In preparation for NaNoWriMo, I have dusted off a few of my writing books from my bookshelf and started to delve into one in particular, “A Writer’s Workbook” by Caroline Sharp. It provides daily exercises for writers, and I can’t think of a better time to practice some of these exercises.
The first set of exercises are for warming up, and take only a few minutes to complete. I love this idea of warming up, and I think I should practice these everyday anyways. I am a fitness instructor and I never start a workout or start a training session or class without warming-up. It’s vital to our fitness, as it literally warms up our muscles, making them more flexible, and helps prevent injuries during strenuous exercise. My husband is an artist, and even he warms up before starting his sessions.
So, why don’t I warm up before I start writing? Get those creative juices flowing. Sharpen the mind a little. Practice descriptive vocabulary. And get a jump start on my own project with more motivation.
Here are a couple examples of warm-up exercises for the writer:
A. List 10-20 movies or shows you’ve seen, or books you’ve read. Next to each title, write a synopsis of that movie, show, or book with just ONE sentence. It can be a long sentence if you like, but not a huge run on that matches the like of Charles Dickens. This is a great exercise to practice summarizing plot, and assessing the big picture. Think: elevator pitch for your own story. This might also help when looking for agents after your book is written.
B. Resume’ Thesaurus- Pick a career (lawyer, for example) and write down as many different types of that job title you can think of (for lawyer it could be divorce, real estate, copyright, tax, etc). Explore further and pick one of those specialties and see if you can break it down even further (divorce lawyer: same-sex marriage, custody, financial/property disputes). Some examples given:
- Doctor
- Circus
- Teacher
- Writer
- Chef
- Singer
- Zookeeper
- Fitness Instructor
- Researcher
- Artist
C. Abstract description- write a paragraph, without preparation, on one of the following words. The only rule is you can’t use the actual word in your description.
- Circle
- Staircase
- House
- An animal (pick a specific animal to describe)
- Classical music
- Color red (or any color, really)
- Hot soup
- Rain
- Cold weather
- Pillow
- Kissing
- Tornado
- Perfume
- Warm socks
- Fire
- Purr of a cat
- Silk
- Crying
- Being nauseous
- Your favorite food
Doing one exercise from these three choices every day shouldn’t be time-consuming, and in fact, may get the gears going enough to provide an incredibly productive writing session.
Here’s my first warm-up exercise:
Resume’ Thesaurus-
Zookeeper: Carnivore, bird/aviary, marine mammal, hoofstock, African savanna, primate, animal programs, raptor, reptile, nursery, aquarium, farm/petting zoo, feline, nocturnal.
Now, I could break each down even more specifically, but that would take all day, so I’ll just pick one- Marine mammal (I have experience in this realm) to detail specifics:
Dolphin show, dolphin interactions, sea lion/pinniped show, marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, quarantine, feeder pool animals, Northern species- sea otters, walrus, polar bears, and belugas. Of course, there’s also orca trainers, and some marine mammal specialists also take care of aquatic birds like penguins and alcids (puffins).
Onto my daily work:
I did several workouts today.
7 am New You Ladies
3 rounds of 8 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)
1 lap farmer carry
5 ring rows
10 Lateral band walks (each directions)
15 American Kettlebell Swings
3:30 pm Wendler
Back Squat (5, 3, 1+)
5 minute AMRAP of Pistol Squats
Annie- 50-40-30-20-10 of Double Unders and Sit-ups (triple the number if doing single jumps)
6:00 Halloween Family Fitness at SIC
Mostly just did coaching
800 m row
Witches’ Warm-up
Spirit of Halloween Circuit:
Trick or Treat T-Twist Plank
Spooky Spyhops (Squat Jumps)
Pumpkin Push-ups
Cauldron Carry
Jumping Jack o’lanterns
Shrieking Shuttle Sprints
Breakfast- Egg white omelette with turkey sausage
Lunch- Turkey Vegetable meatballs
Snack- paleo trail mix and pumpkin muffin
and then I attended the family fitness Halloween event, and everything went downhill from there- pumpkin spice bagels, rice krispie treats, chips, and pie. But, you know, no candy, so I’ll accept that as a win!
ZooFit Tip: Working out is super good for you, but what good does it do you if you are dreading it and not having a lot of fun? Halloween is my favorite time of year, and I love dressing up. So why not go all out and have some fun while getting fit? I designed a Halloween workout, and I dressed in a perfect costume for a fitness instructor- an 80’s Aerobics Instructor! I got physical, physical with the 7 am ladies class and beat it, beat it with some cool families at Family Fitness Friday. How you keep your workouts fun and fabulous is totally up to you, but just remember that the best fitness routine is one that isn’t routine. Spice things up and let go!