Slice of Life Day 24: Building Writing Muscle

“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”

— Jane Yolen

This was the quote posted on the blog of Two Writing Teachers, the host of this month's challenge.  I like it, so I decided to blog from it today.I really like the part: "Writers are like ...athletes."

I am now a part time runner. I have been a marathoner, a track and field coach, a cross country coach. I know what daily exercise means to the athlete. When i was training for the long 26.2 mile race, I ran almost every day. I would take a day off to rest the muscles, but not much more than that and I would be redoing what I had worked toward instead of resting it. I would build my stamina week by week.

That is what it is like for writers, too.  I had not thought of that. With this challenge I have written every day. I can now look back after 24 days and see that the writing process is getting easier.  My blogs are getting longer (if I have the time to write them long). I find myself thinking about what I will write today. Things pop out that never did before. I am looking at things with fresh, new eyes. I look at things as a writer.

After running a marathon I usually rest up for several days to allow my muscles to recoup. It takes me awhile to get back to the distance I was running before the race. However, it does come back. By writing every day for this month, I don't want to lose my writing muscle. I  may not write absolutely EVERY day when March ends, but I will write more days than not write.  I don't want my writing muscle to go away. I want to continue building my stamina!