Everyone knows that a healthy mind in a healthy body blah
blah blah. So you take care of yourself, right? Riiiigghtt!
Exercise, eat right, take the supplements you need. So we go
for balanced meals, cut out the fast food, and snack on fruits and veggies. And
we ingest our calcium, krill oil, and multi-vitamin for Vitamins A, B, C, D and
the rest of the alphabetic iteration.
But exercise? For some of us, that’s harder. Our job is to plant our seat (not seed) and
let words flow forth. Umm. That didn’t come out (this is getting worse) quite
right. But you know what I mean.
Our job is to sit there until we’ve met some pre-established
objective--number of pages, number of words, working out a knotty scene, and so
on. Getting to the gym or even taking a walk can be tough to schedule in.
There’s always one more blog to write, one more set of Twitter postings, one
more scene that’s really close to coming together-maybe, sorta, kinda.
Not much I can do about that, but during the writing process I can assure you that taking your
writing vitamins will help you be more productive. Just as you want your body
fit, your writing soul also needs attention. Here are your writing vitamins so
you can crank it out.
One of the most important writing vitamins for
accomplishment is Vitamin G. Setting
Goals gives you a target, a focus, a
raison d’etre for writing. Intermediate and long-term Goals keep you on track.
Using Vitamin L--Learn--probably happens naturally for
you every day. But be more mindful of your Learning
about your craft or writing business and share it on your blog. Let others know
what you have found out about writing. Writing is a mode of Learning (Janet Emig). When you write
about what you learn, you cement it for yourself.
Vitamin S may be
the most important one. Show up for
work. Yes, writing is your work, your job, even if a second one at this point.
Without recognizing that commitment to job responsibility, you can easily find
reasons to not write. Trust me, writing every day, without fail, will result in
Vitamin G having its full effect.
Vitamin P must be
taken with Vitamin S. Protect your writing time. Be ruthless.
Bargain. Lie (oh, not really). Do what it takes for you to be able to Show up and accomplish your Goals.
Vitamin M will
aid your production by making you more efficient. Move at least every two hours. The data about sitting is really
devastating! We need to stand and move when possible. Set a timer (I have to
because I lose track of time) and take a potty or beverage break. Walk around
the house. Jog in place. Return phone call and walk around as you talk. MOVE!
And your last writing vitamin is Vitamin I. Ignore
writing advice (except for this, of course). Should you plot to within an inch
of the scenes or should you get “in the flow” and let it roll? Should you stick
with one genre and get really good at that one or bounce among genres depending
on your interests and the stories batting at your head? Ignore any advice that doesn’t feel right with this story at this
time. That is not to say that you can’t read others’ suggestions. Sure pick
their brains. But remember, there is NO one way to write a book. Or someone
would have found it and everyone would use it. So ignore what doesn’t mesh. And incorporate what does.
What are your writing vitamins? Attend to your writing
health as much as that of your body and mind.
