Creative Writing Tip #5: A Writing Workout

Here's a creative writing tip for those of you who want to get a little more writing in and a little more exercise in. This is especially helpful for writers who may not have enough patience to sit down and write for long periods of time. I have found that as a writer who mostly works from home, I don't get my workouts in as often as I've liked and while I've been fortunate enough not to pack on the pounds, every little bit of exercise helps.

Creative Writing Tip #5: A Writing Workout

1. Prepare Your Writing Station

Personally, I've found that having a desk set up for writing can be helpful, but it isn't the only possible writing area in the apartment/house. You can put together a little area on a kitchen counter or on the dining room table as well. You may even want to have a small desk or tray table out on your porch or deck for a change of pace. The important thing to keep in mind with this creative writing tip is to make sure there aren't any distractions near your writing station. I wouldn't place your working area in front of the television or anything like that.

2. Prepare Your Workout Station

I have a fantastic yoga mat that my girlfriend bought me a few years back and I do a ton of exercise on it. I'll lift weights on it, I'll stretch on it and I'll do squats on it. What I love the most about it is that if I roll it out, I'm so used to exercising on it that my mind automatically shifts over to workout mode. When I want to do a writing workout, I'll roll out the mat and place any equipment I need like weights beside it. It also doesn't hurt to have a water bottle handy, even though you probably won't be doing anything too intense.

3. Write For a Fixed Period

It doesn't matter if you decide to write for five minutes, two pages, a chapter or in my case, a couple of writing prompts. Pick a small fixed period to write for, though try to make sure it isn't too much longer than five minutes so that you can get the full effect of the creative writing tip.

4. Do a Set of Exercise

After you finish your short writing session, do a set of exercise. I love doing a superset of one exercise like 10 reps of bicep curls followed immediately by a set of another exercise like 10 calf raises. There are no restrictions for what this workout can be. It could be a few minutes of jumping rope, pushups, sit-ups or even just an intense stretching routine. Once again, try to keep the workout session under five minutes.

5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4

To keep your writing workout going, you simply repeat steps 3 and 4 over and over again until you've completed your writing for the day. This is a really helpful method if you keep getting distracted and can't concentrate long enough to write at length. Slowly but surely, you can get a whole lot of writing completed as the oxygen goes up to your brain more effectively during your workout sessions. It's like recreating the fresh five minutes when you just start writing over and over again. In addition, you add a little tone and burn some calories. It's a win-win for any writing situation! 

Done with Creative Writing Tip #4? Go back to Creative Writing Tips.