Go take a hike!

Today I took "Stop and smell the roses" literally. :)

No, seriously... you should go for a walk.

I confess I'm influenced by the amazing weather here in Connecticut today...we've had so much rain the past few weeks that a sunny, low-humidity, 75 degree day is not irrationally compared to Paradise. So I traipsed about the yard and garden with my girls for about an hour, enjoying the bit of heaven while I could. It's the best thing I've done for my writing all week. I came back in full of ideas I had to scribble down in my notebook, understanding things about my character that have confused me for ages, and simply more confident of my ability to do this “writing thing” anyway.

So I did a little Googling on the benefits of walking...are you ready? They include:

Physical benefits.... burning calories; toning muscle; intake of Vitamin D, which helps your body absorb calcium and boosts your immune system.

Psychological benefits... improved cognitive performance; better memory; reduced stress; increased feelings of well-being and self-esteem; better mood. (Taking a walk in nature increases all these benefits...preferably an area with lots of grass and trees.)

And as if that weren't enough...there's another benefit (not to be readily found through Google) peculiar to writers and artists: you have a chance to see the world more closely. When your business is recreating the world, you have to make sure you put in the research. I've just begun reading Fiction Writer's Workshop by Josip Novakovich (and highly recommend it). In his chapter on setting, he has the following to say: “Setting these days has fallen out of fashion at the expense of character and action. Perhaps this trend has to do with our not being a society of walkers. Big writers used to be big walkers. Almost every day, Honore de Balzac spent hours strolling the streets of Paris; Charles Dickens, the streets of London; Fyodor Dostoyevski, the streets of St. Petersburg. Their cities speak out from them.”

Here's a mini-setting to be found in my WIP...and sure enough, I first discovered such a place taking a walk when I was about 13 years old.

(This photo of an old Erie Canal lock is taken with permission from NYCanals.com)

I hope your weather is beautiful and you get a chance to go out and do some research, too! :)