30 things I've learnt from 5 years being published: no 16 – you will need to do some exercise
September 6 2023 marks 5 years since my first novel was released 😲
I’ve now published 6, and have 2 more under contract.
To celebrate, I’m sharing a new post about what I’ve learnt from being published EVERY DAY throughout the month. This post is part of that series!
Click here for the rest →
There are some writers out there who like exercise. If you are one of these rare, mythical creatures then this post is not for you and you can just (literally) jog on by feeling smug and blessed.
For the rest of us though, I’m sorry to break it to you but the writing life will make you unfitter than anything you could ever imagine.
I’m not sure if unfitter is a word but you get my meaning.
I have a confession to make (yes another one, that’s kind of the point of this blog series) - I wrote my first two novels in bed. Mostly. Sometimes I’d sit on the sofa in the evening and write there. But often I’d write first thing in the morning before I got up and had a shower or did any of the normal civilised things you should do in the morning.
And of course, I ended up with crippling backache.
We are sold a dream when we think about life as a full-time author. We imagine working in our pyjamas, never having to leave the house, sitting around reading, surrounded by books.
And all those things are great on some level, but they are also a fast-track to a very, very, unhealthy lifestyle.
I keep reading that ‘sitting is the new smoking’ and it’s TERRIFYING.
SO much of my day involves sitting. If I’m not sitting to write then I’m sitting to build a website. It’s awful.
As I’ve got older, I really have noticed my body giving me subtle signals that it’s not happy with my sedentary occupation.
And so, a few years ago, I resolved to do something about it.
But it’s been tough.
On my Peloton…
I do not have a good relationship with exercise. Put simply, I am not a fan of it, and it is not a fan of me.
I am a pretty stubborn, persistent person in most areas of my life, but I have tried and failed to sustain an exercise regime for more than ten years now.
I've tried it all: couch to 5K (six times and counting), yoga, pilates, bootcamps, going to the gym, ice-skating (!), spinning... even adult ballet. But nothing sticks!
I exhaust myself with the mental gymnastics I undertake to excuse myself from working out.
If you follow me on Instagram, you might be aware of my misadventures with the Peloton…
I fell for its charms and shiny adverts during covid when (let's face it) lockdown had sent me, like so many others, quite mad.
And oh how I loved it to begin with. I was the poster Peloton Girl, waxing lyrical about how amazing it was and telling everyone to join the cult.
I did them all: the Britney ride, the Greatest Showman ride, the Prince ride, even though I hate Prince. I bought cycling shorts! I monitored my heart rate. I sweated and swore, I nearly passed out on numerous occasions… I practically broke my ankles each time I had to un-cleat my cleats.
I got piles.
(Sorry)
And then winter came, and the bike’s home in the Man Cave at the bottom of the freezing cold garden felt a little further and further away each day...and the excuses to skip riding it became a little stronger each day until in the end I woke up and decided, like a boyfriend I should never have dated, that actually, I didn't love it at all.
I ended up selling it and spending the money on one of those posh Samsung Frame TVs that look like artwork when they’re switched off.
The irony of this is not lost on me.
Anyway, the Peloton taught me a valuable lesson: a writer's primary form of exercise should not involve sitting on the arse they sit on all day at work.
And so I now see an amazing personal trainer who forces me to get my body moving every week (and is brilliant company thus making it more bearable and sometimes even... fun). I swear if it wasn't for her I might not ever leave my house.
I also keep a close eye on my Apple Watch’s exercise ring and if it’s not closed by the end of the day then go for a long walk with an audiobook. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.
And this autumn, I am determined to start going to Pilates classes to try to straighten out my crooked body.
So please, please, please, do not do what I did and spend three years smugly unmoving on the sofa, fingers fused to your laptop keyboard, thinking you’ve nailed life.
Try to schedule in some form of exercise on EVERY DAY that you spend writing. Your body and mind will thank you for it.
