This morning I went on my every-other-daily run-slash-walk (more like walk-slash-run, but… who’s counting?).
I live in a pretty decent neighborhood that, like most Florida neighborhoods contains a few nice condos full of (mostly) nice folks.
The path I walk on takes me past three or four of them, and I usually seem the same few friendly folks at the same time most mornings.
I walk fairly quickly, but not too briskly. When I run, for about half of the 45-minutes I’m out there, I do it fairly slowly; I would consider it a jog, more than a run – but “run” always sounds better in mixed company.
Anyway, this morning I was joined by one of my neighbors, a rather vibrant young lady on… rollerblades.
Most folks on my route say “Hi,” comment on the weather, give a wave and move on. But this morning my friend on roller blades – we’ll call her “Rollergirl” – offered to hang by my side for awhile while I ran-slash-jogged.
Now, I don’t have very good experiences with people running with me. My brother and I used to run together sometimes, but he’s taller and has longer legs and got tired of me slowing him down. I ran with other guys before or after football practice, but mostly we wore garbage bags and were trying to make weight for the game that weekend.
I think the last time I ran with someone was back in high school and the minute a pretty girl drove by, my buddy sprinted off and left me high and dry, panting and sweaty in his wake.
So… let’s just say I don’t have a ton of great experiences running near, by or especially with people.
So I’m doing my jogging thing, my friend Rollergirl is next to me and I realize something; I don’t run very fast – at all. And I’m having to run faster just to keep up, and try to have a conversation and be social and not look like I’m having a heart attack and… well… somehow I managed to pull it off without having a complete cardiac incident but I have to tell you, it wasn’t easy.
And, of course, the minute Rollergirl turned around and headed for home, I found the nearest corner, turned it and promptly… started walking! (You know, after I caught my breath and could stand upright again.)
But the experience made me think, as most experiences tend to do, of how this could apply to my writing.
In other words, am I too caught up in sticking with the same-old, same-old? Do I mentally “run” at the same pace every day, never sprinting or stretching my creative legs? For instance, am I stuck in novel-writing mode, or fiction mode, or some other “rut” it might do me some good to stray out of every once in awhile?
I have to give mad props to Rollergirl because she got me out of my rut. I might have felt a little uncomfortable by pushing myself this morning, maybe even out of breath, but when I had stretched and recovered and unwound I felt… great! Revitalized, refreshed and renewed.
I feel that way sometimes when I take a break from nonfiction and write fiction, or finish a 60,000-word YA novel and concentrate on short stories, even poems, for a few weeks.
I think changing things up is good for us; it boosts our creative metabolism, gets our literary juices going and ultimately, I think, makes us healthier writers.
So, what can you do today to get out of your creative rut, stretch your mental legs and sprint toward a literary metabolism boost?
Yours in Publishing,
Rusty
I live in a pretty decent neighborhood that, like most Florida neighborhoods contains a few nice condos full of (mostly) nice folks.
The path I walk on takes me past three or four of them, and I usually seem the same few friendly folks at the same time most mornings.
I walk fairly quickly, but not too briskly. When I run, for about half of the 45-minutes I’m out there, I do it fairly slowly; I would consider it a jog, more than a run – but “run” always sounds better in mixed company.
Anyway, this morning I was joined by one of my neighbors, a rather vibrant young lady on… rollerblades.
Most folks on my route say “Hi,” comment on the weather, give a wave and move on. But this morning my friend on roller blades – we’ll call her “Rollergirl” – offered to hang by my side for awhile while I ran-slash-jogged.
Now, I don’t have very good experiences with people running with me. My brother and I used to run together sometimes, but he’s taller and has longer legs and got tired of me slowing him down. I ran with other guys before or after football practice, but mostly we wore garbage bags and were trying to make weight for the game that weekend.
I think the last time I ran with someone was back in high school and the minute a pretty girl drove by, my buddy sprinted off and left me high and dry, panting and sweaty in his wake.
So… let’s just say I don’t have a ton of great experiences running near, by or especially with people.
So I’m doing my jogging thing, my friend Rollergirl is next to me and I realize something; I don’t run very fast – at all. And I’m having to run faster just to keep up, and try to have a conversation and be social and not look like I’m having a heart attack and… well… somehow I managed to pull it off without having a complete cardiac incident but I have to tell you, it wasn’t easy.
And, of course, the minute Rollergirl turned around and headed for home, I found the nearest corner, turned it and promptly… started walking! (You know, after I caught my breath and could stand upright again.)
But the experience made me think, as most experiences tend to do, of how this could apply to my writing.
In other words, am I too caught up in sticking with the same-old, same-old? Do I mentally “run” at the same pace every day, never sprinting or stretching my creative legs? For instance, am I stuck in novel-writing mode, or fiction mode, or some other “rut” it might do me some good to stray out of every once in awhile?
I have to give mad props to Rollergirl because she got me out of my rut. I might have felt a little uncomfortable by pushing myself this morning, maybe even out of breath, but when I had stretched and recovered and unwound I felt… great! Revitalized, refreshed and renewed.
I feel that way sometimes when I take a break from nonfiction and write fiction, or finish a 60,000-word YA novel and concentrate on short stories, even poems, for a few weeks.
I think changing things up is good for us; it boosts our creative metabolism, gets our literary juices going and ultimately, I think, makes us healthier writers.
So, what can you do today to get out of your creative rut, stretch your mental legs and sprint toward a literary metabolism boost?
Yours in Publishing,
Rusty
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