Slow & Steady Wins the Race

A few months ago, one of my cousins went to the Bahama’s and brought me the turtle in the picture. I put it by my computer in my writing space. I think it’s a perfect metaphor for writing, in more ways than one. The writing, revising, and submission processes are slow. The hurrieder you go, the behinder you get.

Do you remember Aesop’s fable of the toirtoise and the hare? As a refresher, here it is:

There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, “How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?”

Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, “There is plenty of time to relax.”

Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.

The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare.

Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line.

After that, Hare always reminded himself, “Don’t brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!”

In writing, we have to be more like the tortoise. Keep plodding along and we will reach the finish line. Sometimes, though this wasn’t included in Aesop’s fable, we help others along the way (as shown by my friendly little turtle above who has another turtle riding on his back).

Keep with it. Keep writing. And if you need a little pick-me-up, remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. If that doesn’t help…

E-mail me. I’ll give you a little pep talk if that’s what you need.