| By Kristina McMorris | December 16, 2009 |
Indeed, it’s that time of year again. The cold, often bleakly gray winter months are staring us straight in the eye and showing every sign of getting worse before they get better. Fortunately, 2009 RWA Golden Heart® winner Jeannie Lin may have just the antidote for us.
Aside from being gorgeous, gracious, and fabulously talented, Jeannie is the award-winning author of the upcoming debut, Butterfly Swords, an Asian-set historical romance from Harlequin Mills & Boon. And now, without further ado, I pass the keyboard over to Ms. Lin….
When I was invited to guest blog with the 007 crew, I felt compelled to write something action-oriented since I write action/adventure historicals. But the truth is, I’m not the action gal I’d like to be. Like most writers, I spend most of my time withmy butt in a chair. So I wanted to share how I got out of my last writing slump.
Last year I moved from sunny southern California to Missouri to marry my sweetheart. Yes, the things we do for love! One of the tough times for me is the winter. Sure, the cold and the snow can be a drag, but the lack of sunlight is what gets to me. It makes me feel so hum-drum and my whole body starts to slow down and go into hibernation mode.
Well, this year I suddenly found I just didn’t want to write come October. The butt was getting bigger and the WIP was not. Thus began the downward spiral:
I stubbornly tried to sit myself in front of the computer for a longer period each day. It’s because I don’t have enough time to write, I said to myself. I set the alarm clock for 5:00am and dragged myself to the desk still in my PJs. Then I proceeded to check e-mail and surf blogs. I’d Twitter and, this is the best one, whine about how I wasn’t writing in chat.
I don’t know if you do this, but for me the last book always seems so easy once it’s done. I overlook the mental breakdown I went through when my most trusted reader, the infamous Little Sis, returned my rough draft with this comment: “Everything after Chapter 12 needs to be rewritten. Please don’t hate me.”
While I was fondly reminiscing about how easy EVERY other book was before this one, I remembered how my most productive time was when I’d get up early and go running on the bike path in front of my old house in Burbank. The sun would just be rising and everything looked so clean and new. The scent of wild rosemary would be everywhere and sometimes I’d pass a house where they were cooking bacon for breakfast. The run would get my blood pumping and, in the endorphin/adrenaline glow, I would brainstorm what to write that day. Then I’d go back inside and start writing.
So one crisp morning last month, after commenting on about five different blogs and writing nothing on the WIP, I decided to throw on the running clothes, clip on my iPod shuffle, and run around the neighborhood in St. Louis.
Geez, it was freezing! (45 degrees is freezing to a California girl.) I lumbered back inside after running up and down the block twice.
And wrote.
The next day, I went to the gym instead. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill, then went home and wrote.
I know it’s all voodoo. In my head, I’ve equated getting up and running with my writing mojo. I’m sure for the next book I’m going to be all torn up again and have to figure out something else to drag myself out of the Molasses Swamp. For now, the WIP is finally done and the butt…well, it’s getting there.
What’s the voodoo that you do to keep yourself going?
December 16th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Thanks for inviting me over to party with the 007 gals Kristina!
I’m going to go for a run because having this post up is guilting me into getting moving! I’ll check back to comment later in the morning.
December 16th, 2009 at 5:55 am
Boy can I relate to the winter blues and struggling to write, Jeannie. In the spring, summer and fall I walk almost everyday, which helps get my brain working. There is something to that. In Winter. I step on my stepper but it doesn’t have the same effect. I need to be outside walking. So, I’m struggling to write, waiting for the days to get longer.
Best of luck with the next book!
December 16th, 2009 at 7:45 am
They have a name for the “lack of sunshine” disorder. It gets me every year. They call it SAD (Seasonal Effective Disorder) but sad is what it is, and by February, it’s what I am as well.
I have a treadmill, and I walk. I also dance. Dancing is usually joyous, so that, along with the exercise, helps alleviate the winter blues. I’m thinking about trying yoga, but its very stillness seems to defeat the purpose. However, since my flexibility is right up there with boxed spaghetti, it might be worth the effort.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:26 am
SAD. Yup, I know the feeling. I also know when I start feeling down, I’ve got to get moving. This morning in the frozen northeast, while listening to rockin’ Christmas caroles I danced with my vaccum cleaner. I feel better and my house is a little cleaner. Also, layed by the glass doors in the sunshine like a cat over the weekend soaking up the vitamin D.
