Writing Advice: Warming Up
Cassius Alexander asks this month’s question: “[H]ow do you prepare to sit down for a writing session? As a visual artist, I'm supposed to do warm ups to flex some muscles (physical and mental) to get ready. Do you recommend anything similar for writers?”
This is an interesting question that was fun to think about. I do have a couple things I do, and I’ll tell you those. Then I’m going to suggest a few others that might be useful to people, because everyone’s brain is different, and last, I’ll talk about some general best practices around your writing sessions.
First off, a bit about my brain: I can write in many different situations and I can flip into writing mode quickly. I’m writing this post in the front seat of a car as my partner drives, for example. So I don’t have many needs when it comes to “get into writing mode,” but I do have a few habits that help.
I listen to music while I’m writing; in fact, silence is distracting. So the first thing I do is turn on music. I prefer music I already know and nothing with a story (eg, not Hamilton), because that distracts the writing part of my mind. Then, if I’m working on an ongoing project, I read back through the last work I did on it to get me back into the flow of thinking about it.
That’s it for me. But because other people work differently, I came up with a few things you might try to kick off your writing sessions:
Read a bit of short fiction. Reading helps slide your mind into creative mode. Obviously, you don’t want to take up your whole writing time with reading, but a flash fiction or two could help you get into the groove.
https://www.flashfictiononline.com/ has some good ones. (This might not be one for you if you are the kind of writer, as I can be, who starts to mimic the style of whatever they’ve most recently read.)
Short guided meditation. If you struggle with outside world thoughts intruding on your writing time, a five-minute guided meditation is worth exploring. The practice helps you center and focus—try holding the idea of what you’re about to write as you go through the meditation. You can find many of them on YouTube or in any meditation/wellness app.
Wrist/arm stretches. You’re going to be typing, so it’s worth doing some work on those muscles and joints before you get started. (This is one I might pick up.) Also, physical activity helps you focus on your body and get out of your head. Here are some stretches; you can easily look up others: https://www.healthline.com/health/chronic-pain/wrist-and-hand-stretches#building-strength
Along those lines, a short brisk walk before you write can be helpful too. Getting your blood flowing, getting outside to expose you to something outside your writing room, breaking you out of your “seated in front of computer” habit—all that will help.
The most important thing for me is that whatever you do, you’ve got to do it regularly. Teach yourself that whatever your warmup routine is, that means you’re about to start writing.
I sometimes write in coffee shops. Usually I’m more productive there than I am at home (not so much that I want to walk down there every day, but noticeably). Partly that’s because when I’m at the coffee shop, my mind knows it’s time to write. At home, I answer emails and do other business tasks at my computer, but at the coffee shop, it’s writing time!
(I think it also helps to put my AirPods in. That makes me feel more isolated and therefore in writerly mode. I have tried this at home and it sort of works but I don’t want to have them in all day so I use it sparingly.)
So try a few things to help yourself get into the mindspace of writing and keep doing them. Establishing a routine can be as helpful as any of the exercises in that routine. The more you do them, the more you’re training yourself to write when it’s time to write. Good luck!