Writing involves sitting and concentrating for hours at a time. Back aches, numb bottoms, and carpal tunnel syndrome can be distracting. One of the best ways to avoid these problems is to do exercise BEFORE you sit down to write.
Yoga was developed to prepare the body for long periods of stillness during meditation. Yoga also improves focus and blood flow to the brain. This makes it a perfect pre-writing routine.
If you’re feeling sleepy, try more vigorous forms of yoga like The 5 Tibetan Rites or Kundalini yoga. These are more energizing.
You can choose any kind of movement you like—burpees, jumping jacks, Zumba, a jog around the block. Anything to warm up the muscles and oxygenate the brain will do!
Sometimes we begin writing a story and we think, what the hell is this? What does it all mean?
Don’t stop for a second to think about what you are doing.
Don’t agonize over how to make your character more complex, or what pithy theme you’re trying to illustrate.
Just bang it all out. Scribble it down.
Often our stories are something we are trying into tell ourselves. Sometimes you have to get to the end to realize what it’s all really about.
If you don’t know what it means when you get to the end, don’t panic. Read it through. Read it many times. The ‘why’ of the story will become clear to you.
Open loops are unfinalized tasks, all that ‘stuff’ you gotta do. They are the perfect distraction from writing and can be used to avoid hard work. Open loops are the BFF of procrastination and hog up valuable RAM in your brain that could be used to power your writing.
To get into a creative flow state, you must close the loops. Here are few ways to ensure the background tasks are shut down.
Choose a writing time – Start waking up at 4am to have quiet time to write. What? No, just kidding. For some of us, such a drastic change sets us up for failure. It’s easier to carve out a writing time that already fits into the routine we have. Whatever you choose to do, designate this block and stick to it. After a few weeks of regular practice, your brain will expect to be let loose at this time and be primed to focus.
Make a to-do list every day – Write down every thing, big and small, that you have to do. Most of the time we’re not actually worrying about ‘doing the things.’ We are trying to figure out what are all the things we need to do. Are we missing something? Once you have them all listed, you close that loop. You don’t have to worry about what you’re supposed to be doing or if you’ve forgotten anything.
Prioritize tasks – What absolutely must be done now? What can wait till after your writing time? Put them in order of importance.
Knock ‘em down one at a time – Focus on one item at a time. Try to check off as many items as possible. Each check gives you a sense of accomplishment and closes that tab in your brain.
Plan remaining items – Prioritize and schedule the remaining items for later times or dates. That way you know what you have to do after writing. You don’t have to worry about how you’re going to get it all done. You already have a plan of attack.
Now you’re all set. Sit down and write. Slip into the zone.
Nothing is more paralyzing than self-censoring before the words hit the page. Some part deep within us applies a filter for Mom, Dad, Grandma, our significant other, our boss, our kids, or future kids that we may or may not ever have!
You don’t have to take ownership of your story. It’s not you. It is a distillation of all you’ve seen, heard, and experienced.
You are not your thoughts and feelings. You have your thoughts and feelings. You are not your experiences. You are not your stories. You are a conduit.
Much of your writing may be based in truth, but no one has to know that. Write and let it go like a balloon into the sky. The words will be found. Then the stories belong to your reader.
Don’t worry about the nasties you write. Under the guise of fiction, you can write anything and everything you want. If Mom reads it and is appalled, simply lie. Yes, tell her you made it all up. Deny it to the death. She can’t really prove otherwise.
We all have those days where it seems hopeless. Our books aren’t selling. Our query letters are rejected. What’s the point? We bleed onto the page and it’s ignored. We’re standing in a corner waiting for someone, anyone to turn around and listen to us, but they all have their backs turned.
On these days, lean on your characters—your heroes and your villains. They are projections of your personality and possess strength and wisdom. The magic you can’t consciously tap into can be accessed through them.
Ask them, what they would do in your situation? What advice do they have? You’d be surprised at how encouraging they are (probably because you brought them into existence).
If you’re having trouble having this conversation in your head, write it down. Let your character compose a letter to you. It may even be the seed of a new story idea.
