What do you do to get through writing marathons?

[Perks]

Okay, my a** is numb and my eyeballs are shriveling into raisins and plunking out of my skull with meaty little thuds, right onto my keyboard - w 0 - see, they just typed that when they fell.

What physical tricks do you use to get through writing marathons? Coffee, I know. Got that down, no problem. Going through club soda and Chapstick too.

Deadlines and bursts of inspiration have put you people in my predicament. So what helps the physically ailing author?

[alaskamatt17]

To get through writing marathons, I write. I'm physically addicted.

[icerose]

If your muse takes a break, go out for a jog or walk. Exersize can help snap your mind and body out of the riggors of marathon writing. If you can't get out I suggest changing locations if at all possible. Switch over to a notebook and pen or laptop if you can, pick a comfy spot in your house and continue from there. Stretching helps, if you know your keyboard well enough try typing with your eyes closed for brief periods of times so that your eyes can rest. Once you are through this marathon if you wish you can get back over and catch the little typos or wait until you edit (however you work).

I would say doing something physical even for a couple of minutes helps the most along with changing location. Try placing a pillow on your chair to ease the long sitting times if you can't. I thank the engineers who invented laptops because then I can lounge on my couch and continue and it helps with those longer sessions.

Good luck and happy writing.

Sara

[scribbler1382]

Whether your muse takes a break or not, make sure you do. Get up every 45 minutes or so and get your blood flowing. If you're the physical type, do some pushups and situps, but at the least, walk around and stretch. Set some mini goals. Instead of saying "I've got to do 30,000 words" say "I'm going to do 5,000 and then I get to eat that chocolate bar...or have a smoke...or whatever makes you tick."

[Perks]

Whether your muse takes a break or not, make sure you do. Get up every 45 minutes or so and get your blood flowing. If you're the physical type, do some pushups and situps, but at the least, walk around and stretch. Set some mini goals. Instead of saying "I've got to do 30,000 words" say "I'm going to do 5,000 and then I get to eat that chocolate bar...or have a smoke...or whatever makes you tick."

Holy crap, does anyone really get 30,000 words in a day?

[icerose]

Holy crap, does anyone really get 30,000 words in a day?

Not me. The most I have ever done is 50 pages.

[alaskamatt17]

The most I've done in a day is 10,000. That was pretty tough. I'm planning on writing a book towards the end of the summer keeping up that pace for a week, though. I hope it works out.

[jen.nifer]

Hi Perks,

What about having a break from the coffee (I know that's hard!) and drinking herbal tea instead.... I drink Jasmine tea when I know I have had too much caffeine and I find it quite refreshing.

Also, do you have a pet? I "hang out" with my dog in between writing sessions -- just looking at him makes me smile; so if I am all dried out from the writing, chilling with him for a while melts away the frustration.

Jen.

[alaskamatt17]

I agree with the tea idea. Tea is a great stimulant. Most kinds of tea have high caffeine concentrations, but they also contain other natural chemicals that enhance brain acitivity. My favorite kind of tea is echinacea, but I'd bet ginseng tea does wonders for marathon writers.

[triceretops]

Well, thanks for the advice about the tea. I'm going to try some. When I make my instannt coffee, it's so strong I end up with an inflamed bladder (too much acid, I guess). I never get out of the house for any reason, except to mow the lawn. I'm a die-hard marathon writer, and admittedly, my health has gone to hell because of it. I'll try to get more physical stimulationThis self-inflicted agoraphobia can be a killer, but I do have it under control. I type 12 hours at the keyboard until my back gives out. Then I head for the couch and read a great sci-fi author for inspiration. Writing is all that I care about right now--there are no other outside activities. I don't allow it. The last marathon I was on lasted five years and I wrote nearly 14 books. I'm 15-years older now and wonder why I don't have that mental stamina any more.

I DO NOT recommend this type of regime to anyone. I lost my job and car eight months ago--so there's a gun to my head to produce. And, I am my own worst taskmaster.

Triceratops

[jules]

Holy crap, does anyone really get 30,000 words in a day?

Yeah, I've seen people do it. I've never topped 10,000, but I suspect I will make it up there one day. If you've really got it flowing, and you know where it will go, and you don't care about the quality of the prose but just want to get the damned story on paper, you can just about do that.

