# Do you guys go on walks before you write?



## 2WayParadox (Dec 26, 2014)

I've been doing this for a while now and I find that going for a walk of about an hour, with nothing to occupy me (besides a hard candy), tends to allow me to think about the scene I want to write or other things concerning the story or other story ideas. 

The most important benefit for me is that by the time I get to writing, I have some rough dialogue worked out in my head and I have less thinking that I need to do, so less blockades to overcome.

I would definitely recommend this simple and healthy habit, do it daily before you go and write.


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## Tom (Dec 26, 2014)

Does walking in mindless circles around the kitchen table count?

I always think about writing while I'm walking, especially when I take the dog out for long wanders in the woods. It seems like the rhythm of walking and the fact that it's a near near-unconscious action make it a good activity for thinking. While I'm walking I just let my mind wander, forming free associations and generating ideas that would never otherwise occur to me.


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 26, 2014)

I do a fair bit of walking as well. It's a good way to relax and set your mind free. I don't necessarily think about writing, or my story, but the topic does come up.


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## Incanus (Dec 26, 2014)

I live pretty near a nice long river parkway.  I usually head out there with one or two things that need some brainstorming, or to work out the plotting of the next scene or two, but not necessarily right before I sit down to write.  Sometimes, I even sit down out there for a while and just veg-out, staring at the rippling river-water.  It's been working pretty nicely--99% of the time, I return home with an answer, or with an idea that works (at least for the moment, until the fruits of another brainstorming-walk displace it).

Somehow, though, I don't think it would work quite as well if it wasn't a natural envirnment.


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## 2WayParadox (Dec 26, 2014)

there might be some truth to that, i don't go walking in woods but i do pass fields and the roads that i walk are pretty quiet


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## Penpilot (Dec 27, 2014)

I do a lot of thinking while I'm driving. I play out scenes and dialogue, and I find that it's a good time to work out problems.


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## CupofJoe (Dec 27, 2014)

Walking in woods [usually on a Sunday morning] is just about fundamental to my writing process. I can get whole sections roughed out in my head as I wa/onder about. Any walk is good but if I can get away from traffic and people so much  the better. Also, off road cycling is good but far more muddy at this  time of year. 
The problem is remembering what I've worked out. If I try to carry a [paper] notebook, a digital recorder, or anything then the act of speaking or writing makes the words disappear...


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## 2WayParadox (Dec 27, 2014)

Yeah, I understand. But I did manage to work out a plot issue a few days ago and I managed to to quickly jot it down more or less schematically/succinctly when I got back. But I feel that it does stay with you when instead of trying to keep remembering it, you ask yourself questions and try to work out things. You naturally repeat what you were thinking about earlier.


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## SM-Dreamer (Dec 29, 2014)

I usually worldbuild while I walk, or work out a snag I've run in to. Character motivation, concepts and themes, how a scene should work. I think it's the release of endorphins, the sights (I walk around a lagoon in varying weather, so there's always something new to see), and the free time to work out the idea without having to think about anything else.


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## Tom (Dec 29, 2014)

The stuff I usually work out on walks is dialogue and characterization. Dialogue thought up on walks always sounds the best, I've found. Maybe it's the rhythm of walking influences the rhythm of the words. 

For worldbuilding on walks, I have this little game I play. I pick up a random stone off the side of the road and just hold it in my hand as I walk. I'll pretend that it's from a different world, and try to imagine what that world looks like, and what kind of people might have picked up the stone before it came to my world. It's a fun thing to do, and also gets the gears in my head turning.


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## Chessie (Dec 29, 2014)

I haven't been able to go outside and walk for like 2 months now because of the winter. Its just...sigh...every winter I continue hiking but this one I've had no mojo for. But yes, I love to hike (call it so here because our terrain is far from flat) to feed my writing habit. 

I like to write in the mornings, so its meditation and yoga before writing, then outdoors in the afternoon. If its particularly beautiful out I'll go outside first. If I go days without doing this ritual and just sit down to write, I find myself very stressed and unable to concentrate on my work. I think it really helps get me in touch with the artistic side. 

PS: I brainstorm really well in the shower. If I'm stuck on a scene or something story related, I'll hop in the shower or just wash my hair. Somehow, it works amazing.


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