I've been a writer most of my life.
I was, until my legs went south on me a few years ago, also a basketball player. I've played the game in gyms, on outdoor courts, and once - in Africa - with a bunch of National Guard troops in a jungle clearing.
(They were assigned to the Rwandan relief effort and, as a reporter, I was writing about their exploits. One day a sergeant from Boston attached a basketball hoop to the fuselage of a downed transport plane and the game was on. It wasn't elegant - it's hard to be elegant in combat boots and fatigues - but it was basketball and a welcome respite - at least for an hour - from the horrors of that brutal civil war and its aftermath.)
Which brings me to my point - what can WNBA All Star point guard Sue Bird teach authors about writing?
The answer is, simply, a lot.
For those of you who might not be familiar with Bird, she is among the most decorated basketball players in history. A national champion at UConn when she was in college, she is an Olympic gold medalist, WNBA champion - 4 times - and a perennial all star. She is also an articulate advocate for civil rights causes.
So what makes her so good?
She is, after all, not the tallest, strongest, or - by her own admission - the fastest player on her team.
What she is, however, is a keen observer.
She sees the entire court. Her eyes are open to opportunities either to pass to a teammate or take a shot herself. She is aware of what her opponents are doing and seeks to exploit their mistakes.
To be good writers, authors must also be keen observers. They must see not one or two players, but the entire court. They must be aware of the time left on the clock, the referees, and even the opposing coaches.
In short, the better their vision, the better they write. The more they can see, the easier it is for them to incorporate significant details into their stories. Those details may be anything from a sentence to a paragraph to a chapter but no matter how big or small, those details add richness to the overall story.
And that's important because those details help to give the reader context. They help to put the reader in both time and place. They help to flesh out characters - even minor ones.
Bird is also keenly aware of her limitations. Rather than see those limitations as handicaps, however, she uses her awareness of them to outsmart her opponents. They may be taller, or stronger, or faster but they rarely get the best of her because she understands how they might try to take advantage of her and takes steps to deny them that opportunity.
Authors must also be aware of their limitations. When writing mystery novels, for example, they need to understand that just watching a couple of CSI episodes does not make them experts in police procedure or forensic science. They need to do research - painful, exhausting research in some cases - so their readers don't read a paragraph, shake their heads, and put the book down forever because it's just not realistic.
Finally, authors need persistence.
Bird has suffered through injuries during her long career and yet she did not let them deter her from her goals.
Sadly, too many authors are not persistent. They have great ideas for stories and yet they do not follow through because - despite what some people think - writing is hard work. It demands not only creativity but also discipline.
I'm certain there were days when Bird thought it would be okay to skip practice because she'd rather do anything else but did not because doing so could mean she would not achieve her goals.
Authors need that same sense of discipline, of dedication. Giving in to the temptation to take time off from researching or writing means there is a good chance your novel will never get written.
It's as simple as that.