[zarch]

Okay, I've written as much as 13,000 words in a day, and that was seven or eight hours of punching keys. No note-taking or outlining or anything but hammering the keyboard.

But 30,000 words? Holy crap.

[Perks]

Hi Perks,

What about having a break from the coffee (I know that's hard!) and drinking herbal tea instead.... I drink Jasmine tea when I know I have had too much caffeine and I find it quite refreshing.

Also, do you have a pet? I "hang out" with my dog in between writing sessions -- just looking at him makes me smile; so if I am all dried out from the writing, chilling with him for a while melts away the frustration.

Jen.

I did add some decaf green tea to the mix yesterday. I'll get nutty if I overdo the coffee - and no one wants to see me get nutty, believe me. Been there a lot lately.

I have fish. No matter what I do, they just give me the same dumb look. I'll bet they'd liven up if I threw an Oscar in there. Ah! Maybe that's the distraction I need... nah, then I'll just have to clean the tank. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

[Perks]

The most I've done in a day is 10,000. That was pretty tough. I'm planning on writing a book towards the end of the summer keeping up that pace for a week, though. I hope it works out.

I got about 8500 once. It was so great.

[Sara Rachael Hope]

This is what I most often 'attempt' to do to get through writing marathons...
~Eat...protein to keep brain 'ON', carbs to keep pain 'OFF', natural sugar foods (veggies and 100% fruit juice) for energy. Vitamin C (EmergenC) packs with 32 minerals every so often when required.
~Sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!
~Turn the bloody computer OFF!, and do whatever the h*** I want to (w/out concern and/or worry, obviously).
~Laughter, song and dance helps! Baths do too!, and preferably in the dark so I can close my eyes and receive that which comes to me more clearly.
~RELAX. Release, recall, request. Receive, receive...resound. Rejoice!

[Perks]

This is what I most often 'attempt' to do to get through writing marathons...
~Eat...protein to keep brain 'ON', carbs to keep pain 'OFF', natural sugar foods (veggies and 100% fruit juice) for energy. Vitamin C (EmergenC) packs with 32 minerals every so often when required.
~Sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!
~Turn the bloody computer OFF!, and do whatever the h*** I want to (w/out concern and/or worry, obviously).
~Laughter, song and dance helps! Baths do too!, and preferably in the dark so I can close my eyes and receive that which comes to me more clearly.
~RELAX. Release, recall, request. Receive, receive...resound. Rejoice!

Like it! I'm off to the vitamin store...

[scribbler1382]

Yeah, making sure to eat (and eat right) and get enough sleep are two things I sorely lack. Someday I'll realize that if I'm well-rested and not full of carbs and caffeine, I'll actually produce more in less time. <reaches for coffee> But not today. :)

[Ken Schneider]

Sorry to say that when I get on a roll it is sheer pleasure for me. Eight or nine hours seems like one.

I assume if you are pounding the keys in a marathon of writing daily, you may need to take several eyeball breaks.

[Jamesaritchie]

I only have writing marathons on those rare cases when a really tight deadline forces me into marathon stage. Then I get through because I have no choice.

Othe rthan this, I don't much like the idea of writing marathons. They can burn a writer out too easily. Slow, steady, regular is, I think, the best approach to long term writing.

[victoriastrauss]

What physical tricks do you use to get through writing marathons?Ambien (a prescription sleep aid). When I'm writing down to a deadline, my head gets so full of words that I can't sleep a wink without help.

Exercise. Boosts my mood and keeps me energetic, and helps me turn my brain off for a little while.

Taking regular breaks. Otherwise I'd go mad.

I love/hate writing marathons. On the one hand, there's something addictive about being so intensely focused on a single goal. On the other hand, the stress is horrible, and I know my health suffers. I don't marathon by choice.

- Victoria, still recovering from a revision marathon in July

[Jamesaritchie]

I still think of exercise as a dirty word, but I do take a long walk between writing sessions each day, and I walk fast. It really does help. And I've stared riding a bicycle, which also helps, and let's me see more country when I'm out. Getting out of the house helps me more than anything else.

I've only had two really serious writing marathons, and both involved tight deadlines. I wrote my first novel in three weeks because I had to, and twenty-one days of averaging seventeen hours a days should have taught me a lesson, but it didn't.

