The more years we spend
writing, the more we learn about our own writing process, about what works well
for us and what doesn't. A strategy that helps one writer might hinder another
and there's no one right way to take a book from concept to completion. One
discovery I've made while working on my novels is that movement helps my
writing.
When drafting isn't going
as well as I'd like, I have a tendency to simply sit and stare at my computer
screen or to give in to the distraction of social media. But by getting up out
of my chair and walking while I dictate my words, I find that I'm less
distracted by the Internet, less likely to get hung up on my last sentence. In
turn, the words flow more easily and I usually accomplish far more than I would
have while sitting.
Of course, getting up and
moving provides health benefits as well as benefits for my writing. As authors,
it's easy to spend hours and hours sitting in front of our computers. For
someone like me, who works at a computer for my day job as well, those hours
can really add up. So getting to my feet and moving around is a good thing in
more ways than one.
I’ve never actually tried typing
while walking on a treadmill and I don’t know how good I’d be at it. However, since
I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to dictate my stories, I don’t have to worry
about typing. Although I started out by trying to dictate my first drafts on a
treadmill, I’ve since discovered that I do better simply pacing around my
office, mostly because I have a tendency to stop walking when I need a moment
to think. On the treadmill, that can be a tad perilous, so pacing while wearing
a headset microphone works best for me.
Even though I know that my
words flow better when I get up and walk around while I write, I don’t do it as
often as I should. But I know the benefits and I’m going to make an effort to
get up out of my chair more often and write while in motion (and yes, I’m on my
feet right now).
Do you ever write while exercising/in
motion? Does it work well for you?
Sarah Fox was born and raised in Vancouver, British
Columbia where she developed a love for mysteries at a young age. When not
writing novels or working as a legal writer, she is often reading her way
through a stack of books or spending time outdoors with her English Springer
Spaniel. Her debut cozy mystery, Dead Ringer, was released in June 2015 by
HarperCollins. The first in the Music Lover’s Mystery Series, Dead Ringer
features Midori Bishop, a professional violinist with a penchant for sleuthing.
