58: 7 Tips to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Writing

As the regular school year draws to a close, I start dreaming

about trips to the beach, or camping in the woods or

stargazing. Those activities always seemed to lead to

reconnection, and rejuvenation, relaxation and recreation helped

me tap into my creative side. I know this is true whenever I go

to a concert, or visit an art museum, inevitably, my best

ideas arrive when I'm away from my desk immersed in someone

else's artistic creations. I learned a long time ago to

always carry a spiral notebook with me whenever I'm out so I

can capture the ideas. At its core writing is a mental

activity. So brain health and well being are essential to

creating our best work. Our brains need opportunities to

renew and repair and this is an area of personal concern for me,

so I thought I would share what I've learned. Today, I will give

you seven tips that will help you transform your writing

through renewing your mind a writing pursuits, authors.

Welcome back to the podcast. To those of you who are new, I want

to extend a special welcome. My name is Kathrese McKee. And I'm

glad you're here. If you are a writer seeking encouragement,

information and inspiration, this podcast is for you. Let's

get to it. Today, we're going to cover seven tips that will help

you transform your writing through renewing your mind. I am

preaching to myself, but I think you will find something you can

use. Tip one, take regular breaks. I love using the

Pomodoro Technique. Your work session lasts for 25 minutes,

followed by a five minute break. After several work sessions,

it's best to rest for a longer time. If you're new to Pomodoro.

And I'm going to make like Pomodoros is a real word. Try

working for 15 minutes with five minute breaks. It's important to

have a timer and the determination to focus during

work time. But it's even more important to honor the breaks.

Your brain needs the breaks during the work time, bear down

focus, resist the urge to do anything else. Strive to be

productive. And when the break comes get up stretch walk. I'll

walk around and play with the dog close your eyes rest, there

is no other technique that seems to work as well for me to

actually get work done. And if I really hate a task, I remind

myself that I could do almost anything for 15 minutes. Once

momentum sets in, it's hard to stop. Usually 15 minutes is

enough to overcome the resistance that Steven

Pressfield wrote about in The War of Art resistance with a

capital R. That's a fascinating book that I recommend. Tip to

journal. I know I know, the last thing you need is another thing

to do right, but make an exception for journaling. Since

I started journaling every single day first thing in the

morning, I can honestly report an explosion of insights and

fresh ideas. For me handwriting, my daily entries is best.

There's a real connection between the physical act of

writing and my innermost thoughts for capturing ideas

that have been simmering in the background, I experienced sudden

realizations, but of course they aren't sudden are they? After

all, my subconscious has been considering all sorts of input.

