Let us get physical

After reading the latest copy of Poets & Writers I planned on writing an entry screaming about the experience chasers of the writing crowd. Anyone familiar with the world of writing conferences, retreats, and MFA programs knows who I'm talking about. People who are there not to improve their writing, but to add to the appearance of their actually being a serious writer, or a writer at all. An add for the New School's MFA program sums up the attraction for this group: Discover the writer's life. For the experience chasers it's all about the glam, not the words on the page.

But more than the New School add what really got under my skin was list of yoga retreats for writers, most which were $700-800 for a four-day session. Which is why I planned to get on here and in a burst of rage go on and on about the bourgeoisie tendency to turn everything into a weekend seminar, degrading creative need to something akin to trophy shelving. "Of course I'm a writer. I have the 4x6s to prove it."

But I decided not to go to that route cause because I realized the issue wasn't experience chasers, but my own resentment toward the wealthy. So instead of airing my leftist agenda I'm going to try something more local and constructive.

The section on yoga pointed out writers are sometimes hard on their bodies, with the long bouts of sedentary activity that is. So I'm going to list cheap and simple things us writers can do to not only promote better physical health, but lube the creative gears. (It's long been my experience that the creative process, though largely mental, is partially, or can be fueled by, the physical.)

1. Stretch. You can use the exotic techniques of the Near East for this, but the old time favorites you learned in middle school gym will work just as well.
2. Exercise. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get exercise. Take a walk. Start a fight. Play with your kids. Go get a blue collar job. You're a writer, right? Be creative.

And that's it. I just saved you $800. You can thank me later.