Exercise
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.
