Writer, Move Thyself

We writers and artists can be a sedentary bunch.  It's just too easy to get caught up in what we are doing sometimes, and before you know it, we've spent hours sitting in one spot.  There are good things about this, (we get lots done and are happy) but there are other things that aren't so good (we get less healthy and are unhappy).

I don't know about you, but I can spend untold hours behind a keyboard or sketch pad, writing or drawing the day or night away.  That's a happy time, with nothing to worry about but the work that is front of you.  Isn't that enough to worry about anyway.

  

Often though, I find myself wishing that I was in a little better shape, physically.  While our favorite activities may exercise out mental selves, it can often be detrimental to our physical sides.

Lately, I've been very guilty of this.  Focusing more on my art (mostly writing), I've become physically lazy, and even allowed my gym membership to lapse.  (Why pay for it if I'm not using it, right?)  The thought was that, exercise could be done at home, freeing up some time for other things, and so the best of both worlds could be achieved.  It hasn't quite worked out that way.

The goal is thirty minutes a day.  It's doable.  Really, it is.  It takes a commitment though.  Maybe not the same commitment that you have to your art, but similar.  I believe that better health will  help us create more stuff and create it better.  That realization can be a great motivator for us all. 

How does exercise help you create?  Well, good question.  The answer is simple.  We all know that a regular exercise regimen makes us feel better.  We have more energy when we are being active and allowing our bodies to work as they were designed.  If you feel better, you will write or draw better.  Whatever you are applying yourself to, the better you feel, the better you'll do.  It's hard to focus on what you're doing if you feel bad after all.  I know when I'm sick or depressed, I don't want to do anything.  Not read, write or even play video games.  That's just the way it is.  When I'm fresh and feeling good though,  I want to do all the things.  That's when I get into the "not enough hours in the day" mode.  That can be a frustrating place, but it's better than not having the drive to do anything.

So enjoy your creative time, alone with your work and a cup of coffee, or wine, or whatever you have for your creative go to.  Just don't forget the things we need to do to keep the creative machine churning out those creations.  Make a little time to exercise your body as well as your mind, and you may find that every aspect of your life benefits from it. 

What are your thoughts on fitness and creativity?  Do they go hand in hand for you?  They do for me, but I've got some refocusing to do.  Besides, when that zombie apocalypse gets here, I want to be ready for it.  I'll be working on that and hoping that you are too.  Good luck out there!

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it.  Come again soon!

To Submit or Not to Submit?

Ideas aren't the problem.  They seem to be everywhere.  They're there when you lay down at night and then after coffee, in the morning.  The ever present question is what to do with them?  

When it doubt, write it out!

Lots of these ideas turn into short stories.  Sometimes they go longer and that's fine too.  Full length stories have to start somewhere after all.  My big problem is developing these ideas.  What I've been doing lately is trying to write through it any way I can to see where the story takes me.  Trying to develop the story in an organic manner, you could say.  

I do like this free writing process, even though I realize that it may not be the best long term method for me.  It's fun though, to just sit down with a brand new idea, start writing and see where it goes.  What to do next though?

That's my big issue, or one of them.  A while back, I got a really nice rejection letter from the fine folks over at Pulp Literature Magazine from a short that I sent them.  It was my first submission and rejection, and I was feeling great about it.  Funny how you can feel good about a rejection, but there it is.  I submitted more, all with similar results.  I'm okay with that as I never thought getting anything published would be easy.

Submitting has stopped for me right now.  It's not that I don't want too submit, but I'm not sure if I should.  What if it's not good enough?  Typing that, it seems obvious to me that of course I should be submitting things.  How will I ever know if I'm getting better if I don't ever send stuff in?  Obvious right?  Right.

So now I have a direction to go.  First, I've got to get some stuff ready to go, and then out the door with it.  If no one wants it, well that's fine because I'll still be learning and hopefully getting better.  So I'll get right on that, and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

One Book Down,,,

Need to Read!

Another week has passed us by, and what a week it's been.  In that time, I've finished reading a book, received another in the mail, wrote and edited some short fiction, and probably a few other things.  Pretty busy, but totally worth it.

The book that I finished was "The Medium" by MR Graham.  It's about a vampire who is also a medium and as a result has some difficulties doing the things that vampires do.  It was great and I was happy to give it five stars on Good Reads.  The only thing that I had an issue with was more my fault than the authors.  I seem to have read some of the books in the series out of order.  Had I read them in a different order, I probably would have understood both books a little better.  This was a result of getting "In the Shadow of the Mountains" for free in an author's promotion.  Well, the promotion worked, because I have bought and read more of her work since then.  Whatever order you read these books in though, it's okay, as they stand on their own pretty well.  I just felt that a few things were made a bit more clear when the two stories came together.  Overall, I'm really happy to have read the books and look forward to more.

As for the book that came in the mail, that was "The Martian" by Andy Weir.  I had heard great things about this book, but was putting off buying it.  The announcement of the movie that is coming in early October, lit a fire under me though.  I really want to have it read before the movie releases.

There's only one "little" problem with that plan though.  That problem is Brandon Sanderson's giant work, "Words of Radiance."  I love this book.  It is so interesting that all I want to do is read it, get to the end, and hate the fact that it's done.  Only, I seem to read at a snail's pace.  It is a curse.  The plan is to get through as much of "Words" this month, and then bear down on "The Martian" to have it done by October.  That's the plan.  It would be great to get both books done, but snail.  Anyway, wish me luck on that.

As far as my writing, I'm still chipping away at it.  Working to improve my craft anyway that I can.  Reading as much as possible is a big part of that.  Along with the short fiction that I've been working on, I've also started to outline what I think will be something novella length.  The long work that was finished a couple weeks back, continues to sit and wait for the edits.  Not something that I'm looking forward to, but it needs to be done.  Maybe in a week or so, I'll get started on that.

That's about it.  Thanks for stopping by.  I've got to go so that I can get back to reading.  There are a ton of words that need to be put behind this snail in a short time.  See you guys next time!