How Writing is Like American Ninja Warrior

Last week, an amazing thing happened: I became a VIP author for Stitched Smile Publications. I get some perks with that title, but the best of them is being part of an amazing team of authors that supports and encourages one another and others. I’m honored and excited to be part of that.

One of the other perks of becoming a VIP author included doing an interview. While answering questions, I was taken back to the very beginning of my writing career and talked about some of the things that made me who I am. One of those was the fact that in college, I had some professors who were less than supportive of my writing. In fact, they shattered my confidence, causing me to give up writing for several years.

I’m going to be honest: I haven’t thought about this incident for a long time. And why would I? It’s painful and difficult—and there’s no reason to live in the past. I’ve grown so much since that time, and I’ve accomplished a lot.

But at the same time, I can’t deny that the incident had an impact on my life and helped form who I am. But so did good things, like my friend who encouraged me to try writing again. Without her, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today.

As I was thinking about all the incidents that came together to get me to where I am today, I started thinking about American Ninja Warrior and The Voice.

My family and I love American Ninja Warrior. The boys often try to imitate the ninjas and develop their own obstacle courses in the house. When we lived in Wyoming, they would even spider crawl up the insides of door jambs.

I love watching the ninjas overcome the obstacles and how strong the women warriors are becoming. They are carving out their place in the sport, and it’s amazing to watch them make history.

If you’ve ever watched American Ninja Warrior, you know that a lot of the athletes get a segment before their run where they talk about the life obstacles they had to overcome to get to that moment in time. The same thing happens on The Voice. The contestants talk about what happened to get them to the moment before they step onto the stage to sing.

And most of the time, those obstacles were difficult, full of heartache, and could have stopped them from moving forward.

I’m fully aware that part of the reason these are shown is to make the contestants relatable and sympathetic. I don’t doubt that the TV producers carefully pick and choose which stories they are going to highlight to get the most viewers’ attention. Whatever the motive/process behind the stories is, you can’t deny one thing: life is tough.

But we all know this, right? We know that life isn’t a walk in the park and that we don’t get things handed to us on a silver platter. Everyone on those shows, I don’t doubt even the stories we don’t see, had to overcome something to get where they are. They had to put in the time, effort, and work to see their dreams come to fruition. They suffered for their art, whether it’s singing or running an obstacle course.

And once they get onto the stage or to the course, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be successful. There’s no guarantee they’ll turn the judges’ chairs or push the buzzer at the end. But they don’t let that minor detail stop them. And if they don’t turn a chair or reach the end, they use the moment to learn. They go back to the gym or the studio and work on the things that are going to make them better.

As a writer, I’m not much different. I face my own obstacles and judges every time I put words on a page or publish a book. If I fail, I use the moment to learn and to work on the things that are going to make me better.

If I’ve learned anything from American Ninja Warrior and The Voice it’s that the world doesn’t cut anyone any slack. It doesn’t care if we succeed or fail, and it will do all it can to throw obstacles in our way. We have to find a way to overcome them to reach our goals.

A World of Encouragement

We’re big The Voice fans in our house. Every season, we watch it from beginning to end, cheering on our favorite singers and being disappointed if they get sent home. Occasionally, we even vote for someone if we really believe in them and really want them to win. But most times, it’s so hard to choose, and I really want to see all of them succeed.

The thing I really enjoy about The Voice is how encouraging it is. The coaches are there to help, not tear down, and they build the singers up to make them better—all the singers, not just the ones on their team. I find that approach refreshing. This season with Pharrell Williams seemed especially sweet. He always had something nice and encouraging to say to everyone, including the other coaches.

I’m well aware of the fact that this is a competition and the contestants want to win. And so do the coaches, but they don’t undermine each other or sabotage one another to get there. Yeah, there’s trash talking, but that’s what I expect in a healthy competition, and it makes for great entertainment. By the end, it always amazes me how the singers have forged friendships with one another and want to see each other succeed.

I can imagine the stress and nerves they go through every week before getting on stage. The amount of preparation for each show must just consume their lives. But if that’s what they want to do for their career, then they have to put in the work. They have to be willing to do what it takes to stand out from the rest. And I don’t think any of them are afraid to do it. It seems like they are all willing to work hard to attain their dreams.

The world of singing is much like the world of publishing. It’s highly competitive and full of rejection. The contestants tell stories about how they tried to break into the music industry previously but were denied or they had record deals that didn’t sell enough so they were dropped by their labels. They know very well how cruel the music industry can be, so to have a coach that is famous, respected, and willing to impart their knowledge on them has to be an amazing experience. Even if they don’t win, they get so much out of their time on the show.

I often think how amazing something like this would be for writers. They could call it Words, and agents and editors would listen to an author read part of their work, then decide if they wanted them on their team. As the season progressed, the coaches would help the writer polish their manuscript and make it the best they could.

Each week could feature a different part of the manuscript. One week could be dialogue, the next suspense, or an action scene. The public could vote for their favorite authors, just like they vote for their favorite singers now. Then, at the end, the winner would get a publishing contract and advance.

Wouldn’t that be awesome? I think it would be cool. And it would be beneficial to everyone. Agents/editors would get to discover new authors, readers would get to discover new authors, and authors would be able to build their platform and fan base.

That’s the other thing that is really cool about The Voice: it builds followers for the singers. Again, even if they don’t win, they have fans. Like the publishing industry, the music industry is leery about taking on new talent because they don’t know if they will be successful. They want to bank on something that’s going to make them money (they are a for-profit business), so if an artist already has a following, they are more than likely to take the risk.

Artists can’t do it alone. They need support. They need mentors, friends, family, and fans. The actual creation of art may be a solitary endeavor, but it takes a community to enjoy it. I appreciate every one of you who reads and enjoys my books, and without you, it wouldn’t be worth doing.