Monday Night RAW

There are several things I never thought I would enjoy, but since moving in with Cale, have been proven wrong and been sucked right into them.  I hate to admit it, but Monday night RAW is one of those things (I have yet to give into NASCAR).

Don't worry, John Cena wins in the end.  I know you all were worried...

Anyway, this post is all about why WWE is just like writing!

1. Wrestlers have to build a platform just like writers.  Wrestlers can switch from good guy to bad guy in an instant, but whatever side they're on, they have to get the crowd to believe in them and cheer for them.  To be successful, they have to be known.

2. Wrestlers spend an exorbitant amount of time practicing and perfecting their craft, just like writers!  Cale watches Tough Enough with Stone Cold, which is a reality show with a group of people competing to become professional wrestlers.  These guys are beaten up, they work out until they puke, they practice  charisma down and until they have perfected personalities into ones an audience will respond to, and they must expect to live a life that will challenge them and always be at risk of failure.  Cale just told me WWE does not provide insurance for wrestlers and that they are paid by appearance.  Who does that remind you of??  Writers!

3. Wrestlers must make their audience experience the fight with them. Wrestlers make their audience feel and I mean FEEL.  Even though this stuff is obviously fake, it's exciting and the drama is intense.  The people in the crowd is right there with them, in the ring.  Writers have to do this as well.  Our goal should be to suck readers into our written worlds.  If they aren't, they simply won't keep reading.

4. Wrestlers must be creative.  There are only a certain amount of moves you can do in the ring and a certain amount of props.  But it's not about the move, it's about how you carry it out.  It's the exact same thing with writing.  At the end of the day, all of the stories we write are about the same thing.  The questions we pose are not unique, but the way we tell them is.  There must be something exciting, original, intense that only we can bring to our stories.

5. Wrestling is a partnership between both wrestlers in the ring.  Writing is not a sole endeavor.  While we may not have to choreograph our stories with another individual, like wrestlers have to, but we do need the help and support of family, friends, crit partners, editors, and agents.

6. Lastly, writers are like wrestlers because they have to be absolutely, fanatically in love with the art.  Otherwise, why the hell else would you do it?  Seriously, it's not like it's easy.

All in all, be a showstopper, believe in yourself, let your personality jump off the page- do as the divas of RAW do.  Go watch Monday night RAW and be more like a wrestler!  Aspire to be John Cena (or Kelly Kelly if you'd rather be a girl, haha!)