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madwriterThis seems to be something I cycle through every time I start a new book. I need to figure out a way to make things stick--or put more simply, showing the same discipline with exercise as I do with writing.
And finding a balance between writing time and making the time to exercise. I forgive myself lapses in exercise when I'm just starting a novel because devoting the lion's share of my time to writing gets the ball rolling--but I've been working on Arizona for a little under a month now, and exercise is still getting short shrift. So where have I struck a balance before?
I did in early 2009, when I was deep into my Shenandoah historical novels. I took a short walk before writing almost every day, and alternated writing days with exercise ones--on the exercise days I went to the campus fitness center to jog and lift weights for 45-60 minutes. I knocked out the four Shenandoah books in a little under two years and still managed, even with building arm and leg muscle, to have a net weight loss of 20 pounds. A few things derailed that, though, and I realized the other day that in a few months it will have been two years since I've had a regular workout routine (and naturally, all the progress I made then has since been wiped away).
That and a meeting I went to last week about a new health program here on campus and various financial incentives it offers got me thinking about this issue again. I know the benefits of the alternating routine because I've enjoyed them: my head gets clearer so my writing gets better, I feel better (which has the same effect)--all of which compensated for the "lost" writing time with increased good "production" when I did write--and finally, of course, there are all the other general health benefits. And yet the initial hurdle is the hardest. I walk Tucker the Big Dog, our German Shepherd mix, around our neighborhood almost every morning and some nights (Wheezy the Little Dog doesn't like to be walked by anyone but her Mama, Laurie), which is better than nothing but not nearly enough. I've cut back on some of my fried food consumption and did about two miles of walking this past Friday, but that's still not enough.
I think what I'm going to have to do is draw on the same mysterious reserve that fuels the writing again, and resume alternating writing and exercise days. I did it once before, so I know I can do it again if I just buckle down and do it. Not to mention the exercise time also doubles as productive Think Up Good Story Ideas Time.
It's time to get my boots on the ground again.
And finding a balance between writing time and making the time to exercise. I forgive myself lapses in exercise when I'm just starting a novel because devoting the lion's share of my time to writing gets the ball rolling--but I've been working on Arizona for a little under a month now, and exercise is still getting short shrift. So where have I struck a balance before?
I did in early 2009, when I was deep into my Shenandoah historical novels. I took a short walk before writing almost every day, and alternated writing days with exercise ones--on the exercise days I went to the campus fitness center to jog and lift weights for 45-60 minutes. I knocked out the four Shenandoah books in a little under two years and still managed, even with building arm and leg muscle, to have a net weight loss of 20 pounds. A few things derailed that, though, and I realized the other day that in a few months it will have been two years since I've had a regular workout routine (and naturally, all the progress I made then has since been wiped away).
That and a meeting I went to last week about a new health program here on campus and various financial incentives it offers got me thinking about this issue again. I know the benefits of the alternating routine because I've enjoyed them: my head gets clearer so my writing gets better, I feel better (which has the same effect)--all of which compensated for the "lost" writing time with increased good "production" when I did write--and finally, of course, there are all the other general health benefits. And yet the initial hurdle is the hardest. I walk Tucker the Big Dog, our German Shepherd mix, around our neighborhood almost every morning and some nights (Wheezy the Little Dog doesn't like to be walked by anyone but her Mama, Laurie), which is better than nothing but not nearly enough. I've cut back on some of my fried food consumption and did about two miles of walking this past Friday, but that's still not enough.
I think what I'm going to have to do is draw on the same mysterious reserve that fuels the writing again, and resume alternating writing and exercise days. I did it once before, so I know I can do it again if I just buckle down and do it. Not to mention the exercise time also doubles as productive Think Up Good Story Ideas Time.
It's time to get my boots on the ground again.
