Ten Gifts of Twitter

I consider myself a relative newbie to the Twitterverse, so it amuses me that friends and fellow writers ask me for Twitter advice. The #1 question I get is whether Twitter is worth the time investment—that is, what the heck do I get out of it?

So I figured I’d share my answer with you all, lovely readers and Tweeters. Feel free to chime in with thoughts on what Twitter gives to you!

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Success Breeds Success

Just over two months ago, I set myself a challenge: establish an exercise habit before the year finished. I’d suffered some serious exercise set-backs when I managed to injure both Achilles tendons (what can I say? I’m talented) and subsequently traded running and walking for extra glasses of wine. Not good for the waistline or energy level. Not good for my writing productivity, either, as it turns out.

Yes, that motivates me more than my waistline. Call me crazy.

So I adopted Leo Babauta’s Six Habits method of establishing a new habit via incremental tiny changes, finding motivation along the way with other writers trying to make pre-New Years’ changes.

The result?

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Challenge Check-In

Holy cow, is it really week 7 of this end-of-year challenge? Even cooler, I discovered that I am not alone in my goal to make changes before the New Year. My friend Yat-Yee writes about her one-month “pre-resolutions” in her blog (yes, I’m a little behind in my blog reading…), and apparently there’s an entire Pre-Resolution movement initiated by The Rejectionist on her blog. I’m so happy (and encouraged) to discover other writers sharing the craziness! Gotta love the Internet :).

I last reported on MY progress at the start of week 3, when I got sidetracked by a nasty cold/bronchitis that knocked me out for a week and a half. Developing an exercise habit, though, seems to be a bit like writing a book: you just keep whittling away at it, and eventually you start to see progress.

So…I won’t bore you with details, but once I’d kicked that cold’s butt, I was able to continue my exercise plan and I’m back to exercising 20+ minutes at least six days a week. I’m also deadlifting 55 pounds, which isn’t nearly as much as my amazing kid sister, but it’s enough to make me feel a bit like superwoman.

Will I be Ms. Fitness by the year’s end? No…but that wasn’t my goal. My goal was to establish the habit, and so far, I’m pretty darned happy with my progress. I’m also happy because when I start to lose rewriting steam, I take a break to exercise, which always recharges me for writing.

Not that I value everything in life by its impact on writing, but it’s a definite perk :).

Hmm…I think maybe I’ll try deadlifting 65 pounds tomorrow. I’m feeling strong!

:) Cheryl

A Writer’s Thanksgiving…

I used to write weekly posts on things I’m thankful for as a writer, and I think I need to get back into the habit. It was fun—and helped me keep perspective because even on weeks when the writing (ahem) sucked, I could always come up with things I love about being a writer.

So, being as it’s Thanksgiving and all, here are (a few of) my week’s things to love about being a writer:

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Week 2 Challenge Check-In

I just finished week 2 of my personal end-of-year challenge to get exercising again, and I confess discouragement. A nasty cold/sore throat has set up house in my chest, leaving me totally wiped out. So…exercise? Not happening so much. My personal rule of thumb: if I get exhausted walking up a half flight of stairs, I don’t work out. (Radical, I know.)

On the plus side, I’m still working on that exercise habit by spending the time every day.

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Habit Boosts and Hurdles

I’m on day #3 of my second week developing a new exercise habit. Not that I didn’t exercise before, but it tended to be an on-again, off-again event, leaning more toward “off” in the past few weeks, when a nasty episode of tendonitis in my Achilles has made my exercise of choice (running/walking) off limits.

How are things going, you ask? I’ve hit both moments of encouragement (boosts) and moments that drag me down (hurdles). I thought I’d share…

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End-of-Year Challenge

CHALLENGE TO SELF: Develop a regular exercise habit by the end of the year.

WHY?: I can be a little…obsessive in my writing habits. As in, in my desire to write without sacrificing anything else in life, it’s easy for me to neglect things like, say, exercise, eating well, and taking the occasional time to enjoy life.

WEEK 1: Spend at least 15 minutes a day cleaning up my “exercise area”, which had degenerated into a catch-all for empty boxes, dog toys, and Halloween costumes that weren’t *quite* put all the way away.

REPORT: I just successfully completed week 1! My exercise area—in a basement that’s actually a large crawl space—is relatively clean, although I did discover that our boxer likes to dig up the exposed dirt on a regular basis. Luckily, the shop vac lives in the basement, too.

One reason I blog is to share thoughts and ideas about how writers can thrive in this crazy life we’ve chosen (or, as is often the case, in this crazy life that’s chosen us.)

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