Recharge Your Batteries

We all work with a limited amount of resources. As writers we tend to abuse one of the most important sources we have at our disposal, energy. I have been known to burn the candle from both ends and at times I find that I light it in the middle, too. That puts a lot of stress on the process of creating and letting the words flow, in my case down my right arm to the pen hovering over my journal.

We all need to stop and get our batteries recharged. Most of my novels take place in the outdoors, the countryside, the wilderness and along creek, streams and rivers. Today, I took time out and went for a long walk along the bike trails in Sioux Falls, which amble along the banks of Skunk Creek and the Big Sioux River as they meander about the city. My wife and I have a beagle named Roxy. She was my companion today as I walked probably five miles or so. I didn’t measure the distance; because it just wasn’t important. What was important was the scenery, the companionship of my dog, the wildlife, and the people I saw along the way. The geese, the ducks, the hawks and eagles were the same, but the faces of the people were not. The way the people walked and carried themselves was different, too. More fodder for my character book that I keep. The fresh air was wonderful and gave me something for description. The temperature was near 40 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale; which is highly unusual during February in South Dakota.

The next is sleep. Like my last few posts have shown, for me sleep is part of the writing process. It is important that I get at least six hours of sleep per night. I get up refreshed and ready to write. Get out in your environment and plug your batteries in and let them recharge. It is invaluable to your craft of writing.

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