Wednesday 19 January 2011

Does It Hurt?

One of my new things this year is to try (note the emphasis on try) to do regular exercise. I eat okay (cookies and chocolate are a food group, right?), but I figure toning the old butt wouldn't hurt, right?

Wrong. When you go from exercising four times a week to, um, not much, your body kind of wants to hit you over the head with hand weights. But we start slow. I mean, I'm not that insane I'd go from 0-60. Once, twice a week is a good base. Then three times. You get the idea.

The point is, it's hard at first. There are moments when your abs are quivering from crunches. Your thighs can't take another climb on the elliptical. But you push through. 

Where am I going with this? 

Practice builds strength. You improve. Learning the moves makes your performance more efficient. That gives better results. It still hurts sometimes, but you can see the benefits. You keep going. 

It's the same for revisions. 

We all want a tight, toned manuscript. It's the aim of revision. We revise until our eyes bleed, shut the manuscript feeling mentally, physically and emotionally drained. We don't want to see the stupid thing again. 

But we go back. Why? Because as much as it can hurt, it works. We work our base strength with plot, strengthen our core with by deleting passive writing. We get our cardio in on line edits. 

After weeks/months of hard work, we sit back and see the benefits. A toned body and a toned MS? I can live with that.

So who's with me?

18 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

I'm with you! :o)

Laura Pauling said...

Me too! Revision, like running, takes practice. And the more we do it the better we are at it - or that's what I hope! :)

Stina said...

Two of my favorite things to do are exercise and edit. Actually with me they go hand in hand. While I exercise, I'm thinking about my edits and getting all kinds of cool ideas!

Renae said...

Well said! Although I went to class at the gym lastnight and I can't walk down the stairs or pick anything up! But I just keep picturing new clothes and it is worth it!

Creepy Query Girl said...

I couldn't agree more. And knowing your problem areas helps a lot! Great analogy (and I love me some writing analogies! lol)

Matthew MacNish said...

I'm with you! I'm already doing way better so far this year, being a lot less lazy about my revisions.

Thanks Lindsay!

Unknown said...

I just blogged about this yesterday. I've been on a roll with both exercise and revising my new ms, so 2011 is off to a great start!

Melissa said...

Sooo true! I'm with you on this one.

Sarah Ahiers said...

ooh, i am so totally with you on this

Jessica Ann Hill said...

Great analogy, and so true. I'm with you! :)

Katrina L. Lantz said...

It does hurt! Exercising AND revising. But getting toned sure feels good. :)

Great post, Lindsay!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I've gone to the gym for years, so good with the physical (okay, as good as it's ever going to be) but still stretching those editing muscles.

Carol Riggs said...

"Toned" writing--I love it! Tough to stretch those muscles sometimes, and painful. Good analogy.

Sonia said...

Revision and exercise, two things I detest

Hannah said...

I don't like either one so I'm with you!! :D

The Happy Whisk said...

As I understand it, cookies and chocolate are in fact, food groups.

Christina Lee said...

YES!!!!! Exactly what i'm doing starting slow-- with both of these things this month

Anonymous said...

Nice analogy!!!
...I totally need to work on both exercising and editing, LOL!