Read time: 4 min
A talent at rest will accomplish nothing unless set in motion by an internal force.
In a few short weeks, the Olympic games will finally be hosted in Tokyo, Japan after a very difficult year saw them delayed. Skilled athletes from all across the globe will meet to pit against one another in a slew of sporting events. And though I usually love tuning in to watch the speed, strength, flexibility and agility on display, I find the Olympics hit me in a different spot in my life this time around.
See, as many of you may have noticed, I haven’t contributed much to this website for a long while. (www.simeoncfnovels.com). This site was and is meant to be the mecca of all things centered around my writing process and books to be. It’s a completely self-run check-up that serves the purpose of accountability for me as much as it is updates for you (my future audience).
So with all that going for it, why has the site gone so cold?
I’ve been reading a lot of Proverbs lately and I’m telling you, King Solomon had beef with laziness. The man hardly went a passage without giving some “sluggard” the 10-piece combo special on how his or her life would amount to nothing if changes weren’t made. But the message of these Proverbs finally hit me personally when I looked at this site and my books.
For a bit of quick perspective, if you asked my wife what my writing process has become lately, she would tell you that while this site is largely untouched, I talk about my stories multiple times per week. We go on hour long walks for daily exercise and I spend the whole time spouting new character concepts, story ideas, power systems—all that juicy stuff I know you’ll love to see as high-quality book art someday. But sadly, this all comes to a brutal halt once distractions steps into the ring (think oversleeping, League of Legends, or recently Apex Legends).
I think that’s why the upcoming Olympics really got me thinking this year. Sure, writing a book series isn’t some feat of athleticism, but for anyone who claims success in any of the upcoming sports in Tokyo, the process is the same. A talented person set their innate abilities into motion with a recipe of information, determination, and replication until that natural born talent evolved into something more.
Skill.
That’s what I’m looking to reignite with this here post. And its what I’d challenge you to look out for in your own life. How many talents have we been sleeping on? Literally! Or another way of thinking about it, what distractions are we allowing rob us of evolving our talents into something more? When I think of oversleeping or video games specifically—two blocks that are my absolute weaknesses—couldn’t these have been enough to distract any of the Olympians who’ll be competing? And yet, that didn’t happen for them. Why not? What’s the difference between me and them? How were they able to resist where I couldn’t?
All that and more is what I’ll be exploring in the coming weeks as I look to re-energize my writing talent.
Simeon Cole-Fletcher 