Writing World Wednesday - Exercising The Craft

Haruki Murakami runs 10 kilometers and swims 1500 meters every day. He says it is the essence of life and for his stories. It’s improving not only the physical condition but also to keep writing. Writing involves working hard on a single task at length as do an intense fitness workout like swimming, lifting or running. It takes focus, concentration, and discipline to succeed at these activities just as does the blank page.

Michael Mumford from the University of Oklahoma says 30 minutes of aerobic exercise will help you become more creative. Others who do not take the fitness treatment can easily clean their bathrooms or kitchen. Yes, cleaning your house while on a burnout or on a dull mind can boost your workflow. 10 minutes of exercising or cleaning aren’t too much, especially when you have to sit down and type for an hour or more.

I know this because there are times where I clean my bathroom or organize notes on a day I cannot think straight. Doing cardio like push-ups also helps, though I will say while it may not be enjoyable, it does create discipline. Some say discipline comes from strictness and falling in line like how our parents did to us, but I’m talking about a passionate job here; writing and sharing stories and essays with others and helping others achieve the same.

Meditation, like exercise, can also help you with writing too. Meditation and writing have a lot in common: they both involve sitting in a quiet place and focusing on one thing for extended periods of time. If you can focus on the breath you can focus on the one subject you want to write about. A 2012 scientific study by Leiden University in the Netherlands found that meditation leads to better performance in attention and reinforces the view of meditation practice for longer, lasting impacts on human cognition.

While meditation won’t solve any physical activities, it will pair you with acceptance and awareness the next time you end up in a creative rut.

Writing may seem easy at first when you’ve got that one subject or story to put on paper. For the unobserved viewer, it’s like plucking out words from a dictionary and spinning them around like a yo-yo. Crafting prose is anything but magical. It requires a certain degree of mental endurance, sustained in concentration for extended periods of time every day. And it must be done alone without the distraction or encouragement of office workers, waiters, the internet and the outside world. It can take a toll sometimes. My back ached, my eyes hurt, I stop for just a minute to regain what I was going to write about but all I can think of is dots and halos floating in my head. When I decided to put away my 90000-word manuscript for a week I felt guilty because at first, I thought I had written everything from my notes when there was still more unexpected plot holes that needed to be fixed. So I spent time watching TV or checking twitter. The next morning when I couldn’t fall back to sleep I got up – knowing that my mind raced a lot – and did some push-ups and stretching. Once I sat in front of my computer staring at the blank page, I suddenly jumped over the obstacle and wrote nonstop for about half an hour. When I took up meditation for 10 minutes a day I jotted down and completed more tasks on my to-do list. I was quite shocked and somewhat relieved.

If you are in pain for another reason or if you’re having general stress or emotional problems it will be difficult to achieve the kind of focus necessary for examination and good writing. Another thing I tried out, contrary to popular belief, I did some free writing and worked on my manuscript after a few drinks. I gave it the ole Hemingway practice as it were, but it’s almost impossible to focus while under the influence and worst when you’re hungover.

I’m talking about the deep introspection of writing here, the real thing that puts writers through. It can be different for some. Do as I say, not as I do. But one thing everyone agrees on is that writing should never, ever be psychically painful. It’s not good practice to write in pain or whilst drunk with no sense of discipline or other health conditions. And moreover, it should not be an excuse to avoid the blank page or unfinished work. If you need outside help to overcome this sort of pain or procrastination, get it while you can.