Stay warm Jeannie.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Jerri – Movement helps me think too. Sometimes I wander around my living room when I brainstorm. My husband gives me strange looks.
Gwynlyn – Ugh, don’t remind me that we have another 2-3 months of this! There might be something to the yoga thing. All the yoga enthusiasts I know seem to have so much energy.
AJ – Some people can’t write if their desk isn’t clean, but that’s definitely not me.
We’re just starting to get ice here. St. Louis isn’t even cold as cold goes compared to the northeast, so I’m lucky for that.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Plus you get the added benefit of exercise!
I keep myself going by making the writing time feel special. As in, “I get to write ALL DAY on Saturday and no one can stop me!”
December 16th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Ohhh….I lived (and ran/jogged) in California for six years, Jeannie, and your description of the run in Burbank brought back many, many fond memories. And then we left Southern Cal. Sigh. While I have actually learned to like running on snow, the ice gets me every time–I have a skinned knee right now to prove it.
I never made the connection between running and writing, but it makes sense–those endorphins are mighty nice!
December 16th, 2009 at 9:36 am
I write best first thing in the morning. It think it has something to do with not having revved back up completely from the Alpha/Theta brainwave cycle to the Beta level.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:43 am
I’m like you! I’ve got a treadmill at home if it’s too cold (since I live in FL, it’s usually not) and the exercise always gets my endorphins going
December 16th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Kristina and Jeannie, thanks for the great post.
Jeannie your downward-spiral flow chart made me laugh in total self recognition! I go to a gym (not nearly often enough, of course), but when I’m doing it regularly, I might not get *more* writing done, but I *do* feel less frustrated with myself and my body… Wonderful reminder to do it today!!
December 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Katie, Marilyn & Elise – I think the true connection between exercise in writing is they’re two things I like to make excuses about, but know I need to be doing because they’re good for me.
Victoria – I like that! Make it something you GET to do instead of HAVE to do. The mind tricks we have to play on ourselves!
Laurie – And when you write in the morning, you don’t have to spend all day thinking…I haven’t written at all today. WAHHH!
December 16th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Great post Jeannine~
I just got a Wii fit plus. Someone told me that Nora got one and lost 20 pounds she really didn’t need to lose, she always looks so fit and amazing. Still, I have a feeling that Nora did more than just buy it and look at it–which is about as much as I’ve done with mine. Just so you know, I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work.
Now if I could just get my 14 year-old to leave the room for a half hour, I might actually try to use it. Unfortunately, she’s always with me (have I mentioned home schooling can be dangerous to ones health?) Still, I’d rather be fat than use the Wii fit in front of an audience and be laughed at by my skinny ballerina daughter.
December 16th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Oooo…my “anti-spam word” was “action.” A sign from the heavens that I should be following your advice and go to the gym.
My heart goes out to you, Jeannie, on the trials of moving from CA to the midwest!
For work reasons, my LA-born husband and I moved to central Ohio, to a town that has as many gray days per year as Seattle. (Without all the good parts of Seattle.) SAD really got to him. Before another moment passes, get on the Web and research “light box.” Light boxes mimic natural sunlight, and you just sit beside one for a few minutes each morning during the dark part of the year, and it really, really helps with SAD. I grew up on the East Coast, so the grayness didn’t bother me much, but just walking past the light box glow in the mornings gave me a little mood-bounce.
We’re back in California now…. where I should be taking advantage of the good weather to go out and exercise. Maybe tomorrow….
Also, thanks for the reminder to avoid “the last book was so easy” syndrome!
December 16th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Wow, you ladies have been busy this morning. But hey, I’m on PST, so that’s my excuse for being fashionably tardy to the 007 party.
Welcome, Jeannie! Thanks for the fabulous post. Now you’ve got me itching to hit the treadmill. Thanks…. I think.
I used to live in Burbank too, and the recollection of visibly brown air remains imprinted in my mind. You are one dedicated runner, I tell ya. Then again, with your description of a “clean and new” neighborhood scented with “wild rosemary,” you and I clearly lived in different areas. LOL.
