Words are Reps: a Writing Workout

Non-physical creative work, writing fiction or non-fiction or painting or similar feels hard. Because there is no immediate tangible feedback. You don't feel a lump of clay forming under your hands. There is no muscle strain that comes from squats or push-ups. There is no visceral pleasure in overcoming a physical barrier.

Instead, you are faced with a blank page or canvas with the nagging question; where do I place the first brush stroke or what should be the first word? This can be debilitating; writer's block.

How have I overcome this?

Quite simply, really. I treat writing as a workout with reps (words) and sets (numbers of words written). One set equals "x" words. For example, I will stop now because this "set" has 130 reps in it.

Set 2

A short break to do some physical exercise, some Tai Chi inspired horse stance sways to loosen up the hips and some windmills to loosen up the shoulders. Now I return for the second set of this article.

The impact of recording all this in a spreadsheet cannot be underestimated. Seeing the first set sitting there with 130 in its cell is a small motivation to keep at it. And want to fill in the second set with a similar number. It is said that what gets measured gets done and it is true.

I have never considered the granular measurement we use for physical workouts to be applicable to intellectual work. But the same psychological discipline, and rewards, apply. Set 2 is now complete at 265 words total.

Set 3

Back again, refreshed.

Set 3 is the grind. The initial euphoria has worn off and the realisation that there are still two sets to go after this one is starting to kick-in. Wednesday is hump-day, so too is Set Three. Once it is done, I am over halfway through this article. So let's just get on with it.

This article is as much for me as it is for you. It clarifies why I love writing but have such a difficult time actually doing it. It is somehow easier to get up and go for a long walk than it is to sit down and churn out 600-odd words. Which is completely counter-intuitive but there you go.

And, before we know it, we are at 390-odd words and the set is complete. The discipline to stop is equally important as the discipline to sit and write. We need to rest from this, too.

Set 4

Yes, the discipline to stop actually feeds the creative urge. For it gives me time to pause and reflect, the result of which is that I look forward to returning to the keyword. The alternative is staring at it as a torture device to be avoided.

Interspersing writing sets with mobility sets works wonders. Write for 130 words, do 30 hip sways and 20 windmills. Come back refreshed. Write 130 words, do 20 deep squats and 20 ankle rotations. Come back refreshed. Write 130 words, do 20 of the World's Greatest Stretch (10 each side). Come back refreshed. And so on.

I can well imagine writing 130-odd words in the 10 gaps between 11 mobility exercises. Before we know it, there are some 1500 words on the page and one complete set of mobility exercises done. And now we're at 560 words. Set complete.

Set 5, Final Set

What a marvellous morning routine I have inadvertently created. James Clear talks about stacking habits. I already have a morning habit of mobility and TUT exercises. My new morning routine is now: wake up, weigh-in, walk for 1-2 km to clear the fog. Make coffee.

Mobility exercise one; write, say, 150 words.

Mobility exercise two; write 150 words.

And so on for 11 exercises. And 1500 words are on the page.

Now TUT, mobility, TUT, cut-down mobility to keep the old body in shape.

Walk for 3-5 km.

And in the first 2-3 hours of my day I have put 1500 words down and completed my physical workout.

Rinse and repeat for good physical health and about 10 000 words per week.

What's not to love!