Football season is back and our television seems to be on non-stop with teams pushing up and down the field. I grew up around football, enough to have a deep appreciation for the game. My football coach uncle spent a Super Bowl party when I was a toddler teaching me all the referee signals (clipping is still a personal favorite). I participated in marching band through college and now have a kid in marching band, meaning, I have attended (and continue to attend) my fair share of football games at many levels of the game. Add in a kid who is participating in a game day drumline at Purdue and now we’re watching even more football each weekend than I thought possible.
While the NFL games streamed into my living room Sunday afternoon, I caught the sideline reporter discussing Pete Carroll’s return to the game after a year away.
She described how early in his career he admitted he was coaching individual games. Each new opponent required a new plan. At some point, he picked up Vince Lombardi’s book on coaching and realized he didn’t have a coaching philosophy. His week-to-week approach was exhausting and ineffective. He needed something bigger to anchor his teams and their approach to the game.
In thinking through his own strengths, he realized he was uber competitive and used that as an anchor point for his teams. Everything changed and success followed.
I was thinking about this as the game continued.
Being competitive isn’t a philosophy. Especially in professional athletics. Aren’t most athletes competitive? Aren’t most coaches? They wouldn’t have risen through the ranks to these professional heights without being competitive.
It seemed slightly simplistic to me to say being competitive is a coaching philosophy.
So, I did some research. In an interview Carroll expounded on his philosophy:
“The philosophy is really always compete. I’ll use the competition word so much that people get sick of hearing me say it, but competing to me is defined as striving for excellence. It’s not about trying to beat somebody and rub their nose in the dirt.
That’s not it, it’s about striving in everything that you’re doing. You’re trying to the best you possibly can be. That’s the mentality that drives this program, so this competition is the central theme in our program. Our guys will hear it, and they’ll know where we’re coming from about that.”
Always compete is definitely a philosophy. One that probably resonates with the teams he’s coaching. But saying it isn’t enough.
Imagine just writing the word COMPETE on the locker room white board and hoping that the players get it, internalize it, and apply it in a game time situation.
Probably won’t happen.
But being specific about ALWAYS COMPETE can trickle into all aspects of the coaching relationship and game preparation. Whether it’s in practice, making a defensive stop, going for it on fourth down, or making choices about training or rest, ALWAYS COMPETE can guide decisions by the individual and the collective.
That’s a philosophy.
Now, what does any of this have to do with writing?
Your story needs a philosophy, too.
When I’m working with a writer – whether it’s on their novel or a kid working on their college essay – I want to know what is your story point?
That point, the high level lasting message of what your writing is about, is your coaching philosophy equivalent.
When you know your story point, you can easily apply that to a sticky scene, character development, or selecting an anecdote for your college essay, in the same way an athlete can look to always compete when lining up for the next play.
If what you’re writing doesn’t touch on, reiterate, or challenge the point, then what is the point?
This tactic of finding a philosophy/point/whatever you want to call it, isn’t new or unique to football or to writing.
- Defining my personal coaching point allows me to focus my business, attract and help the kinds of clients I can best serve, and approach each project with kindness and generosity.
- Understanding my family point makes it easy to prioritize my free time.
- Defining my overall values makes it easy to say yes to projects that align and no to those that don’t.
But, we can often get overwhelmed by the complexity and vastness of our stories and lose our way.
That’s why understanding your story point is so important. It is the north star that can guide you when you start to feel lost.
Can you define your story point? One that, like always compete, can guide your planning, drafting, revising, or querying? One that centers you and grounds you immediately into your story goals?
To get started on defining your story’s point, spend some time free-writing with the following questions in mind:
- What your story is about?
- What you are trying to say?
- What you want the reader to feel/do/decide/think at the end of your story?
Now, read over what you’ve written. Can you distill all that down to a short phrase like always compete, love conquers evil, family can be created, destiny can be determined, etc….?
Your point may sound like cliché. That’s okay. Clichés are simplifications, but your story is not. But using this simplification will keep that complex story on track.
Once you take some time to understand your specific story point, I challenge you to define your writing point.
The writing life is a tough one, filled with rejection and long waits. Creating a point or philosophy for your writing life will keep you motivated and in the game.
Writers may not get the same accolades and paychecks as our professional athletes and coaches, but our ability to stay in the game is often what makes the difference between a wannabe writer and one who sticks it out long enough to finish the story of their heart or get it published.
What is it that is keeping you in the game?
Want more help digging into your story as you plan, draft, or revise? I work with writers to dig into their deep story whys as well as offer feedback and guidance to keep your projects on track.