Keeping Busy

For me keeping busy never seems to be an issue. I always have a ton of creative or other things to work on. If it's not the housework, laundry, etc, it's the writing, painting or my part-time job. Even come evening when I'm supposed to relax, my hands are busy with crossword puzzles or making notes for the next day.

So how does someone like me relax? According to my massage therapist, I don't. I need to do more things for myself and spend some time doing things that ease the knots in my neck. For example, the other day I went cross country skiing with one of my kids. Sure I felt like I was going to die going up those hills and today I have some achy muscles but it was a good pain. I sweated so much my clothes were soggy when we got home.

My other form of relaxation is reading. I love to read but the more I learn about writing, the more I find I start to critique people like Janet Evanovich, Dean Koontz, and all the others who grace my shelves. I find myself studying their words instead of just enjoying them. Then I rap my knuckles and read on. Enjoyment, not tearing down their work, should be my focus.

I have a good friend who does a lot of editing for me and I edit for her. I have to say she's much better at it than I am so far! I have to start off with a thorough reading before I actually edit and I know she does the same. To see how well it flows for one then to nitpick. It's can be therapeutic to pick other people's work apart. Especially when you know they won't take your criticisms the wrong way.

When I get her edits. I take it with a sense of grace. Punch a punching bag a couple of times and curse under my breath. Then I go on and edit. Suddenly I find I like my novel a whole lot more once the nitpicking things have been pointed out. And I can relax....