Slow Coach by Bethany Rutter
A heartfelt blog about a special story from author Bethany Rutter! Slow Coach is about “an unsporty girl who takes up running out of spite!”
There’s been one thought throughout my life that’s probably got in my way more than any other thought: ‘that’s for other people.’ Looking back, any time that thought occurred to me, it should have been a sign that it was something I wanted to try, or was even vaguely curious about. It manifested in my life in two pretty clear ways: writing fiction, and running. Both of these have ended up dovetailing very neatly in the form of my latest novel, Slowcoach, which is about an unsporty teen girl called Ruby who takes up running out of spite.
Although I was a fashion blogger and professional journalist for several years, it never occurred to me to write fiction, because I thought writing fiction was for ‘other people’. It wasn’t for cheerful, confident, broadly positive people like me, it was for Serious Artists, people to whom the pursuit of writing came ‘naturally’, but who suffered and struggled in ways that make relatable internet content. Exercise more generally and running specifically was the same: moving your body is for fit, thin people, girls in designer athleisure sipping protein shakes with long ponytails poking out of chic baseball caps. I, however, am a sweaty mess at the first sign of exertion and am more likely to be seen in the gym in a promotional T-shirt I got free in a goodie bag.
Confronting the belief that writing was for other people has given me one of the greatest gifts of my life, and I only did it because an editor who liked my non-fiction writing asked me if I’d ever thought about writing fiction. I’ve now published five novels (five! I can barely believe it myself!) because I decided that maybe it didn’t matter if I didn’t have a ‘writing group’ or ‘beta readers’. I don’t mind admitting that before I sat down to write my debut novel, No Big Deal, I literally Googled ‘how long is a novel?’ and ‘how to punctuate speech’! I think what makes a writer a writer is the feeling of having something to say, and wanting to say it. The same is true of physical movement: there is no lower bar or qualification for what ‘counts’ as exercise, and beyond it being preferable that you have appropriate footwear and supportive underwear, you don’t need fancy water bottles or running vests or a home gym to get started. I really believe that gatekeeping either writing or physical movement leads to kinds of elitism that both spaces could really do without, and that’s why I’m so determined to tell people at events and on social media that while you’re absolutely not obliged to do either, if writing or running sound interesting or potentially fun to you, you are absolutely a person who can try them in their own way, with no pressure and no expectations.
Slowcoach feels like something of a manifesto for me, a statement about confronting self-limiting beliefs and trying things anyway (even if the motive is spite!). It’s about knowing that you don’t quite ‘fit in’ with the world you’re trying to inhabit but maybe making a world of your own instead. Because what’s the point in writing books for young people if you can’t imagine better, more fun, more inclusive worlds than the one you grew up in?
