Light bulb moment: Paris, 2024
Updated: Aug 23
A riveting photo-finish at the Olympics’ signature sprint event imparted a few lessons, which could be pertinent for writers. Particularly, when one’s creativity is stifled by heightened stakes — Letting the words and story come naturally is key.
BACKDROP
Two years ago, during the 2024 Paris Olympics, like a gazillion others, I was intrigued by what would transpire at the signature event of the summer games— the men’s 100-meter final. Over time, this event has featured legends including Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt.
Jamaica’s Kishane Thomson and the USA’s Noah Lyles were the pre-games favorites for the winner's spoils. I was rooting for the self-effacing Thomson as I couldn’t stand the braggadocious Lyles. After the qualifying rounds, the two rivals made the finals, along with six other contestants, any of whom could spring an upset. As a Thomson fan, I took comfort in the ease of his qualification. In contrast, the American had barely scraped through.
As the decisive evening drew to a close, the eight men bidding for glory made their way into the stadium and took their positions at the start of the strobe-lit lanes. While priming themselves for battle, they engaged in pre-race rituals. Thomson mimicked an anime character. Lyles pranced around as if possessed. False bravado, I thought.
After a delayed start, the finalists eventually descended to their blocks, and the whole throng of attendees, scorekeepers, and dignitaries were enrapt in silence. The sculptured, poker-faced finalists, each crouched at their starting blocks, were ready to go. The time for mind games was over. Before them were high stakes, less than ten seconds to execute their gameplan, and no second chances if one falters at any moment.
THE RACE
The starter’s gun fired and the contestants bolted off the blocks. Midway, Thomson edged ahead of the pack. An explosive start was his schtick, and it often sufficed to secure victory. The race seemed to resemble the Seoul Olympics in the eighties. Then, the steroid-filled Ben Johnson secured an early advantage and thereafter charged towards the finish line with a blend of majesty and brute force hitherto unseen, leaving a yawning chasm between him and the rest, including his archrival Carl Lewis.
However, the complexion of the Paris race began to differ from the Seoul final. Somehow, Thomson’s opponents hung with him, stride by stride, arm swing by arm swing, teeth clench by teeth clench. Seeming unaccustomed to this level of resistance, Thomson’s facial expression tightened, and he pounded the ground a tad harder. Still, Lyles was nowhere in sight. “Thomson is coming through. Can the Jamaican do it?” bellowed the TV commentators. Clutching my fists and on my feet, I yearned for the finish line to come.
However, with 10 meters left, several lanes to the right of the Jamaican, from behind the pack, Lyles charged past the pack through to the front and dipped at the finish line at about the same time as Thomson.
Photo finish! A chill ran through my spine. Oh No! Not again! Déjà vu! I dreaded a repeat of Budapest.
Both Lyles and Thomson stared at the screen. Thomson pleaded for a display of the verdict. From his agonized facial expression, it seemed he may not have done enough to win. Lyles seemed calm and agnostic about the outcome. He patted Thomson’s shoulder and said, “Think you’ve got that one, big dog!”
Seconds later, the result was aired. Lyles had pipped Thomson to the finish line. The American's flawless finish had made up for a so-so start. Though astounded, he took the victory lap. He'd scraped through with a skin-of-the-teeth victory and replicated what he'd done at the 2023 World Championship in Budapest. Yet again, he’d earned the gloating rights.
Facing the media, a crestfallen Thomson gave a positive spin on the gut-wrenching defeat he’d suffered. Hitherto, he'd gotten away with super starts before easing off when there was daylight between him and his opponents. It seemed that, unlike Lyles, he was unaccustomed to being in a scrap right to the finish line.
Technically, Thomson had tightened in the last few meters, at precisely the moment where holding form and minimizing deceleration matter most. Towards the end, the sprinter has got to relax and let the finish line come. Thomson’s bid for glory got scuppered because he’d failed to do exactly that.
TAKEAWAYS
Turning to the writing craft, what did I draw from the Lyles-Thomson duel? While writing, many times, I’ve been in the “flow state,”. Putting words to paper is then effortless.
Other times, though, it’s a grind. I’ve faced this while drafting fiction scenes where the characters’ objectives and the intended outcomes are clear, but how to pull these off within the scene isn’t. Apart from when my mind is running on fumes, it normally arises when I’ve said to myself, “This has to be the best scene or better than what I’ve ever written before.”
For technical position papers, I’ve experienced writer’s block when piecing together critical sections such as an executive summary or a section or chapter with recommendations, where I need to synthesize and find a common thread across multiple analytical findings. In these situations, I often grapple with the questions of what to prioritize, how to reconcile conflicting findings, and explain unexpected findings while ensuring the coherence of the overall content.
For both fiction and technical writing, inertia stems from being overwhelmed, particularly when the stakes are high. I’ve learned that an antidote to this situation is to create the enabling circumstances for the story and words to come naturally.
Five tips have helped me overcome writer’s block.
Lower the stakes
Often, the stakes are raised when thinking of the finish line instead of being present and focused on the moment. Do what you can. To borrow and paraphrase Martin Luther King’s words: “Move. Fly. If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. At all costs keep moving.”
For a fiction scene, if I can’t spontaneously draft a seamless scene comprised of a catchy first line, captivating prose vividly describing the characters and their surroundings, punchy dialog, and goosebump-triggering action— I could simply start by writing a few bullet points, be at ease with that, and build from there block by block, and with iterative refinement.
Switch across different forms of writing
Switching from one form of writing to another can provide a “chance to recharge” and it benefits both forms of writing.
Grow and generate ideas
Read and immerse yourself in related ideas. Allow yourself and your imagination time to flow and grow. A writer has to allow time for unconstrained ideation or imagination. In my case, my imagination tends to be fertile while taking walks, during train rides, when showering, and even when sleeping/dreaming.
Bottle your ideas
Make sure new ideas are not confined to the ether and your subconscious. Write them down.
Leverage ruminations
Revisit ideas you had developed and stacked away. Past half-baked ideas could have matured; they may have been the kernel of a great idea that can be better conceptualized in the present.
In summary, for sprinters, being poised, lowering the stakes, and focusing on the imperative of the moment can be the key to victory. Similarly, while writing, if stuck, there are steps you can take that enable the words or story to come to you.
