Write Every Day, September Day #15

[auroracloud]

I'm probably not the only writer around who gets wrist and hand problems from time to time. Though in my case, it's most of the time, especially since my day job can be quite typing-heavy, too (though that goes for a lot of people). Anyway, I thought I'd share for the benefit of all you writers, or anyone else who needs it, this helpful little video by one of my favourite YouTube Yoga channels. You don't need any yoga experience or to otherwise be into yoga at all, you can just think of it as good stretches and movements for your hands to help alleviate pain and tension. (Though if you are into yoga, her channel has lots of other good videos as well. And normally she doesn't have such perky music in the beginning.)

"Yoga for Wrists & Fingers - Yoga for Wrist Cramps & Carpal Tunnel" (Watch on YouTube)

I should probably take my own recommendation and do these tonight, my hands are sore again. I did most of these movements yesterday, but I really ought to do them most days.

If anyone else struggles with hand/wrist problems as much as I do, here's another tip: wrist warmers / mitts / fingerless mittens really help. Even if it's not terribly cold at home - regardless of the temperature, the little muscles in my hands are much more likely to feel okay if they've got extra warmth around them. Make sure they cover your palms as well as your wrists, and if you're sensitive to scratchy wool like I am, you'll want them made of some soft and gentle fibre such as cashmere, alpaca, or whatever else works for you. I should try a non-wool yarn some time, maybe bamboo would work? If you don't knit or crochet, you can probably buy them from people who do without paying too much for it, or make a friend or a relative knit or crochet them for you.

Anyway, onto the actual writing!

Today's Writing

I wrote exactly 1,000 words on two different femslash ficlets, finishing first drafts of both. Though as a result one of them is now longer than a ficlet should be, but I hope I can fix that in the editing phase. Soon I really need to start editing those ficlets, since I've got several drafts but haven't edited or posted any!

In the evening I continued working on my possible-novel-to-be a bit, writing longhand in my notebook again. I in fact finished the scene I'd been working on, so next I'll have to find a new scene. I've already got ideas, though. But I am going to need to start coming up with names for more than one character.

Tally


Day 1: carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (9 so far)

Day 2: alexseanchai, brightandravenous, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan,shopfront, sylvanwitch, talkingtothesky, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (11 so far)

Day 3: carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, rosefox, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (10 so far)

Day 4: alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, rosefox, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (12 so far)

Day 5: alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (11 so far)

Day 6: alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (9 so far)

Day 7: alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (10 so far)

Day 8: carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (9 so far)

Day 9: carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)

Day 10: carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)

Day 11: carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (6 so far)

Day 12: carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, talkingtothesky, tinx_r,trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)

Day 13: alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)

Day 14: alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)

Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet! And you can join in any time.

Comments

[auroracloud]

I'm glad you find them useful! And for the last one, I can suggest a variation that gives close to the same results without needing to be on your knees, if I just can describe it adequately. :-) Basically: for the first part, stretch your arm out in front of you, elbow straight, palm up, you can keep your fingers together. With the other hand, grab your outstretched fingers and palm or just press on them, and press them down towards the ground, with your wrist and elbow crease still pointing up, but your palm and fingers pointing down, 90 degree angle. You can gradually increase the stretch, and towards the end you can bend your elbow a little to change location of the stretch slightly.

For the second part, arm outstretched again, but this time your palm and inside of the wrist pointing down. Grab your fingers and pull them and your hand down, again so the hand points down and the arm is still outstretched, 90 degree angle between them. Again, you can gradually increase the stretch, and bend the elbow a little to explore where the stretch goes.

I hope that was comprehensible - basically instead of pressing your hand against the floor and moving your body to stretch the hand and the wrist, you use your other hand to pull the hand to the stretch, replacing the pressure of the floor. During the past few months I've often woken up at night with my hands so tense and tight they hurt and I need to stretch them to be able to sleep more comfortably, and I'm too lazy to get out of bed to do this part of the stretch, so I experimented and noticed this works. (Why my hands do that at night, I don't know. I guess stress or something makes me clench them at night, like I do with my jaw.)