And when I sit down to journal with no particular agenda, I

discover what I've been thinking about as I write, usually ideas

or realization seem to pop out fully formed. And sometimes I

catch a glimpse of a different idea. And that's okay too. All I

want to do is bring it into the light to be more mindful and

absorbing as I go forward. I write to know what I think that

truly applies to me, as with Pomodoro. So the limits for

journaling are important. At least for me journaling needs

limits so that I will stay in the habit, but I don't try my

journaling. Instead, I limit myself to one page per day, and

two on Saturdays, my pages are only five and a half by eight,

roughly enough space for 28 short lines. If it seems strange

for writer to impose a space limit, that maybe this doesn't

apply to you, but I find that I'm eager to write because I

know the space is limited. Usually I reflect on the day

before and write about the day ahead, or a project I want to do

or a project I'm actively working on or something

important to me or my family. And sometimes I look back over

the entries and find the bigger picture. So try journaling to

recharge your writing. If nothing else, journaling is a

great warmup exercise. Tip three, follow the sun to get

enough sleep. Get up when the sun gets up and go to bed when

the sun goes to bed. If you live near the poles were the days are

impossibly long for part of the year and impossibly short for

the other part. Employ lights to help your

circadian rhythm. Sleep is when your brain is maintained when

toxins and proteins that form plaque are removed. If you want

to learn more about this process, google glymphatic

system, you will be amazed we squander our sleeping hours

taxing our brains to the breaking point down. This is too

important. Circadian rhythms are tied to light and darkness. We

are only now discovering how profoundly our mental and

physical health are tied to getting enough deep sleep. walk

every day if you are able, getting in your steps will help

you sleep at night. Get outside every day and make sure to get a

minimum of 15 minutes of sunshine. To reset your body's

clock before bedtime. Get away from your phone, your TV and

your computer and let your brain know that it's almost time to

sleep. Power down the devices, dim the lights and create a

soothing a routine for yourself. Writing pursuits is run by

Kathrese McKee who has been trusted by fiction authors since

2014. To take their writing to a new level of excellence.

Kathrese is a three story methods certified editor who

specializes in story diagnostics, coaching and line

editing to help you prepare your story for the journey ahead. For

more information go to writing pursuits.com. The link is in the

show notes. And now back to the podcast.

Tip for one more naggy tip about diet, and then we'll get to the

fun stuff. Take care of your machine by avoiding sugar, too

much alcohol, most seed oils and processed foods. The foods we

eat are the strongest medicine we take. Some foods are good

medicine, and some foods are bad medicine. During the pandemic, I

cut a lot of corners and put on some weight, and my numbers like

blood pressure and blood sugar went in the wrong direction. I

am preaching to myself but since I started making better food

choices, I am seeing many positive results including a

healthier weight, better sleep and better productivity. Sugar

has literally nothing good to offer your body. But many people

are addicted to it. Get rid of sugary foods and foods with

added sugar for 30 days and just see the difference in your

health. In fact go on a sweet fast, including artificial

sweeteners. A sweets fast will not hurt you. Although you may

have a few days of withdrawal, but your sugar cravings will

eventually go away. seed oils are on my hit list too. So these

days I only use extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil and

coconut oil. I mentioned processed foods as much as

possible I avoid foods that come in a box and choose fresh foods

instead. Just taking that step will help you avoid eating a lot

of added sugars and cheap seed oils. Don't trust your health to

the commercial food industry. They're in it for the profits

Need I say more. Your gut is often called the second brain

because of its influence on overall health. What you eat

directly impacts your gut health and your brain health. This is a

topic most people don't want to deal with. But writers you

depend entirely on your brain to produce good content. Don't

think you can cheat forever. So you're doing your Pomodoro

taking breaks journaling every morning, sleeping through the

night and minding what you eat. Let's do some fun stuff to renew

our minds and transform our writing. Tip five read

extensively and read for enjoyment. These days, I have

more trouble settling down to read for pleasure. But I am

fighting to reclaim my ability to focus on books and articles.

surfing through social media content has been shown to impact

our ability to focus. So limit your exposure and read books

instead. I choose fiction for its fun factor. And I try to

read outside the genres I write in. Tip six scheduled time for

human interaction. Ooh, I'm an introvert too. But join a

writing community attend workshops and conferences

volunteer and make time to meet with friends and family to

nurture relationships. These times away from your desk will

enrich and inspire you and help transform your writing. Besides,

the best material for characterization comes from

people watching. Am I right? Tip seven. Be a dedicated lifelong

learner. Set aside time to learn new skills, new games and to

master a non writing craft. If you've always wanted to learn

Spanish or how to play the guitar, or how to knit, sew or

crochet. Now's your chance find creative outlets like music, art

or dancing. These activities seem unrelated to writing but

they nurture your brain and widen your horizons. Nothing in

life is wasted. It is all food for thought. When you are at

work, work when you were at

Be mindful and live in the moment and watch your writing

bloom. The question of the week is, how do you refresh and renew

your mind? Leave your answer at writing proceeds.com forward

slash podcast forward slash 58. That's all I have for today.

Until next time, keep writing my friends, rest, relax, renew your

mind, and then keep writing. Thank you for joining us today.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and

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Tips for authors that link and all the links mentioned in

today's episode are in the show notes at writing pursuits.com.

Please join us on Wednesdays for new episodes and keep writing my