I know my posture is bad. I sit for hours
on the laptop, either researching, marketing or writing and pretend that all is
well until the pain tells me I have to move. To help with the pretence that all
is well, I have a regular clinical massage to ease the muscles. As I lay on the
massage bed this morning while Sarah persistently niggled at a spot that was
giving me a lot of trouble, I realised she and I had a lot more in common than
I’d first thought. She tried this way and that, from this side and then the
other, stretching, pressing, and kneading until she was satisfied with the
result.
It’s the same with writing. You have to
keep at something to get it right. You will never produce the best product you
can if you take short cuts or hurry it along. Sometimes you need to experiment,
and change things around. Maybe head off
down a different path when a difficult passage or scene just won’t come right
and see where it takes you. Sometimes, you have to leave it sit for a while,
and let it mature in the back of your mind, but in the end you have to keep
reworking it until the words and action are in the right order to create the
mood you want.
If I sit in the same position doing the
same thing every day and the result is pain - yet I keep doing it - that is
insanity. I know I have to mix things up. Stand for a while, walk about for a
time, stretch, change the height of my chair or the laptop – whatever is
necessary to change the result.
I can do the same with writing. If the
characters are being difficult and churlish and won’t do what I want, then I
have to work out what they want to do instead. I go for a walk or do some
gardening, or let the analytical and controlling side of my brain take over.
When that happens I find something else to do until the creativity brain
returns, and it always does.
Blogging is one way to keep writing and
keep the words flowing, and short social media comments sharpen the brain. Researching
and transcribing notes into sentences is yet another, and seeking inspiration
from images, comments and other blogs all help put things into perspective.
You can’t keep doing the same thing and
expect different results. If you feel you are getting nowhere and going round
in circles, try doing things in a different way and see what happens.
Vicky Adin
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