Walking or running, we are in forward motion, at least most of the time. To turn around and walk or run backwards is disorienting, but I do it anyway, partly for that reason.
To break up and balance the sedentary activity of writing I often go for a walk or run. It could be procrastination, however healthy. Sometimes I feel I’m escaping the challenge of creating a novel from nothing but my thoughts and research. It feels risky, fraught with vulnerability. There’s much less at stake in taking a walk.
When I turn around, challenging myself, usually on hills, to walk and then run backwards, I’m thrown out of my comfort zone. I can’t see what is behind me so I try to pick paths I know pretty well, ones that aren’t too heavily traveled or bumpy. This gives my proprioceptors a work out, along with the backside of my legs. Running up hills backwards always makes me smile. And when I get back to writing, it somehow feels easier.
Have you tried it? What kinds of things do you do to break up your writing life?
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