Bad Writing, Fast Writing, and Why I Do Insanity-Style Workouts

(Was tempted to title this post “Yey, this post doesn’t suck!” but decided to go with something slightly more accurate. :-p And now on to business…) 


A lot of times writers hear writing discussed with exercise phrasing: gotta work it every day, have to build up stamina, don’t use it you lose it. Okay, maybe not the latter, but still, the practice of writing is a lot like working out.

1. You should do it every day. Or at least on a schedule. To get good, or at least better than when you began, you have to put the time in. Even scheduling in days off. If you’re a workaholic writer like me, that can be especially hard to do, but the facts are that tremendous word counts (like over 2,000 words per day) take a toll on the mind and body, and you have to pace yourself to avoid hitting a wall.

2. Don’t expect to be good right out of the box. It takes years to build muscle, to increase stamina, to finally fit in those jeans you always wanted to. No one goes to the gym for a week, or a month, even a year, and becomes an Olympic athlete. Writing and exercise are less goals than they are lifestyle choices. You have to work to be good at them, to master your form, to gain speed and agility.

3. Challenge yourself. A phrase I heard the other day that resonated with me was “if you don’t fail, you’re not pushing yourself.” We all fail. Sometimes we need to do things we know we’re going to fail at. At first. (One-arm pushups anyone?) But if you keep pushing that challenge, keep learning your weaknesses, build that muscle, and practice, eventually you’ll realize things you never thought your body or your writing could do.

I do High-Intensity Interval Training or Insanity style workouts on an almost daily basis and did for years before I got pregnant with twins, carried on through the pregnancy, and continued as soon as my body allowed following the C-Section. I was weak. I (naively) didn’t know childbirth would be that big of a setback. I built myself back slowly, getting back to my original weight within months of giving birth. I also started writing again, on a consistent basis, every day while I bonded with my breast pump. Eventually those twenty minute writing sessions have turned into an hour+ and the workouts have gone from Insanity-inspired to straight up Insanity. I’m writing more on a regular basis than I ever dreamed possible and am in better shape physically (and mentally most of my family argues!) than ever. I feel great (most days, though as moms with toddlers will attest, this is relative), and couldn’t be happier with the way one exercise feeds the other.

A Few Pitfalls to Consider...

Fast writing might be a sloppy first draft, but should not mean a poor quality finished product. When people hear write fast, I think they interpret that as not writing well. These two are not mutually exclusive. First, define what good writing means for you. Some people like pulp sci-fi or trashy romance. And that’s fine. If that’s what you like and what you want to write, go for it! Some people might prefer something higher brow, more literary in bent, and that’s fine too. The point is to define what is appealing and what is possible for where you are and where you want to be as a writer, and to go with it.

Build from where you are, not where you think you should be. Have to admit that I shamelessly stole this phrase from my Spousal-Type Creature. He says this all the time, how people need to be evaluated on where they are, not where you think they should be. We’re all at different levels, and the level we see ourselves at may or may not be accurate. So the key here is being realistic, seeing what’s really there, and making decisions based off real data, not the stuff we imagine about ourselves.

Have fun! It’s easy to get lost in the goal—write a book, make a daily word count, build a six-pack, what have you—and forget that the process by which we get there, writing daily, eating well, making that commitment to work your body forty minutes a day, is the part we should be enjoying. Life can happen while we’re not looking; kids will grow up regardless of how your abs look and that ultimate daily word count will continue to avoid us. But if we’re present, live in the moment, enjoy the process of getting from one place to another and really experience what’s going on along the way, then those word counts and six-packs don’t matter as much, because we’re sure having a kick ass time getting there!

Thoughts? Questions? I’d love to hear from readers! So if you have any thoughts, please drop a line in the comments. Thanks! And have a wonderful day :-)