Revising is giving me zits and secretary's butt.

Mythica · Apr 15, 2008

I think it's about time someone invents an anti-secretary's butt chair. For sure. Maybe I should get a bean bag chair? No back support though...

As much fun as querying is (ha..that's a lie..) I have found revising to be perhaps the most stressful thing. It's constantly rereading passages and seeing the most idiotic mistakes anyone could possibly make and then my self esteem starts to swirl down the pooper. However, with every rewrite, books only get better a thousand times. Must keep telling self that. Also, my only "real job" is freelance art and graphic design so in order for me to make a buck, I'm going to be sitting. My behind is desperate for an alternative.

But, don't get me wrong. I'm a pretty active person otherwise. The other half of my day is spent at the barn riding horses. Or being a typical student doing other things here at MSU besides rioting...*innocent face*

Then there are zits. Enough said.

< /rant and pointless post >

So. Anything else you hate about this sit-down job?

To loosely paraphrase someone very wise, "In order to hate something, you must first passionately love it."

lfraser · Apr 15, 2008

I have a friend who sits on an exercise ball while working at his computer. Gives him great abs. Not sure about the butt, though.

Constantine K · Apr 15, 2008

Mythica, I know this is off-topic, but since you made the thread . . .
What's your avatar from? It's really neat and I keep looking at it when you post. Was wondering who the artist is.

And yes, I know how you feel. Sometimes I sit in the chair for so long that it hurts.

WriteKnight · Apr 15, 2008

Riding horses... best workout in the world.

Mucking stalls... only marginally better than rewriting.

Manderley · Apr 16, 2008

Hemingway reputedly wrote while standing up. Maybe give it a try?

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Apr 16, 2008

You just have to get up and fluff it once in a while... your butt goes flat and spreads out (hence 'Secretary's Butt) if you don't.

bluntforcetrauma · Apr 16, 2008

I can't sit still. I'll sit a second, stand, dance around. If I post something I think is a really snazzy comeback, I do a little spin and hit send. How anyone can sit for more than a few seconds is beyond me. It's dead boring.

Phaeal · Apr 16, 2008

I often write standing up. You can buy special desks or computer stands that are the right height for doing this. I just make do by putting a box on a regular desk and putting my notebook or keyboard up on that.

bluntforcetrauma · Apr 16, 2008

You can also sit with your knees in the chair.

Straka · Apr 16, 2008

from writing so much my wrists are cramped, my back hurts, and my left eye is going. I'm falling apart at age 25

Shweta · Apr 16, 2008

I'm falling apart too, sigh.

need one of these:

They do seem to help me if I sit on them some of the time and normally the rest; can put the weight on my legs and sit a bit up off the chair. Helps back stay straight too. I slouch.

sunna · Apr 16, 2008

Oooooooh, I like the yoga ball chair idea. Maybe I'll give that a go. Write and work out all at the same time.

Watch me break my skull doing this.

Besides having to add a whole new set of butt exercises to my routine because of writing, I hate having:

bad eyesight
tendonitis
hunched shoulders
a sore neck
extraordinarily odd dreams
a tendency to associate every other thing in my life with whatever WIP I'm working on.

Other than that, no complaints.

RJK · Apr 16, 2008

My former boss had a getup that Stephen Hawking would have admired. His chair lifted him to a semi standing position, or anywhere in between and his monitor, keyboard and mouse were on a separate stand that he could set at any height he want to work at, from sitting to standing. It probably cost a Bazillion dollars but the taxpayers were paying for it, so he didn't care.

Mythica · Apr 16, 2008

Constantine, I'm actually the artist

It's a pencil drawing of my MC!

RJK, that is amazing! haha I'm very jealous...

Straka, my wrists are shot, too. They crack horribly if I twist them

WriteKnight, hahaha, I think mucking could be worse than rewriting when the horse scatters his bury and then buries it. My equitation horse does that...

Ol' Fashioned Girl, fluffing...Brilliant!! I'm going to have to do that

Old Hack · Apr 16, 2008

I have a thing I hide under my desk.

No, not THAT sort of thing. It's a little stand with a pair of pedals on it, sort of like bicycle pedals, that I rest my feet on while I work, and it's really unstable so even when I don't pedal I'm constantly moving.

I was told that it helps improve core stability, which is something pilates is very keen on. Whoever he is. It certainly helps me feel less flobby after a few hours at my desk.

Danger Jane · Apr 16, 2008

Manderley said:
Hemingway reputedly wrote while standing up. Maybe give it a try?

So did Virginia Woolf. Obviously there's something to it.

SPMiller · Apr 16, 2008

Straka said:
from writing so much my wrists are cramped, my back hurts, and my left eye is going. I'm falling apart at age 25

I'm also 25, and I was experiencing back pain years ago. But I started doing some simple exercises and I've been fine ever since. You can probably find info on the net.

Don't have much advice on the wrists or eye, though. I did notice the other night that I can't hold a book as close to my face as I used to.

Aegwynn · Apr 16, 2008

An exercise ball... what a marvelous idea! That is something I am seriously going to have to try.

WriteKnight · Apr 16, 2008

Hemingway wrote standing up... but he was also barefoot and standing on a piece of leather.

Go figure.

underthecity · Apr 16, 2008

Straka said:
from writing so much my wrists are cramped, my back hurts, and my left eye is going. I'm falling apart at age 25

That's nothing. Wait until you hit 30. I'm 37 now, and unbelievably, my lower back hurts from sitting and writing for too long. It'll hurt for days.

The pain of being a writer.

allen

SPMiller · Apr 16, 2008

He also blew his own brains out.

rainboy · Apr 16, 2008

Mythica said:
Constantine, I'm actually the artist It's a pencil drawing of my MC!

Off-topic, but you based your avatar on Adriana Lima didn't you?

http://storage.vexade.com/000026/vexade.com_000026-01_adriana-lima.jpg

The resemblance is striking. Strikingly hot.

Mythica · Apr 16, 2008

rainboy said:
Off-topic, but you based your avatar on Adriana Lima didn't you?

http://storage.vexade.com/000026/vexade.com_000026-01_adriana-lima.jpg

The resemblance is striking. Strikingly hot.

Yup! That photo was my reference

I've always kind of pictured my MC to look like Adriana.

And yes, she is excruciatingly hot.

Kaytie · Apr 16, 2008

For eyesight: Consider reading glasses. Seriously, my optometrist recommended 1.00+ reading glasses while I'm sitting at the computer to help avoid eye strain, especially for those of us who have computer-type day jobs. There are a lot of cute styles out there now--they don't have to look like the old lady kind...unless that's your thing.

Also, get up frequently and stare at the sky or a blank wall, something that allows your eyes to relax. Eyestrain is from the tiny muscles in and around your eye becoming over tired. I learned that the hard way during my thesis year: I actually developed a blind spot in my eye that went away after I paid more attention to my eyes.

And finally--wear sunglasses with UV protection in the sun! Macular Degeneration is bad!

(Can you tell I'm paranoid about my eyes?)

JustGo · Apr 16, 2008

Heck, I've been having back pain and wrist problems for years and I'm only 19. I was a mess after finishing the rough draft of my novel... twelve hours straight of writing...

I find the best thing to do is just take a break every hour or so to stretch and do a few push-ups. Seriously, push-ups work out just about every part of the body that gets screwed up by writing, at least for me. Taking a walk from time to time doesn't hurt, either.

Revising is giving me zits and secretary's butt.

Expert Gerbil Wrangler

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Esquire

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Expert Gerbil Wrangler

Such a nasty woman

Prodigiously Hanged

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