Since PCW is still taking a break from blogging due to a broken elbow (heal fast!), I figured I’d share one of her posts that I bookmarked a while back: Cross-training creativity

Basically, it’s an argument for pursuing other creative endeavors in addition to writing.  Or mixing up your writing either by tackling different genres or types of work (short stories vs. novels).  I bookmarked it because over the years I’ve been involved with any number of creative hobbies.

And it’s relevant to me right now because just last week I picked one of those hobbies back up because I needed something to do while sitting there watching TV at night that wasn’t writing-related.  (I tend to design covers or copy/paste books into a print book template while sitting there.  Or record sales or create pivot tables to analyze those sales…)

I’m one of those people whose mind never stops running.  Usually on about five different tracks.  And recently it’s been writing, selling writing, designing covers, writing forums, etc.  I needed my mind to disconnect for a bit.  I was overloading.

So that hobby was the perfect solution.  Busied my hands and mind just enough to let me STOP and take a break for a bit.  And still satisfying in its own right.  And a good way to create a gift for a friend.  Win-win-win.

A few quotes from the PCW post:

“…it seems to me that the most talented and successful creative people I know do work in multiple fields, even if they’ve chosen to concentrate on one in particular as their main production or income source.”

“…creative people need hobbies and down time just as much as everyone else, and have just as much right to have it, [and] there may be non-obvious benefits to having multiple creative outlets.”

“…I most definitely think that someone who loves and enjoys music or woodworking or knitting should not feel guilty about doing it and need not be too strict in limiting the time they spend on it. It’s cross-training for the brain, I say, and as long as one meets one’s personal commitment to one’s primary love (writing, in my case…), having multiple interests is a Good Thing.”

All solid wisdom to live by.