Tuesday, November 17, 2009

in praise of work




Totally swamped. Writing constantly. Finishing a script (gave myself a 6 week deadline), pushing forward on a new novel I'm calling The Missing Ones and in the midst of this, buckled my knee while lifting weights. How can this be? So I hobble forth and am off to the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow, but will have something interesting up here in the next few days, I promise.

I did want to ask people what they use to boost their writing day and keep their energy up. My husband surprised me with a UPS delivery of dark chocolate covered almonds and after devouring 12 of them, I was surprised to find that my energy level ramped up and I felt really, really happy. I'm betting it's the caffeine (I don't drink or like coffee) and while I loved the effects, I'd really rather find something other than chocolate covered almonds to eat all day long and I'm not sure how good all that caffeine is in any case. There was this wonderful book by Alice Weaver Flaherty, The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writers Block and The Creative Brain about the neurology behind the urge to write, and I remember Flaherty mentioned a drug many writers were taking because it made them concentrate better, work longer hours and feel exhilarated. (But of course, I don't want to take a drug, either.) Give me natural highs--boring, I know--but I'd rather ramp up vitamins.

6 comments:

Tea Time Consultants said...

Caroline, Congrads on your upcoming book. Sounds like the chocolates did you good. Come by for a visit sometime:
http://www.teatimeconsultants.blogspot.com

a gracious plenty said...

i've been reading your blog for some time now and enjoy it a lot. soon i will check out one of your novels.

while i love chocolate, i try to go to herbal and green tea for writing fuel. tea gives my hand something to do while i am thinking. also, depending on the weather, i can drink it hot or over ice.

i hope there will be an easy fix for your knee injury.

have a good weekend, katie

Caroline Leavitt said...

Oh, I'm all for healthier ways of doing things, so what other teas beside green tea (green tea relaxes me, but I need a boost sometimes) would you recommend I sip while I write?

a gracious plenty said...

caroline

i love a black tea with vanilla. i think i've bought one from the grocery store--lipton or one of the main brands. i've also bought a vanilla tea at one of those mall tea & coffee stores. of course you could also try putting a vanilla bean in while steeping your tea.

i also think ginger is invigorating. triple leaf tea makes a great ginger. it is just ginger root. it is really delicious and definitely a pick-me-up. again, i think you could just peel some ginger and steep it in hot water.

i love yogi brand teas. berry anti-oxidant is my favorite. but i've recently found mayan cocoa spice. it is great and has some kick in it even though it is herbal.

one of my favorites right now is from celestial seasonings. it is a honey vanilla chamomile. it is more soothing than invigorating, but thought you might like to try that one too.

good luck with your current writing project. katie

Caroline Leavitt said...

Mayan cocoa spice!!! I am so there!! thank you for these great suggestions, Katie. We need ot have tea together.

a gracious plenty said...

yes, if you ever come to alabama let me know and i'll treat you to a cup of tea. i continue to enjoy your blog. happy holidays, katie