I Walk, I Talk

There's been lots of heavy breathing in my writing lately. No, I'm not writing 50 Shades of Purple, Pink or Blue. But I've found a new way to squeeze some extra writing time into my life.

It all started when I stepped on the scale ( I know, you're thinking that was a mistake right there!). Well, that annoying scale showed me a number which I am not fond of so I decided to shoot for a different number (a smaller number, obviously). So I began walking. But it quickly became obvious that many days it was either write or walk. I already had limited writing time and I was going to cut into that for walking?!

So I figured out a way to do both. Unlike most people I don't listen to music when I walk so I decided to write while I walk. Well, talk. I bought a voice recorder that is about the size of an mp3 player for around $25 and now, as I walk I talk. Sometimes it's just ideas but more often I re-read something I've been working on before I head out. Then I "write" changes or new paragraphs as I walk. Yes, I look like I'm talking to myself but the neighbors already know I'm a little crazy!

I've found it's a great way to work on dialogue. After all, when you're actually saying the words aloud it's easy to hear what doesn't sound natural.

Of course there is a little huffing and puffing on the recordings (especially on the hills) and I do have to transcribe everything to my computer but it's better than not writing at all. Plus I lost 4 pounds!

Do you have any tricks for squeezing extra writing time into your life?

Jodi Webb is a blog tour organizer for WOW-Women on Writing and would love to hear about your book and promotional needs at jodi@wow-womenonwriting.com. Right now she's looking for June dates for a tour of Michelle Dim-St. Pierre's Pinnacle Lust. She blogs about books at Words by Webb and Building Bookshelves.