Comments on: Breathing Exercises: A Guest Blog by Janice Elsheimer

By: Kitty Bucholtz

Kitty Bucholtz — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:39:22 +0000

Ooooohhhhh. Now I get it. I’ve never really understood why I should leave home if I’m home by myself and no one is bothering me. But now I get it. Okay, I will for sure go out in the next week!

And I think I’m going to take some time to create a playlist, too. Thanks, Janice! This is really helpful!

By: Janice.Elsheimer

Janice.Elsheimer — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:45:43 +0000

We all need time to ourselves, and even if we get it at home as opposed to going out somewhere, that’s better than no time at all. I think that time spent making playlists of music that inspires us is time well spent. I used to have certain classical LPs I’d put on whenever I had to write an essay in high school and college. Handel’s “Water Music” for lyrical, poetic writing, and Shostakovitch’s Fifth Symphony for passionate, persuasive writing.

Spending an hour or so of creative or relaxing things at home is great, but I really want to encourage writers to get away from home for their breathing exercises. There’s always something at home to pull us out of that “breathing in” mental state I’m talking about here. “Breathing out” is producing, whether it’s writing or scrapbooking or gourmet cooking or doing watercolors or working in our gardens. The point is, when you work at home, you’re mostly producing, not taking in. Reading, of course, should be part of our writers’ life, and it’s a way of “taking in” too. But I’m talking about getting out of our usual space so we can experience new impressions and ideas in a less familiar environment than what we call “home.”

Try it! I think you’ll be surprised.

By: Kitty Bucholtz

Kitty Bucholtz — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:22:56 +0000

It’s good to know that I’m not the only one who doesn’t feel the need to leave home to get re-energized. (I don’t have kids – that’s part of it, I’m sure! LOL!) I spent Sunday afternoon reading the last quarter or third of a Dresden Files book that I was loving. What a fabulous day!

And yesterday I realized that there is no morning sun on the balcony of our new apartment, so I wrote on my AlphaSmart out there for a while. The birds were just going crazy with their spring songs and I wrote like a mad woman. It felt so good!! (Except I also realized the balcony door LOCKS and there is no key! So my warm feelings were sprinkled with a little fear of being locked out! LOL!)

Janice, what is your opinion on creating music soundtracks for writing? I’ve heard some people love them, but it seems like it could be a procrastination technique as well. Since NaNo is a time to experiment, I’m thinking about trying one – so long as it doesn’t keep me from hitting 50,000 words by the 30th!

By: Stephanie Shackelford

Stephanie Shackelford — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:59:24 +0000

Janice, the breathing exercises are one of the things I remember from the first time I read your book, back in 2005. This past year, as I’ve pulled myself out of the slump I was in, one of the things I’ve done is to allow myself time to read for fun, play with my scrapbooking projects. It’s helped. Your post reminds me a few other breathing in activities might be in order. Thanks!