And Robin — if you’re doing Wii Fit the way my kids have figured out how to play Wii Sports (by sitting firmly on the couch), then that might explain the ineffective weight loss. Ha. Love ya!
December 16th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Jeannie, I used to buy every exercise tool imaginable (I even bought one of those vibrating machines) but they ended up as clothes hangers. Now my best method is to clean some stalls. When I’m stuck on a plot, just grabbing the pitchfork seems to knock the slug out of my brain.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Wow, did you strike a chord with me. Every bit of what you wrote sounded familiar. I can find all kinds of things to do on the computer and not write a single word of my m/s.
Exercise is really helpful for stirring up the juices and yet we all fight it. If I put as much effort into fitness as I do into procrastination… I still wouldn’t be a world-class athlete, but I could probably button my smaller jeans.
Maybe I should invest in the Wii after all?
*sigh* This is me, opening my Word documents, getting back to work on the story.
Thanks for the pep-talk!
December 16th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Jeannie, thanks for guest blogging today. Great blog. I can totally relate with having to exercise to get the blood pumping and the mind working. I seem to have all around better days on exercise day.Lately I have been dreading going to the gym, but I am always always glad that I did when it’s over.
Thanks for the inspiration to keep going!
December 16th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Hello everyone! Taking a much needed breather from the day job for a minute here.
Robin – Wii fit…what a wonderful gift idea for um…my husband. Yes! Are they super hot this year? Can I get them still? Nora also doesn’t have problems writing 20 pages a day either. She probably doesn’t even need voodoo.
Elisa B. – I had a whole set of other excuses in California.
Enjoy the nice weather.I’ll be out there this weekend.
Kristina – We were practically neighbors! It was a lovely little lane that they had just built a bikepath down and planted flowers and rosemary everywhere. Now keep in mind that when I was there, I had never lived anywhere else. I didn’t know what real air was supposed to look like.
Bev – Stalls…does that mean horses? *giddy* I know nothing about horses but I have them in my stories so I always have to go asking around about them.
Laurel & Theresa – A couple of writer buddies of mine started a blog called “Fat Chicks Running”. The exercise dilemma and the writing dilemma really do go hand in hand!
December 16th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Hey Jeannie & Kristina!
Oohh, I really like the idea of using voodoo to break out of those blocked moments. And I really hate the idea of it being by running. For me, that is! I think it’s great that running works for you. But I’m scared to find out it would work for me, b/c that would mean I’d need to, well, run. LOL
One thing I do to help with feeling ‘blocked’ is ask myself “What’s the worst thing that could happen in this scene?” Then I write exactly that. That approach helps me a lot!
Thanks for the blog, ladies!
December 16th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
It is horse stalls, Jeannie. Have to clean them daily–probably keep them cleaner than the house. And I think every book is better with a horse in it. Looking forward to reading Butterfly Swords!
December 16th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
I have no great writing secret. *sigh* But when I’m done with homework, housework, kid-stuff and emails, there’s usually a little time…
Great post, Jeannie
December 17th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Hi there Kris! Trust me, I’m mostly happy after the run is done. I’ve heard people get addicted to it and HAVE to run. I wish…
Bev – Another person to consult on horse sense. I’m so excited!
Jodi – I don’t know how people with children do this! I’m dreaming that this gets easier by the time I’m there…but it never gets easier, does it?
December 17th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
I love it! I was laughing when I read your sister’s response to your WIP–it sounds like something ours would say. But, you gotta love the honesty.
Anyways, I’ve been in a bit of an excercise slump myself (Lisa is far better at getting her butt to the gym). When I read about you running, it seriously made me want to bundle on up and head on out. Maybe, just maybe. But I think you’re right…exercise (especially early in the morning) gets the juices flowing. Thanks for the post!
December 20th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
SAD lamp and I have a loving relationship, I can tell you! I get up every morning and write (or recently, edit), but I may have to resort to more drastic methods come February. That’s my usual worst SAD time, when friendships are tested and sometimes destroyed. If anyone knows the name of the senator who propossed moving daylight savings time back, please let me know. I need to contribute to his competitor. ;D
February 8th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
I apprise your theme close to this good post. I had to let you know that I didn’t determine such kind of talented writer until this time. Could you write the truly professional dissertation and just doctoral thesis?