Move it or Lose It (Write it or Lose It)

My mother-in-law, who is 85 and still walking many miles a day, living on her own, volunteering at the library, traveling, and actively participating in her community’s life, likes to say “Move it or lose it.” And it rings so true, especially as I find myself shockingly almost old enough for the senior discount.

Of late I’ve realized that move it or lose it also is true of writing. If you want to be a writer, you have to keep writing. You can’t take a week or a month or a year off.

Why?

Because your writing muscles, like all your physical muscles, will atrophy if you don’t use them. You have to practice regularly taking the words forming in your mind and heart and getting them onto the page. That’s not an easy task.

Just like a painter has to take what is in her mind and create it on a canvas, how much harder is it to take an idea and find words that fit? There is always a disappointing gap between what I write in relation to what I wanted to write. Just like there are a zillion shades of blue, there are also a zillion words for an idea, a story, a truth.

But the more I practice, the smaller that gap becomes. I used to take a lot of time away from my writing during the summer, but this summer I didn’t. Instead, I double-downed. I wrote nearly every day. A lot.

And I continued to build on that habit. I get to my keyboard at least six days a week, even if it’s just to journal.

Because this is also true: the longer you stay away from your keyboard, the harder it will be to go back to it. Move it or lose it.

We are what we habitually do.

Once you fall out of the habit, finding your way back is not easy.

Now that the sun doesn’t come up so early, I’ve begun writing before my morning walk instead of after. I’ve discovered it’s a very rich time—calm and dark, the house still, the animals quiet, nothing has happened yet to distract me. The writing comes clear and free, unencumbered by the day.

The other time I habitually write, and this one takes real discipline, is first thing when I sit down at my desk after breakfast—before email, before voicemail, before anything else.

I am consciously rebuilding that habit. It used to come easy for me, but as my life has filled up, it got pushed to the side. It’s easy to be distracted by a text, a Facebook message, an email, or even the pile of laundry.

I don’t get paid to write (very often); I don’t have a book contract. It was easy to justify not writing when doing so seemed fruitless, and the ‘no’s’ have outnumbered the yes’s these last two years.

But after miles and miles of walking and hiking and letting the sting of those rejections lessen, I realized I want to write. More than ever. And if I take my pen and go home, no one will care but me. And I care a lot.

So I’m writing again. Every. Day. I’m building back my habits. I’m creating the space to write, and I’m protecting it.

What’s important to you? If it’s writing, then create space for it and build the habit.

Because if you don’t move it, you’ll lose it. If you don’t write, you’ll lose the habit of writing. And if you aren’t in the habit of writing, that book, that play, that idea, that dream? You’ll lose that too.

You are what you do every day. If you’re a writer, then write.

#noexcuses

Hey, thanks for reading. I know you’ve got lots of options, so thanks for sharing a few of your minutes with me.

Honored,

Cara

My latest novel, Blind Turn is a mother-daughter story of forgiveness in the aftermath of a fatal texting and driving accident. Learn more about it and find out how to get your copy here.

If you’re curious about what else I’m up to, check out my website, CaraWrites.com.

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And If you’re a dog lover, check out my other blog, Another Good Dog. And if you want to know what is really happening in the animal shelters in this country, visit, Who Will Let the Dogs Out.

I’d love to connect with you on Facebook, twitter, or Instagram, and I’m thrilled to get email from readers (and writers), you can reach me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.

My book, 100 Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues is available anywhere books are sold, but if you’d like some help finding it (or want to read some lovely reviews), click here.