Writing is a Workout

Hi friends,

I feel like I have a marathon in front of me. It's 10 days until my kid's school starts, which means ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ childcare and mom and dad camp until then. I've got a bunch of travel coming up, as well as the start of the Fall publishing season, which is always more active than the summer. I have a ton to read, as usual, and some personal writing projects I also want to work on.

There are times, too, when I'm busy like this and I get to the end of the day and I'm shocked I'm bone tired. All I did was sit and type and read! But I remind myself that brainwork is still work and I always benefit by treating it like a workout. Creative writing, of any kind, is like this, too, and when I expect to be able to break out into a full sprint the minute my fingers touch the keyboard, I end up disappointed. As an enthusiastic-but-not-particularly-talented jock my whole life, something recently clicked for me about this, and not just in a sports is a metaphor for writing way, which I've used a lot in these pixels. But more in a what I've learned from training for various sports (cheerleading, rowing, running, yoga) has a real and practical application to writing. Here's what I mean.

You Have to Warm Up

There are many ways to have a routine, and I have tried and failed at all of them. My routine for anything is do what needs to be done first, after coffee. I'm realizing, though, that I need like 5 minutes to wake up my brain before get anything good out of it. This is why a lot of our first paragraphs (nay, pages) are crap and need to be cut in editing. This is what people refer to when they say your beginning is a bunch of throat clearing. When I remember this fact, I try to purposefully write some crap paragraphs to start, just to warm up my brain and fingers. Sometimes this looks like me actually typing ok kate the goal here is 1000 words on the writing is a workout thing and you need to cover X, Y, and Z so you better get moving ok let's go because I can write anything I want in that first draft and cut it later. You can, too! Warm up your brain, just like you would your muscles with a light jog before a race.

You Have to Hydrate and Fuel

No one needs to tell you to drink more water. If you're Gen X or older, you got a ton of that message in the Aughts. If you're Millennial or younger, you've probably never been without a water bottle. Don't forget to drink it. Drink anything (coffee does actually count! Just not only coffee.) You can go deep on the science of it if you want, but either way, your body needs hydration and dehydration can make you sleepy, irritable, slow, and headachey, none of which is good for writing.

And this goes for calories, too. Don't think that just sitting in a chair typing doesn't use energy in your body in similar ways as a workout does. Not the same, of course, cardiovascularly and whatnot, but I have come out of several hours of intense writing and thinking as shaky and depleted as any of my hot yoga classes, just less sweaty. I always think why do I feel this way? and then I remember I used my brain a bunch and I should probably eat something. Don't forget to eat.

You Have to Stretch

About 15 years ago I had an intense muscle spasm in my neck that partially herniated a disc in my cervical spine, and while I didn't need surgery, thank goodness, it was A: very painful and B: took a long time to heal. You know what caused it? It was a repetitive stress injury from looking down at my phone, book, and laptop all the time. My PT asked for a picture of me sitting at my desk and he was like never sit there again. Now I am wildly devoted to my ergonomic setup and stretching while I work. Your ergonomic needs may differ from mine, but you want just about everything parallel to the floor: your chin, your bent arms, your bent legs, and your feet flat on the floor or a riser. Get off your bed and couch while you write! (I know you won't, but you'll be sorry in a few years if you don't.) And after a while in even the best ergonomic set up, you have to stretch. Wrists, shoulders, neck, back. Hips (hiiiiiiiiiiips!), quads, hamstrings. Whatever else is bothering you. Do this after your writing session, not just before. And don't bounce! Gentle, static stretches, held as long as if feels good. Talk to your doctor or Dr. Google, for your specific needs, but find what works for you and for the love of god pay attention to how you sit when you work. You'll thank me in your 40s.

You Have to Train

The idea that you have to have a big chunk of time to get any work/writing done has been thoroughly debunked here, or, at least that has been my intention. I, too, used to think I needed nine hours on Saturday to make progress on my novel, and when I had those hours on a Saturday that were not eaten up by family, friends, life, housework, that was fine. I do not have those Saturdays anymore. And when I did, I couldn't have gone straight through anyway because I didn't have the mental stamina for it. I DNF'd every time.

Writing more frequently, for less total time, however that works for your schedule, not only gets more words on the page, but it's training for those long hauls you may want/need to do to complete a project. You don't need to write everyday, and I know every time I've tried, I've failed by day four. That requires training, too! My most successful stints of consistent writing were times when I had two scheduled writing sessions per week locked into the calendar. I left the house so I wouldn't be distracted by my (lovely) family. I did nothing else but write for that specific period of time. Some days were better than others, but I did it 95% of the time. And I finished a novel with that schedule, not necessarily more quickly than if I'd written every day, but dammit the thing got done. Guess what that looks like? A consistent training schedule. Not a bonkers one. Ever done Couch to 5k? You can do that for writing, too. Slowly build up your stamina for longer and longer (if that works for you) writing sessions. But even if you're trying to maintain the stamina you have, 45-minutes twice a week will get you farther than three hours whenever you can squeeze it in.

You Have to Power Through the Discomfort

Lots of people quit working out, of any kind, because it's uncomfortable and sucks. Even people who love working out will admit that it's uncomfortable and sucks. But those who stick with any kind of sport or exercise get through the discomfort because then know there's something worth it on the other side: a new skill, a PR, a finished race. You have to get through the discomfort, too, the huffing and puffing of writing a synopsis or the uncertainty of editing. You have to sweat through getting down that shitty first draft, so you have something to improve upon later. This is what separates the writers from the dabblers. Writing is hard and sucks and no one really knows what they're doing or how it will all turn out. When you realize that, when you recognize that you just have to push through and see what the other side looks like, that's when you can achieve your writing goals, whatever they are. There's a big hill in Prospect Park near my house, and when I was running regularly, I had one rule: always run the hill. It sucks so much, but not only does running it get it over with faster, but it's better training for making the next time easier. Run the hill. Write the hard scene. Get to the end. And when you come back to your work the next time, you'll be that much farther ahead.

Congratulations, you are now a writing jock. I give you permission to wear those cool 80s sweatbands and snap a towel at someone.

XOXOXOXO,

Kate

Who am I and what is this? This is Agents & Books, a twice-weekly newsletter about writing, publishing, and the creative life. I've been an agent for 20 years, most of it at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency, and I'm the author of two books: Write Through It: An Insider's Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life (Simon Element, 2025) and a picture book called Pay Attention to Me!, with illustrations by Rob Justus (Sourcebooks, 2026). If you haven't already, become a subscriber today. $5 a month or $50 a year. Same price since 2019! Need to cancel? Look here.