

Both take commitment, dedication, and hard work. Sometimes I don’t feel like running, and I don’t feel like writing, but I have to work through tough patches. Writers can learn a lot from running. Either by using it in a metaphorical sense, building up our endurance and rhythm, but also in a literal sense. Towards the end of the article I point out how the actual act of running has aided my writing.

Focus

“… the ability to concentrate all your limited talent on whatever’s critical at the moment.”

Murakami describes this as one of the most important qualities for a writer. This is very important for a runner too, focusing all your energy in the moment, as you take your strides, ignoring the cramp in your side or the wind battering you in the face or the pain creeping into your knee. Writers, similarly, have to be able to focus on the task at hand concentrating on the moment, on the words, on the story. Fortunately, we can train ourselves to do this, as runners do.

Endurance

After focus, Marukami thinks endurance is very important, specifically if you are interested in writing novels. I am writing one at the moment, and besides a novel I wrote a few years ago for NaNoWriMo, this is my first real attempt to put together a proper, long piece of work. This is not my natural habitat as a writer – I much prefer writing short stories where I can construct a scene and delve right into the details and emotions of that moment. Maybe I’m lazy – but it’s also a sense of the vast amounts of real hard work and dedication that it takes to write a long piece of work.

Running, especially mid- to long-distance running, is all about endurance and stamina. Through training we can build up this stamina in order to have the strength, endurance and confidence to keep going and push ourselves when we hit a mid-novel crisis point (usually, apparently, around 30k words). We can train ourselves (and I know I’ve said this many times, but it bears repeating) by sitting down and writing. This is exactly what runners do when they run a little bit further each day, in order to build up their muscles and physique.

Rhythm

“Once you set the pace, the rest will follow.”

Every runner knows that rhythm is vitally important. Your running style must be smooth and consistent, in order to not put too much strain on your body, to allow yourself to run efficiently, to conserve energy and to put in the extra effort where you really need it, like when you are running uphill or in the final push towards the finishing line.

In writing, rhythm is just as important. We need to write every day, ideally, or at least in a regular, consistent schedule in order to build up the habit. Through the generation of this habit the words and ideas will begin to flow, which in turn only makes the writing get easier and easier.

Clarity of Thought

When I took up running, something that I never expected was how meditative it can be. The physical exertion, the repetitive beat of your feet on the road and your heart in your chest, the time spent alone focused on yourself, can be a rather zen-like experience. It can empty your mind, and produce a clarity of thought was is surprising and incredible. Often when I run, ideas for my writing flood into my mind. New stories and characters, twists and tweaks to whatever I’m working on, solutions to problems I’m having with my stories or articles. I even end up writing sentences and entire paragraphs in my head as I run! It is amazing experience, and is worth taking up running for on its own. More about running as meditation can be read here.

Are any of you runners? Have you found it help with your writing? Is anyone inspired to take up running after reading this? Please leave your comments and feedback below.

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