Getting into Writing Shape
Once upon a time, I thought this kind of thing involved sitting at the computer for a certain amount of time every day and meeting my goal word count. Plus, every so often, attending workshops taught by people far ahead of me in the game so that I could learn what I need to always be bumping up my level of craft and business knowledge. And then there’s all the amazing people I’ve met and continue to meet at those workshops. Fast friends made under trial by fire.
All of that is at the top of the list for being and staying in writing shape. But that’s not all.
There’s also the part where I have to take care of body. If the body is unhappy – slug-like from so much sitting, or not getting enough nutrients, or slug-like from so much sitting — then I actually can’t sit at the computer. Or if I can manage it, I’m not in top form to create. So that means exercise and fresh air and, for me, actual cooking with, you know, vegetables. (Like this morning’s big breakfast of egg scramble with kale, ground turkey, and pico de gallo, with corn tortillas.)
So far, so good. (And so far, so full; just waiting on the tea to steep.) But wait, there’s more. If you order now, you get this nifty set of knives and a salad spinner.
Which means there’s another thing that I can’t do without: sitting meditation. Yes, more sitting. Only different.
This kind of sitting involves actual stillness and silence, noticing my breath as it moves in and inflates my lungs and belly and as it moves out, contracting my stomach muscles just a little, lengthening and strengthening my back. All those stories spinning in my creative imagination come to a rest.
That rest is a re-set button. It’s a deep breath before the plunge. Without it, I run out of air.
And then there’s the ingestion of every kind of story I can get my hands on. — first for pleasure and then for studying. That means books — which, in the last month or so for me, include The Luxe, Duma Key, The Last Templar, Ink Exchange, and The Constant Gardener. On deck: Christopher Moore’s Coyote Blue. It also means movies (last weekend, District 9; this weekend Julie and Julia). And all those excellent stories on TV, which one I am most anticipating is the second season of Sons of Anarchy. Not to mention LOST, which after a Netflixed disc-and-a-half has hooked me well and good.
And lastly: I need adventures. I need to be around friends and meet new ones, go dancing until all hours of the night, enjoy art wherever I find it, go for neighborhood walks and hikes and beach strolls.
Whew! That’s A LOT. But what it really is, is life. Getting into and staying in writing shape for me is all about life.
