Many of my friends and acquaintances are currently in the midst of the sheer madness that is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal: to write a book (yes, sir, that’s right a whole book) in (gasp) 30 days!
You’ve spent the past eight days bent over the keyboard or notebook writing away. When you aren’t writing you’re obsessing over where your manuscript is going and what you still want to happen. You can’t be at your full creative potential if you’re trapped in a room, so my tip of the day is : Go for a walk!
It has been proven that one of the times you are most creative and best able to problem solve is when you step away from your project. Take a half-hour and go out into the world and walk. If you have a music playlist for your project, listen to that. Otherwise just walk and ponder whatever problem you are trying to work out. If you’ve reached the end of the half-hour and still feel stifled, go another 15…or 20!
Getting out and moving isn’t just good for you creatively, your body needs to get and move about as well. If you have a dog, well he/she is dying to go as well.
When you get back, you can get back to your novel with renewed purpose and a re-energized mind.