Writing Exercise for a Distracted, Sleep-Deprived Writer

Sit straight and tall as if a Catholic nun has just rapped your back with a ruler.

Breathe deeply.

As you inhale again, arch your back and allow your ribcage to expand as fully as possible.

By now your focus is returning slowly.  Most of “writer’s block” is tension-based; rhythmic breathing and concentrating on something besides the page for just a few minutes often does the trick.  Need more?  Continue as listed below:

Stretch your arms open and wide as you inhale deeply.  Watch for passersby who ignore your open and ever-nearing arms—no lawsuits, right?

Take a short, brisk walk; the increased blood flow and new environs will invigorate you.  Keep the distance short enough to avoid wasting time away from the page and fighting even more fatigue.

AAAAHHH!!!  I don’t know about you, but I feel better!  Honestly speaking, I wrote this posting as I did everything on this list.  Let me know if this “writing exercise” helps you, too!

For My Writers: The Truth Hurts--Until It Heals

Scott Berkun toppled a much-abused lie that I have told myself more than once in my time, a lie that cripples the hopes of many would-be writers and scholars on this planet--writer's block. In case you've never read his blog, enjoy this quick blessing:

I promise you, the first draft of Strunk and White didn’t follow Strunk and White. The secret, if you can’t start, is to begin without constraints. Deliberately write badly, but write.

For this reason writer’s block is a sham. Anyone who wrote yesterday can write today, it’s just a question of if they can do it to their own satisfaction. It’s not the fear of writing that blocks people, it’s fear of not writing well; something quite different. Certainly every writer has moments of paralysis, but the way out is to properly frame what’s going on, and writer’s block, as commonly misunderstood, is a red herring.

Simple and razor-sharp, isn't it? Let every dreamer who feels fearful when the pen or pencil tip touches paper or when the cursor blinks longingly from the computer screen drop his or her fear in the nearest wastebasket--and WRITE.

Get to it! Time's a-wastin'!

**Image courtesy of JPG Photography