Trick or Treat? Definitely a
Superbowl Sunday
Well, here we are. It’s Sunday, and my other half and my two kids will probably totter off to a friend’s house to watch the big game.
Leaving me here at home…. to write?
I’m usually a morning writer. For some reason, if it doesn’t happen early, it doesn’t happen. But surely I can get those 700 words in somehow, eh? We’ll see. I may just go for a walk instead. The weather is lovely — cool, crisp, and sunny — it’s been a cold, gray winter here (as winters in Texas go), and the sun is seductive.
Besides, I read an article a few months ago that said that exercise helps increase creativity, particularly if you work right after working out. I wonder why? Maybe it’s increased blood flow. Or maybe it’s because during exercise, we clear out all the negative stuff? I know when I run (or used to, before IT Band syndrome reduced me to walking/biking), I’m so focused on making it to the next, say, tree on the path, that I have no time for self-doubt or worrying. And although I’ve shifted my schedule for the winter months — in summer, I get out and exercise first thing, when it’s cool, and then work; in winter it’s switched — I still like to work early. And exercise is very soothing somehow.
How about you? When do you like to write? Does walking/exercise help?
And did you sneak in some words? 🙂
Well, since I work at home, my schedule for writing is a bit odd. I usually try to work from 10 to 1 or so, then 4-7, then paper-worky type stuff in the evenings. Writing usually ends up being 2-4 or so. But any of those time segments can switch around. I’ve been known to get my work done 8pm to midnight.
Because I work at home, I have to get OUT of the house to write. Usually, I go to Borders or Starbucks. (Thus my rant on people who abuse bookstores as libraries here.) I often don’t write on the weekends since that’s when I do shows, so I never figured those in to my 1000-words-a-day, though I should have.
This weekend I didn’t have a show, but I was insanely busy with family stuff. Fri/Sat/Sun all together I wrote 1850 or so. Not bad, but not great. Now that the weekend is over, I should be back on a better schedule.
I do almost exactly the same thing, Laura. I have written almost four books at my local S-bucks. Something about the buzz there, the people I know dropping by to say hi… it just makes it all go better.
And 1850 is a fine accomplishment. I wrote a whopping 800 words (or was it 700?) this weekend. (I ended up taking a nap tonight, followed by a bath. Will work tomorrow.)
Weeks are so much easier than weekends.
And I’m with you on the rant.
Hi Karen,
I am one of those persons who loves to workout. My extensive exercise video/dvd collection proves it. I find that if I don’t write & exercise I feel like there’s something missing & I’m real cranky.
Since I work outside of the home I have a pretty consistent schedule. When I get home I change my clothes, take care of the animials (two shih-tzus included) make dinner, exercise for up to an hour and then hit the computer to write. The length of time depends on what my goals are for that day. I can write for a half hour or be there for up to two (anymore than that my eyes cross – not a good look). On the weekends, I manage to fit both in among chores & errands.
It’s always a balancing act.
Debra S.
Debra,
I agree with you completely on the writing and exercise. They’re the backbone of my day; when I don’t do one or the other, I kind of feel directionless.
And yes, it is a balancing act. We’ve all got lives to manage, children (in my case, anyway) to feed and herd to school, refrigerators to clean out, other work to do…
Goals do help, though, don’t they? Takes some of the pressure off — for me, anyway. I know what I have to do, so I do it.
It sounds like you and I have a similar strategy. What are you working on now?
Karen