The secrets to happy living (as suggested by a magazine article I read this week):
– Give more
– Care less
– Get a dog
Apply these to writing and… well, the same applies, don’t you think?
Give more…. thought/time/effort over to writing
Care less…. about what people think/expect of your writing
Get a dog….. to inspire creative thinking on walks/relax you/listen to your, er, writerly woes…
I also read this week about ‘The Slow Death of Purposeless Walking‘, which only reiterates the point about getting a dog – they make you make time for walking purposelessly and letting the mind wander off as well. Plenty of time for ideas to float into your brain when it’s dragged away from technology, chores, etc etc. Many great writers walked purposelessly A Lot but then, they had much less with which to occupy their time. There was, heaven forbid, no internet for Dickens or Yeats – no TV or box sets or social media. They had time on their hands and they walked. And thought.
It’s a bank holiday today and it’s blowy out, but I’ve already had one walk today and another is due this evening. Before I got a dog, I never took these two hours a day to ‘walk purposelessly’, but you know what? They often do the power of good (provided it’s not lashing and blowing a gale…)
So, seize the May Day and walk purposelessly for a while. You might just be surprised.