I got myself in a smiliar situation a few years ago that was, in a way, even worse. I made the deadline with a couple of days to spare, but I was completely exhausted, and so sleepy I could barely stay awake, but I still had to print and mail the manuscript. No problem, except my printer was part of a dedicated word processor. I had to roll a sheet of paper in, let it print, and that printer was s l o w. Then I'd take that sheet out and roll another in. It took thirteen hours of this to print the manuscript. I was starting to think I was in hell.

I haven't taken a tight deadline since, and I won't.

I just came off almost two years where I could barely write at all, and I would have loved a marathon. But I am (knock on wood) back in form, I think, and back to my old, habitual hours. I write for two and a half hours in the morning, take a long lunch and a long walk, and then write two and a half hours in the afternoon. I do this six days per week, and rest on Sunday. I don;t really mind if something important interferes with the Saturday session, but I try not to let this happen often.

For some, this probably doesn't seem like a lot of hours, and for others it probably seems like a marathon evrey week. But it's what I can do week in and week out, month in and month out, without suffering burnout.

But even with these hours, getting out of the office is mandatory. Fresh air, walking, riding a bike, meeting other people, having coffee with a friend, going anywhere and doing anything that's away from the office is what makes my writing hours work.

[NicoleJLeBoeuf]

Some days, I end up on a walking tour of Boulder's coffee shops and tea houses. Walk down to Joe's, write for a couple hours over coffee, then walk over to Bravo, have another cup (this one decaf) and maybe a sandwich and another hour or two on the WIP, then maybe head downtown to The Tea spot for a pot of ceylon , and another writing session...

I just have to move. It's part of having a stupid short attention span--after an hour or two, the urge to get up stop typing do SOMETHING else PLEASE gets really strong. But then all the Gordian plot-knots have a tendency to unravel themselves during long walks, so by the time I hit the next haunt I'm ready to jump in again.

I go through Frequent Customer cards at an insane rate.

[NeuroFizz]

(1) Jake (5 years old), loves to play board games soccer and basketball
(2) Erin (2 1/2 years old), loves to sit on Daddy's lap, when not screaming at her brother
(3) Iced mocha (home version--double shot of espresso in chocolate milk, over ice) after the kids are in bed.

[Perks]

[QUOTE=NeuroFizz(3) Iced mocha (home version--double shot of espresso in chocolate milk, over ice) after the kids are in bed.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that'll keep you going for some time! Double espresso and I'll be twitching until the day after tomorrow. I made the mistake of listening to my good friend last week telling me to drink Red Bull and vodka. "Nice and relaxing without making you sleepy." Yeah, right. Good god, I think I'm still polluted from that one.

[Jamesaritchie]

Yeah, that'll keep you going for some time! Double espresso and I'll be twitching until the day after tomorrow. I made the mistake of listening to my good friend last week telling me to drink Red Bull and vodka. "Nice and relaxing without making you sleepy." Yeah, right. Good god, I think I'm still polluted from that one.

Uh, Red Bull and vodka?!? Now that's a combination. Probably illegal in my state. Sounds worth trying though. For some reason it reminds me of a recipe an old Irish guy gave me for "real" Irish coffee. It's based on the rule of two.

Two ounces of good Irish whiskey, two tablespoons of sugar, two ounces of cream, and too damned much coffee. It's supposed to give you energy when the day's work has worn you to a frazzle, and there's still much to be done.

He did warn me not to drink it after supper, less I'd be keeping the wife up all night, and have more kids than a Catholic.

It definitely has some punch.

[Perks]

Uh, Red Bull and vodka?!? Now that's a combination. Probably illegal in my state. Sounds worth trying though. For some reason it reminds me of a recipe an old Irish guy gave me for "real" Irish coffee. It's based on the rule of two.

Two ounces of good Irish whiskey, two tablespoons of sugar, two ounces of cream, and too damned much coffee. It's supposed to give you energy when the day's work has worn you to a frazzle, and there's still much to be done.

He did warn me not to drink it after supper, less I'd be keeping the wife up all night, and have more kids than a Catholic.

It definitely has some punch.

Hee hee. Mega-caffeinated, alcohol-buzzed and sugar-high after supper? I imagine that's what it's like to go to bed with Tom Cruise. Check, please.