Exercise and Writing

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve never been a fan of exercising, although I’m trying to do better.  I’ve read a slew of articles lately about the connection between exercise and creative thought.

One of these articles is this one by Fiona Macrae, a science correspondent at the Daily Mail.  The article is:  “If you’re looking for that big idea, just go for a walk: Study reveals people are up to twice as creative when on their feet.”

The article states:  Dr. Oppezzo, of Santa Clara University in California, did a series of experiments in which people undertook tests of creativity, such as playing word association games, while walking or while sitting at a desk.

In one experiment, the volunteers came up with twice as many clever ideas when walking.

When I’m walking, my mind usually wanders to the current work in progress.  I was about ¾ of a mile away from my house last week when I realized that I had a plot hole involving Myrtle’s cat, Pasha in the current scene I was writing.  I didn’t have my phone on me, so I spent the rest of my walk murmuring, “Pasha the cat” to myself.  It’s a wonder the neighbors haven’t called the men in white coats to come pick me up.

So that’s specific to walking.  But, of course, there are other reasons to exercise besides stimulating creativity.  Writing is a sedentary activity, although there are some who have made the change to standing desks.  Sometimes I’ll write at the kitchen counter, in lieu of a standing desk.  (More about “easing into standing desks” in this article by Thorin Klosowski for Lifehacker.)

Galley Cat ran an article a couple of years ago (written by Jason Boog) called “Don’t Let the Writing Life Kill You.”  The article linked to five free fitness and workout apps for smartphones.

For those of us who are more limited to a desk during the day, WorkAwesome blog posted “Five Desk Exercises for Your Busy Office Life.”  The exercises work, among other things, our lower backs, shoulders, and abdomens.

One of my favorite finds was, again, at the Lifehacker blog.  They linked to an app called the 7 Minute Workout App.  It works just fine on a laptop, too.  The Lifehacker link shows how to properly do the exercises (which I’m sure I wasn’t doing correctly until I watched the video).  My favorite thing about the exercises is that they’re only 30 seconds each.  :)  Although it’s possible I might cheat on a couple of them, just the same.

So, that’s my public service announcement for the month—let’s try to exercise.   Which reminds me of my last public service announcement…back up your work.  If we do both these things as writers, we’ll likely be a lot better off.

Do you have an exercise regimen, or are you kind of all over the place with exercise, like I am?  Have you found that exercise, specifically walking, helps you with your writing?

Image: MorgueFile: Keyseeker

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