Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.
One disadvantage to the writing life is it is a sedentary one. I compensate by walking the dog and swimming, though not at the same time! As well as being aware of the need to compensate for a stationary job, there are other ways in which writers need to think about their fitness. This post outlines some of those.
Accepting the Writing Life is a Long Haul Business
This is important. Not only does this acceptance help make rejections easier to stomach (coupled with the knowledge everyone gets turned down), but it means you as a writer will have a longer term strategy for your writing life. It means not worrying (with all the health issues excessive worry can cause) if something you’d set your heart on doesn’t happen straight away. It does mean you accept things will inevitably take longer than you might like but again it helps to know this is true for all.
What you can do is plan out what you would like to do by when. You then work out steps to try to achieve this. But if you don’t quite get there by your end date but you are heading towards it, keep going and don’t give up. Be positive. Life can get in the way sometimes. It has with me. You just accept this again happens to most writers. You carry on again as soon as you can.
A positive outlook will be more beneficial to your mental health too.
Recognizing the Ups and Downs of the Writing Life
I think doing this means you are better placed to cope with the inevitable downs which do come every writer’s way. It helps to know it isn’t just you. Getting involved with the wider writing community will help you develop friendships and support. Every writer needs those. This is definitely one of the ups to the writing life.
Learning from other writers’ experiences can mean you may well avoid some of the downs they’ve gone through. For example, I’ve read some horrendous stories about people being taken in by vanity presses. I was and remain determined to never be caught out by this.
Indeed, very early on in my career, I got my manuscript back from a publisher who turned out to be a notorious vanity press. I have never regretted that. I also found out about the Society of Authors from another writer. They were the ones to warn me about this publisher. Guess what? I became an member, long before I had anything in print. I have never regretted that either.
Planning Out Your Writing According to YOUR needs
I’ve talked before about how planning out what I do when, writing wise, helps me to produce more. It also helps me to make the most of my available time. Knowing I am doing that in itself helps to keep me going especially when all that seems to come into my inbox are rejections or I see from competition results I’m not on the list. But I also think about each writing session I have.
I’ve got, say, three hours on one night, and an hour on another night. For the former I will plan in a screen break. For the latter I won’t. I will have to make the most of those sixty minutes. But for the longer session I will have a break roughly at the halfway spot.
Screen breaks are vital. Your eyes can get tired by staring at the screen all the time, regardless of whether it is a TV screen or your laptop. I will also have a break from the keyboard during a long writing session. I then turn to my notebooks and do some writing the old school way with paper and pen or I will go through my notebooks to look up ideas from previous brainstorming sessions and pick something to work on as my next project.
But no two writers have the same amount of time available to write. It is a question of working out what suits you. But screen breaks, using one medium to write and then switching for a while to another, are good ideas.
Also ensure you have a good sitting position at your desk. I know some writers use standing desks. I’m not sure how I’d get on with those. I’m often on my feet a lot of the day anyway so when it comes to my writing session, I am glad to be sitting down! But I do have a good chair and ensure my posture is correct.
Learning To Cut Work
It helps to see a document you’re editing in a different way to how you wrote it. It makes errors stand out. There is something about on screen writing especially which can fool the brain into thinking you’ve written something when you haven’t. Your brain reads what you meant to put there but isn’t actually there. So changing font size, colour etc can all help make the document seem like a new piece. And that’s when the errors stand out and you’re more likely to see them and sort them out.
I find it helpful to know the kind of common errors to look for – typos, extra spaces between words, indentation faults, and so on. I look for these things. I find them! So it helps then to be aware of what you are looking for when you edit. It also helps to have more than one kind of edit with breaks in between.
My first edit is always to make sure the structure of my piece makes sense. My second one is to check for typos, grammatical errors etc. My third one is a final read through to make sure I haven’t missed anything. But I have a break in between each edit (for my short work this is often just a day or so. Meantime I’m working on something else). That break is crucial to help you see the work afresh and to spot what needs fixing. Something always does need fixing!
Give yourself the time to do this. I’ve found it so helpful to take off a fortnight from competition deadlines and to make that my deadline instead. I then plan when I will have my piece written by, when I will do my edits, and, once all done, I send my piece in with plenty of time to spare. I have found it enormously helpful to know I’m not under any time pressure because I have allowed plenty of time to get the work done. It also gives me a margin for when life gets in the way as it can do.
So not rushing to get something out I’ve found useful because I’m not panicking and that too helps me with my state of mind. With my competition judge’s hat on, I can tell when a story has gone through a good editing process. I can also spot when a writer has rushed their story in ahead of the deadline. You don’t want to put yourself under that kind of pressure. That isn’t good for your own blood pressure!
Conclusion
There are many ways for a writer to keep fit then and I would include being kind to yourself in this, especially when things are not going so well. It helps to recall all writers go through periods like that. It helps to remember what we are doing is a creative art. Not everyone will get what we do. But there will be those who do. It takes time to find them. It takes time to craft something worthwhile too.
I do think a writer should enjoy the process of writing and editing as much as possible. Else why do it? Why put yourself through it? You are your own first reader and you should be enjoying what you come up with, as well as not being blind to where it could be better.
Taking care of yourself as you write helps too. Having a healthy attitude to what you write and how you do it, allowing for breaks when needed, will help keep you going for the long term. The writing life is a long term business so it pays to plan for that.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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