E.S. Raye

I struggle with blog topics nearly every week. And so, nearly every week, I scour Google for some new topic inspiration to get me started. And every week, I see the same suggestion to talk about hobbies outside of writing.

But I have resisted writing on this topic since I started keeping a blog, mostly because it has felt too far removed from everything else I post. But the more I think about it, the less removed it feels.

I play ice hockey, specifically in the position of goaltender, and here’s how I think it’s helped me as a writer.

Getting in the Net

I spent my earliest years living in California, where the principle kids’ sports are baseball and soccer. I play both for years, but never felt they were my “thing,” so to speak.

At the same time, my father, who was born and raised in New England, learned to be a goalie on a hockey team (Yup, learned. Despite being born near Boston, he didn’t start playing ice hockey until he lived in Cali. Go figure). Going to his games to watch him play was one of my favorite childhood activities.

I, myself, got into youth roller hockey at about 13 or so. But, the league/team I joined already had enough goalies, so I played forward. I was okay at it, but I knew where I wanted to be, and taking shots and face-offs was not it.

The moment a goalie position opened a year or so into playing, I took it.

At 16, I moved in with my father back in New England, and made my high school’s varsity team. This wasn’t actually as impressive as it may sound–we had no JV team, and I was the only kid to try out for the backup goalie spot. Also, it was a bottom-of-the-barrel division 2 team. We were lucky to win half our games.

But, a lifelong passion was sparked, and I’ve played as much pick-up and adult league hockey as my aging body has allowed over the years.

Writer Between the Posts

“But what does that have to do with writing?” I hear you asking.

I would argue that the position of goaltender shares a lot of qualities with being a writer.

Headspace

First and foremost, in a game known for its physicality, the position of goalie is incredibly mental. I don’t have to take shots on the other net, make clean passes to team mates, or worry about getting hit in the corner. But I do have to be able to see everything that is happening and anticipate my opponents’ next moves before they make them. I have to see not only the whole, but each individual part of the game, all at once.

As a writer that relies heavily on outlining, worldbuilding, and character development, I see the similarities immediately.

Confidence

Another thing playing goalie has helped with is my confidence.

To be good at being a goalie, you have to believe you are. My dad used to say there was a certain amount of arrogance involved.

After playing with so many people who thought they were going to make it to the NHL and then didn’t, I wouldn’t go quite so far as my dad.

But his point remains: you need to believe you can do it, and that you’re good at it. If you don’t believe those things, the first time you fail, you’ll collapse.

The same goes for writing. And more importantly, letting people read your writing.

You have to believe you’re a good writer–or at least can become one. You have to be able to take criticism in, and use it to improve. And you have to use that nearly arrogant drive to push yourself through the difficult times.

All Alone

But the real parallel between writing and goaltending is the pressure of being singular.

No one else on my Sunday night beer league team wears the same equipment. None of them have the same “defense-only” priorities. Hell, they all basically play a different game than me, the skill sets are so vastly different.

And if they make a mistake, nine times out of ten I’m the only one that notices it.

But if I make a mistake, everyone sees it. I am the most obvious line between a win and a loss. Even if you’re on a team with good people (and I luckily am), there’s a lot of pressure and it can be easy to get down on yourself.

Here, I think, is the thing that has helped me most as a writer off the ice.

After 25+ years of putting that kind of pressure on myself, I’m at home with the pressure of being alone. I know what it means to make a mistake that costs us the game. I know how to analyze that mistake and work towards not making it again. I also know how to be hard on myself without getting depressed–even if I do make a mistake that cost us the game, it’s only beer league… it doesn’t matter.

There’s always another game.

And I can apply this to submitting short stories, querying manuscripts, or pitching screenplays.

I am accountable to only myself, and if I don’t submit something and don’t get published, that’s my own fault. But in the same vein, when I do submit, and then get a rejection, it doesn’t get me down. I can analyze any critique, make a correction (if necessary), and submit somewhere else.

There’s always another agent, magazine, or publisher.

Hockey has taught me to live in the moment. If you fail, look at what you did wrong (if anything), adjust, and move forward.

Pucks to the Head

Of course, I don’t mean to imply that you can only learn this kind of resiliency from playing goalie. All I mean is it’s how I learned it. And the fact that, at 40, I’m still going out of my way to take the pressure of carrying a team to victory (as small-stakes as it may be) tells me that the stick-to-it-ivness and grace under pressure I’ve learned will stick with me and help me on every step as I work towards becoming a full-time author and screenwriter.

What helps you keep digging through the query trenches?