Me,Long Distance BackPacking on the AT/Long Trail, Vermont
I have and have had a lot of hobbies in the past. I love to try new things, explore different aspects of my creative ability. Just after high school I took up oil painting. I liked it, but somehow it wasn’t for me.
Then I tried the flute. I hired a music teacher, bought an actual silver, not silver-plated, flute, and dropped it after a couple of years. Decades later, I’m still in love with that flute and have carried it around with me through several moves. I still have it, in a bin, on the top shelf of my closet. I’m just not ready to let go of it.
Other hobbies and handicrafts have come and gone. Crocheting for example. I crocheted a number of river pattern Afghans for myself and my brothers upon their weddings. I still have mine, in shades of brown and when I’m cold on a winter’s night, it keeps me cozy and warm.
There were other hobbies: spoon collecting from tourist spots, cheese making, soap making, leaf pressing, hiking, basket weaving, the list goes on.
How does all of this relate to writing? I’ve tried writing on and off for decades. I’d get just so far and halt, not knowing what to do next. It was another hobby, tried and forgotten, but not. I kept poking at it until in 2011 when I found the internet bonanza of writing: an on-line writing group, Forward Motion.
So what do those other hobbies have to do with it? They’re an exploration. They’re an experience that I can draw on when I’m writing about soap making or weaving or hiking or trekking along hard country for long distances. I know how to dehydrate food to keep it for long travel. I know how hard it is to make good music. I’m a mother, daughter, wife, sister, military person, all of these experiences help me when I’m trying to get into my character’s head.
So, you don’t want to risk climbing that mountain? Trying that new cooking course at the community college? Go for it. The experience will help you in ways you never expected.
The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, travelling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com! Up next: Jean Schara
I really liked this post. 🙂 I’ve done a number of the things you’ve mentioned, and let them fall away without knowing more than the basics. Except mountain hiking. I only went hiking once a year for a few years in a row. It’s giving me grief now that I have a character who has a definite time frame for getting down a mountainside. It doesn’t help that it’s set in a mountain range that is NOT the Rockies (where I did most of my hiking). Proof that the only way to truly write about life is to live it first.
Thanks for reading. Yes, but you know how your knees ache from going down hill over rocky terrain, what it feels like to sleep outside and a whole host of other things. And going down a mountain is pretty much the same on any mountain. Hard, treacherous, and slow. Good luck with your story.
I recently pulled my keyboard out of storage. As I began to plunk along on the keys, my husband closed the door behind me not impressed by my skill but my heart soared the longer I practiced. Hobbies should not be about pressure but instead enjoyment and passion. So, hang on to that flute. Bring it out and thrill your heart from time to time. I completely understand the place f not letting it go.
And you are right, living life helps writing creativity. When I do public speaking, I share what I have lived. It makes the topic much more relevant, interesting and effective. Lovely post.
Good for you. Have fun with it. Thanks for stopping by the blog.