Flying Sidekicks

You probably have no idea where I'm going with this post, right? Well, see the picture above reminded me a lot of one I used to see in the martial arts studio I used to attend. The photo contained two people (my instructor and his father) on the beach facing each other in the air. Yes, both bodies were in this position, but their bodies were in proper form--shoulders squared, head high, arms. . .not like that--unlike this guy. It was a beautiful picture, and it cost them some serious doe to hire a photographer in my hometown for it.

Anyway, the picture was inspirational. Every time I looked at it, I imagined me on the beach doing a kick-ass flying sidekick. I loved martial arts, but quit at red-black belt. I know, I was one belt away from getting my black belt but stuff happened. Life happened. Too afraid to go back, I took up kickboxing in high school. I did it for a while, even impressing the teacher to be bumped up into a more advanced class. I wound up being very close to making it into the "top class." Then end of my senior year, I quit. 

Do you see the pattern here?

Both times I had inspiration and loads of reasons to keep trying my hardest. Yet, when the time came to finally accomplish these things, I quit. I didn't keep going. I didn't keep trying. I'm now in college and regularly  go running at six in the morning to stay in shape for the inevitable moment when I'm (hopefully) accepted into an ICE academy after college. Running is something I've never quit doing.

Want to know another thing I never quit? Yeah, you guessed it. Writing.

Man, I've piled up a few manuscripts--or as I like to call them, practice runs. Who hasn't though? That's what it takes to learn the craft. A craft that, in my opinion, you can never stop learning. The writing knowledge throughout books, and agents, and publishing companies, and the internet is endless.

My love of honing my skills in the craft is endless, too.

There's no pictures that inspire me to write, or words of encouragement, or movies. I write because there's something inside of me that compels me to do so. Granted, the genre I choose to write for is probably slightly based on my studies in Criminology, but so what. I love writing YA mysteries.  I heard a great quote that you might like, but can't remember where I got it from.

"Don't worry about writing a novel. Worry about telling a story, your story."

Cool, right?

So, I'm posting this post to remind myself as well as all of you why the ability to write is such a wonderful gift and why you should NEVER quit doing it. No matter how many rejections you pile up in your inbox. And, for all you Nano participants (sorry to say I am not one, nor have I ever been) good luck telling your stories!