There’s a lot of talk about authenticity these days. “Be real,” they tell us. Show your true self. Be honest in your writing. Take away the masks. I’m all for being authentic. In fact, I have a hard time being any other way. When I was a teenager, it oftenContinue Reading
Writing can be exhausting. When I have finished an eight or nine-hour day at the keyboard—tied there because of a tight deadline—I come away physically and mentally drained. My muscles are stiff and my eyes are scratchy. It’s been a tough day at the office. I’ve found a couple ofContinue Reading
Funny thing happened to me this past weekend. I had planned a 10-day writing retreat by the ocean to pound out the edits for my literary novel that’s coming out next April. (Read more about Loreena’s Gift here.) The plans had been in the works for months. To accomplish theContinue Reading
People laugh when I say writing is hard on your body. They imagine me a sitting comfortably in a chair all day long, but that’s precisely the problem. I don’t want to die like the French novelist, Honoré de Balzac. He was plagued with health problems because he often spendContinue Reading
Think back to your childhood. What happened when you cried? Did your mother soothe you, try to fix what hurt? What happened when you were happy? Did you see that emotion mirrored in your parents’ smiling faces? Now, what happened when you got angry? Raised your voice? Slammed the door?Continue Reading
Definitely the sitting [is the biggest physical challenge]. Sometimes at the end of a writing session, it takes me a few minutes to get my rusty hips to unbend and ease me into a standing position. I think I’d have to put tired eyes/headaches as runner up. I have aContinue Reading
Sitting is the new smoking, as they say. Of all the things that wear away at our health, sitting for hours is one of the big ones. I covered this in a previous post. (You can read more about the dangers of sitting here.) Briefly, recent studies have found thatContinue Reading
My life has always included physical activity. Main sports included golfing, swimming, running 10Ks, and playing softball. I learned in my youth the value of stretching to prepare muscles for these activities, and to avoid injury. Sure writing is sedentary, but it doesn’t cause physical problems for me because ofContinue Reading
While spending some time with my family recently, I had the pleasure of watching again the great movie, “Miss Potter,” about the life and writing career of children’s book author Beatrice Potter. I thought I remembered it quite well, but it’s been years since I first saw it, and IContinue Reading
I started writing four years ago after the primary school I was working in closed down. It was a small private school in a converted detached house and my main classroom was on the first floor, while the stock room, toilets, dining room and other classrooms I taught in wereContinue Reading
We talked about what your computer could be doing to your face in a previous post. Now, it’s time to reveal the truth about what it can do to your skin. Use gadgets like computers, tablets, and smartphones in the sun and you could be increasing your risk of skinContinue Reading
I’m so excited to have Karen sharing her thoughts here on Writing and Wellness. She is a prolific writer, editor, AND publisher, so she knows about the difficulties writers face from all angles. Enjoy! I’m not the kind of person who can squeeze in 10 or 20 minutes here andContinue Reading