Saturday, March 24, 2012

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!

1 comment:

Margaret Simon said...

My writing muscle has been stretched, and I feel, like you, I am a better writer most of the time. I will also try to continue because it is important to write for an audience, even if you wonder if anyone is even reading it. It is important for me and for my students. This daily exercise has taught me so much. Thanks for being a part of this very special community of runners.