Today, I left my house to go for a very ordinary midday run. Out the door, to the right, down the street. Perfect weather to be outside.
It lasted .38 miles.
That’s when my foot hit the edge of the sidewalk, my ankle wobbled, and I came crashing down, skidding my right hand and knee in the process.
“Workout paused,” said my running app.
Ideas are like ankles.
They can pop at any moment. They cause us to react, to pay attention.
Ideas are like ankles–they are only a small fraction of the larger picture. You rely on your ankle for support, but you also rely on your stomach, your brain, your cardio-vascular system.
In the same way, your idea on its own is not enough to craft your story. You need lots of other meat: an outline, a first draft, a first-round edit, peer reviews, a rewrite, another rewrite, another rewrite…
Ideas are like ankles–they can wobble sometimes. They can be faulty. They can completely crack. But if you stick by your idea/ankle, it will mend. If it’s a strong enough idea, it will withstand pressure and obstacles.
Ideas are like ankles–they need care. Tend to your idea. Buy it a nice pair of shoes with adequate support. Let it know you honor and appreciate it. Don’t just let it sit on its own–grab your idea and run with it!
As I sit here with my leg elevated and my foot numb from ice, I’m thinking about all the ideas I have failed to nurture and support. Were those ideas strong enough to grow legs? Could they have learned to run?
Although our ankles/ideas seem like fragile things, they are stronger than we often recognize. Give your ankle a massage today.
Kate Bitters is a Minneapolis-based author and freelance writer. She is the author of Elmer Left, Ten Thousand Lines, and He Found Me. One of her proudest/nerdiest moments was when Neil Gaiman read one of her short stories on stage at the Fitzgerald Theater.
