In training for a marathon, there are training sessions that are discouraged. These sessions are called ‘garbage miles’. This means that when you go out running, your muscles are fatigued from the workout the day before (say, speed or hill training) and you’re just running for the sake of logging miles.
When training for a marathon, it isn’t about just going out for runs. Well, maybe if your goal is just to finish and you don’t care how slow you go. The goal is to condition your body to be ready for the challenge, and this takes all kinds of different running techniques throughout the week.
I ran plenty of good miles while training and also plenty of garbage miles that made me feel sick and in pain. The theory is, if all you’re able to do is garbage miles that day, you’re better off stopping and having a solid training session the next day.
I was thinking about garbage miles this morning because I think that it’s the opposite with writing. The more time you put in just slogging away, the better off you are to come up with ideas that work. Sure, there are better ‘techniques’ than others to coming to a cohesive thought. A thesis. a body. A conclusion. And there are ways to make a reader feel. Emotion. Inspiration. Shock value. But, there are also times when you just need to start spewing things out. Random thoughts. Clever observation. Overheard conversation.
Garbage miles in writing allow us to explore, and most importantly, to think like a writer in every day life. If something interesting happens, instead of thinking, ‘huh, that was interesting’, thinking ‘I should write about that later’. A lot of great ideas come from a stem of spitfiring things on paper and examining and enhancing the ones that are worthwhile later on.
Keep writing! Even if you feel like you have nothing to say. There is always something to say. One thing that every person has been gifted with is a unique voice and perspective. Use it!
