Writing before the Week Ends

“It's hell writing and it's hell not writing. The only tolerable state is having just written.” - Robert Hass




I have always had this question: should a writing career be shaped like any other? People work all week, and then take rest at the end of the week. Any kind of writing should be out of bounds during the weekend - theoretically.

Over the years, I have come to realize that, writing, when interspersed with breaks, can be continued for the long haul. After a point of intense celebration, the brain stops making any more sentences. Five/week days is lengthy enough to write extended pieces, like stories and novel chapters. Each day of the week, if it results in a few thousand words, can take the writer a far way.

I have personally stumbled upon activities unrelated to writing to be very useful in rejuvenating the mind. Any hobby is useful. Music, movies, painting, traveling, trekking, boating, dancing, exercise - the list can go on. About exercise, it's usefulness to a writer cannot be overstated. Since writing is cerebral, some form of physical activity, especially, can open up the mind.

I am saying this from personal experience. I have noticed that I am more productive when I fit in some time of stretching or yoga, where the body is put under stress rather than the mind. If I spend more time at the gym, then its outcome is more writing, and, I would say, better.

This topic of resting the brain (not the mind) indirectly also points to the issue of 'writer's block' that is so widely talked about. What is actually writer's block? Is it actually a block, or something one can work around, with rest, recreation, and exercise?

Yes, it is about Food!

The last few weeks had been an intense probing into my diet, routine, exercise, my sleep pattern, bicycling, yoga. But first and foremost, about cutting down calories. I've been gaining weight, and the first thing I wanted to do was to get back to normal range, which would be 105 pounds.

That my current weight in 130 lb and BMI 24 has done little to elevate my mood about my situation. No one needs to point me out that I needed to do it in earnest. That it should be a war effort, that I really needed to motivate myself to eat less, and that if I wanted to avoid a pre-diabetic state, I must buck up to work hard.

And so here I am, maintaining a food diary diligently. For every piece of cake, breakfast cereal, every morsel of rice, every glass of juice, I have entered the calorie values against them on a page of my notebook.

I can hardly see any difference in me since I started this activity, and I am about to lose enthusiasm. Eating less has not lowered my weight fast and drastically, I way I want. It has been extremely slow. It has taken me weeks to lower 3 lbs. Is that good enough? When would I get to 105 lb? That goal seems very far away.