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Creative Every Day: Writer’s High

Maybe you wonder why I started a blog series that would encourage me to share something (almost) every day.

I did it because, after just completing a book that is 150,000 in rough draft form, I realized that if I could do all of that in such a short time, then writing a little ol’ blog post every day was not only no big deal, it was going to be a necessity. I needed to find a practice that would help me cool down and help me stay in long-form shape.

I don’t want to slip back into my old, lazy ways. If I want to keep my fingers moving across the keys and the words popping up on the screen then I’ll need some half-marathons, 10Ks and 5Ks to keep up the writing pace I established writing The Writer’s Workout. This really isn’t any different than the way a runner, who has just finished a marathon, is quick to schedule more races to maintain a high level of fitness.

I realized something while working on such a long project: the steady, deep creativity was good for me. That creativity begot more creativity. Thanks to my book, I have ideas coming out my ears. I have drafts of new projects in various phases of completion. All of that hard work didn’t just yield one book, it yielded fruit way above and beyond, more fruit than any one person could possibly act on all at one time.

In the past, I might have done the opposite. I might have just stopped writing after the book was done and taken a long rest from writing anything else. I had known that this would happen. And I’m going to keep moving and stay in “book shape” so I can keep going forward.

Maybe this affinity for the extended, heightened state of creativity is a little bit like runner’s high. And I guess I am not ready to give it up just yet.

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  • Stephanie March 31, 2011, 11:19 am

    It’s true – the more you write, the more you want to write. Writing my two blogs has helped my creativity no end. I’d been getting a bit rusty, but now I’m raring to go!

  • Shari Dragovich April 1, 2011, 3:17 pm

    I appreciate this post, for many reasons. I relate to the running analogy–deeply :). I have understood for quite some time that I need a daily workout for my creative mind to prosper. I struggle with platform. When I started our family blog, it was to connect with other adoption families and keep friends and families informed on our process. More importantly, it was my personal therapy during deployment and post-adoption bonding blues.

    I get stuck on what to write. Back to platform, I think. I don’t want to start a new blog–I would rather become better at managing the two I have (one being private for a woman’s book club I facilitate). Hmmm… thank you for forcing me into solving my online presence, again. I think :).

    Shari D.

  • Anonymous April 3, 2011, 12:31 am

    Thanks, Shari! 🙂

  • Gomesspeak April 3, 2011, 1:53 pm

    Thanks for the reminder that creativity begets more creativity. I am a writer grandma and I had fallen off the track. This was just what I needed to get going again.

  • Gomesspeak April 3, 2011, 2:05 pm

    Sharon, this is like opening a gift bag. I wanted to thank Christina for her encouraging message and read your comments as a reault. Now a grandma I had never viewed myself as part of an adoption. In writing my life story for my sons my research brought me to my mother’s divorce papers and my adoption by the Dad who raised me. It has been a learning experience and has opened up so many new avenues to me. Good luck with your efforts.