I never imagined my first proper blog post would have a grainy selfie or a photo of someone enormously famous. But I couldn’t resist writing about my encounter with a sporting heroine.
Think of a Paralympic athlete, the first name springing to mind is likely to be Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson. I had the privilege of meeting her earlier this week at a conference where she was the after-dinner speaker. Cue wine-fuelled fan-girl moment when a friend and I snuck over to her table after dessert.
She’s absolutely lovely; gracious, down-to-earth and willing to stay and chat to us: one of those warm, friendly people capable of putting anyone at ease.
Her best quote of the night was “I’ve lost many more races than I’ve won; but I happened to win a few important ones.” For one of her winning races (the 100m in Athens 2004 for sports buffs) she spoke about a rival athlete who’d seen her lose the 800m earlier. The rival approached Tanni, having seen her confidence plummet and gave her words of encouragement ahead of the 100m. When Tanni won the 100m she asked her rival why she’d encouraged her. The response was “because if I was going to win, I’d want to win fairly.”
It made me think about the stress of manuscript submissions and the myth that authors compete against each other. Part of being a writer is getting rejections. OK, that’s a BIG part of being a writer. But it only takes one “yes” to bag that all-important “win.” One rejection doesn’t mean the end of the world, or that you should give up – instead, it moves you closer to that perfect agent or publisher.
The rivalry is interesting. But if a Paralympian can encourage her rival in a world where winning is at the forefront of everything, writers can support each other too. This is where critique partners, reading groups or beta readers, can be invaluable sources of support as well as more formal organisations such as the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA).
So “Tenacity” is my keyword today. Never give up, stay positive in the face of rejection and find a network of critique partners. Oh – and if you ever have the chance to chat to a sporting legend, particularly if your courage has been fueled by a glass of wine or two, don’t waste it!
Em 🙂
