Novel Ideas #5 ~ Writing is Like Exercise

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August was a funny old month for me.

It began with frantic rewriting and revisions for an academic article based on my Masters research (yes, I am being published in an actual academic journal *smug face*). No doubt I'll write about that some time soon.

Then I had a great time visiting my family and spending several days watching all manner of incredible Olympic sports.

Meanwhile, at work things have been hotting up as we get ever closer to the start of festival season.

Add to that, the fact that I developed some flu bug for a week in the middle of the month, and you have a very disrupted routine. So disrupted, that I took a bit of a hiatus from writing the novel...

If you lived with me, you would know this was not a good idea.

The best way of describing myself when I'm not writing is fed up.

I need to use my mind creatively. I need to have personal challenges and goals outside of work. If I don't, I start to become quite moody.

Now it's easy to disregard this as part of the ebb and flow of life, but as soon as I began to write again, I felt like the weight had been lifted.

And it's always been the case; I would write reams of angsty teenage poetry during the school holidays to combat the onset of boredom. I lost hours to a crime novella I wrote for teen readers during sixth form, and I walked around pretty elated while writing my Masters dissertation, and was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with myself when it was done.

This is why I say writing is like exercise; as soon as I do it, I feel instantly better, and wonder why I ever stopped.

I love the focus required to absorb myself in a piece of writing and I love feeling slightly removed from the world around me as I do it.

How about you? Do you feel the need to do something creative? Or are there other things that help keep you satisfied with your life?