Walking and Writing by Rochelle Melander

For me, poetry is related to walking. Words and images fill me when I wander somewhere alone. Writer Bruce Chatwin lived with nomads and believed inspiration, as well as true rest, could best be found in motion. Sometimes I wish I could walk forever, jotting down notes and words. —Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge, Poemcrazy

When I am writing a book, I walk daily. When I am not writing a book, walking helps me generate ideas for new projects. This past year we adopted a dog, and I became an all-season walker (instead of a fair weather walker). And good thing, too! I find that writing books requires long stretches of sitting—a practice that researchers have discovered is bad for your health. According to the research, even regular exercisers are adversely affected by sitting too much. Yikes!

This winter and spring, I’ve tried to combat my sitting habit by walking around the house once an hour, standing during coaching calls, and taking short breaks to do yoga. Active breaks stimulate my thinking process. I tend to get better solutions to my writing conundrums when I am moving around instead of sitting and staring at the computer.

This week, in honor of spring and walking, I am giving away my copy of the book, The Idiot’s Guide to Walking for Health. On Wednesday, I will be posting a writing exercise you can do while walking. And on Thursday, I will be posting a review of the book. How can you win? Everyone who posts a comment on the blog this week will be entered in a drawing to win the book.

Today, let me know how walking has influenced your writing. And, if you have found a way to combat all of the sitting that writing requires—let me know!

Thanks!

PS: Bob Roman, you won the last contest. Send me an email at rochelle@writenowcoach with your address, and I will mail you the book!