Though we could have stayed one more day soaking up the sun in Myrtle Beach, me & Bill decided to come back earlier. That was a great idea since you KNOW I had tons of laundry to do yesterday!
With all that out of the way, I'm able to enjoy this last day off from work. We 40-somethings get up early anyway, force of habit, so I was out of bed not much later than I would've gotten up from work. Breakfast was heavenly! Enjoyed it out on the porch while doing some scribbling on my WIP.
But you know how it it when you're back at home; you're also back to your routine. For me, exercise is part of my routine. It's not just something I do to keep fit; I've done it for so long that it's just a part of my life now.
Instead of going to the gym, which I can do any day, I decided to head out for a walk on the greenway. Just me, my Ipod, the trail in the woods and the book I'm working on right now.
Because walking is so much more than just exercise. It's a writing tool--at least for me, it is. Writing isn't something that should be always be done within the confines of your workspace, whether it's your private office at home or on a bench in the park on your lunch hour, or wherever you do your writing. There's that part of writing that's done without pen or PC, that part of the creative process that occurs before we get anywhere near a notebook or keyboard.
Now since I'm working on a book that will be written under my Consuelo Vazquez pen name, I listened to a bit of Celia Cruz and Tito Puento during that hour. When your feet, clad in sneakers, are hitting the trail, and you're closing out all the clutter that life throws at you, and you're connecting with nature (especially in the morning, it seems), the muse will meet you there.
Parts of the story began to unravel. Especially for someone like me, who doesn't write quite as much as I used to, it's nice to know my imagination still works! LOL! Stories are amazing things. But they have to amaze US first, the authors. If they don't, they'll never touch our readers, and that's a fact. This story, that is as yet in its baby stages, scenes of it became very clear to me as the sunlight peeked in through the trees and washed onto the footbridge ahead of me on my 3 mile-long walk. Like a movie that plays across the screen of your mind, for those of us who rely on the "unheard" rather than a complicated outline that's going to change several times before the story ends, anyway.
Now home, I'm putting off trying out our new pool until I get back from Office Max. I'm going to follow the advice of another writer I once read, who suggested treating yourself to some "back-to-school" treats. Since, yes, I DO write by hand first (usually) and then type it into a document on MS Word (sometimes you need to "touch" the story), I'll be picking up a couple of neat, new notebooks, pens and pencils and other fun junk, and then I'll be ready to write.
So if the weather's nice out there, writers, put off the gym today. Load up your MP3 players with whatever music that's apropros for your current WIP. Lace up your sneakers. Find the nearest park, woods, wherever there are trees and birds and the scent of fresh air.
The muse will be there waiting for you.
And hey--your heart will thank you, too! ;D
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