I’ve been obsessively watching the Olympics. As a former competitive swimmer and a lover of tennis, the summer Olympics have always been so fun for me to watch. And now, with the existence of streaming services, I can watch pretty much whatever event I want to whenever I want to.
As I’ve spent the last few days watching swimming on one tv, tennis on another and toggling back and forth between sports on my laptop, I’ve been in awe of the amazing athletes who trained hard to be on this world stage, who give everything they have to their goals.
But even Olympic athletes can’t all boast perfection all the time. Despite years of preparing, despite extraordinary mental toughness, there are always disappointments, injuries, missed opportunities. A gymnast falls off the uneven bars. A swimmer takes an extra breath and gets touched out at the end of the race. A tennis player has a bad call because the venue isn’t using electronic line calling (don’t even get me started on that issue). All of these things happen, all of these things suck, all of these things can discourage an athlete from carrying on, from getting back out there. But it’s the best athletes who do exactly that, who keep trying and trying again.
While I’m no longer an athlete, I am a writer, a profession that requires a lot of trying and trying again. And that’s one of the reasons I got a new byline this month.
My latest essay called Chronic Pain Made Me Question My Ability to Travel was published at Next Avenue and was chosen as the Editor’s Pick the day it went live. It’s about how a nightmare airport experience almost made me believe my chronic pain would prevent me from traveling. However, that’s not the original premise of this essay that I’d been pitching for over two years.
First, the essay was an op-ed about how difficult travel has become because of airlines behaving badly. I pitched it for weeks, updating it daily based on the stat changes on the website FlightAware, which tracks flight delays and cancellations. But I didn’t get any editor bites after weeks of pitching, so I put it aside while working on other projects.
Months later I revisited it. This time I switched it from an op-ed to a straight-up essay about traveling with chronic pain. But once again, after pitching it far and wide, I couldn’t find an editor who wanted it. I set it aside again.
Finally, I realized the essay was more angry than helpful, more negative than positive, a slant that isn’t typically my style. So after going on another vacation where the travel part of it was much better than my experiences the previous year, I decided to tweak it to reflect a more uplifting spin, to give others living with chronic pain some hope that travel is still possible. And that’s when an editor said yes, saying it was a great essay that would resonate with many of their readers.
It took over two years and countless revisions to get this article published. It took belief in my work and the understanding of why I was getting rejections and what I needed to do to get an acceptance. It took developing a thick skin and an ability to move past disappointments.
It took a lot of trying and trying again. And it was so worth it to reach my goal.
What Else Is New in My Writing World
For the seventh time, I wrote the words THE END on my memoir manuscript. Completing my seventh draft was such a great exercise in editing at the line level. I realized more than during any other draft how many times I repeated words and how an online thesaurus can be a writer’s best friend. I was also able to massage scenes, smooth out transitions, and ensure that my reflections were both self-aware and moved the story forward.
And now that this draft is finished, I’m looking forward to writing more essays, maybe even playing around with poetry and definitely reading more books.
From the Archives
One year ago: My New York Times Tiny Love Story called Thanks for Sheltering Me was published.
Eight years ago: My essay Five Lessons I Learned as a Solo Mom Before Turning 40 was published at ESME.
Recent Reads
I haven’t had as much time as usual to read lately, but here’s what I read or am currently reading this month:
Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe from harm.
May you live with ease.💫
Thank you for sharing your process to get that essay published, Heather! So helpful! Having read the final version, I feel you didn’t shy away from the hard parts before sharing some useful tips. Wonderful!
Wow, that determination you displayed to get this published REALLY mirrors the work and repetition you put in as athlete! It's a great essay and so cool to hear your process with it.