The Inner Game of Tennis (Writing)

Writing, like any other task, requires focus. Complete immersion in topic and storyline is essential to enable a writer to craft with skill and power. The book The Inner Game of Tennis by Gallwey, acts as a step-by-step guide in how to quiet your mind, let creativity flow and increase concentration. Using tennis as a format, Gallwey reviews the basics of controlling and guiding your mind.

“This is the game that takes place in the mind of the (writer). It is played against such obstacles as lapses in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self-condemnation. In short, it is played to overcome all habits of mind which inhibit excellence in performance.”

Have you wondered why your writing sometimes flows easily, but is wretchedly difficult the very next day? Do you experience external stress as an inhibiting factor, leaching creativity and craftsmanship from your work? Think of your mind as the steering wheel that controls the direction of your writing. Controlling your mind is an “inner game” that can make the difference between mediocrity and excellence. Tolerance rather than judgment is one important element that leads to such excellence.

“When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as ‘rootless and stem-less.’ We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed. When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don’t condemn it as immature or underdeveloped; nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development.”

This is good common sense. Unfortunately, such nurturing does not happen often in the experience of the writer. Insecure, competitive, jealous instructors, classmates and peers trample the tender shoots of our creativity almost before they breach our spiritual topsoil. Harsh or abusive feedback may be insisted upon at critique groups, during classes and by family members. One of my relatives, when reading something I composed in my teenage years, told me that it was “…much too gingerbready for adults. But, maybe you could write for children.”

Hmmm!

After hoisting my courage back up from the depths, I wrote a short story and submitted it to a tri-state competition, slated to be judged by the professor of an elite college on the east coast. In red ink, the judge wrote the following on my entry. “You should read lots and lots of books and magazines before ever attempting to write, again!” Afterward, I was told that this professor sat down with several bottles of wine in front of his fireplace and took great joy, while judging, in “putting blood in the envelopes” of each entrant.

This kind of vicious attack is not uncommon in other professions, but seems particularly rampant in the writing community. The Inner Game of Tennis teaches us how to “explore the limitless potential” within ourselves, how to allow the gracious flowering of talent without setbacks caused by the acidic pruning of the critic. “The unconscious mind hears everything and never forgets…” Review this wonderful book and the act of writing may rise more smoothly and more easily to mind and heart.

(Currently out-of-print but may be ordered in paperback or found at old bookstores).