Workouts and two writing tips

Started today with a workout at the gym. I usually work out for an hour late in the evening, but today I went really early. It felt great. Did 30 minutes each of cardio and strength-resistance training. Each week seems to get easier. I leave on a natural 'high'.

It's now late evening, and I just returned from another hour workout -- this one with one of my daughters and her best friend. It just feels so good!

Worked on next week's column today. It just wasn't jiving; I realized what I was working on wasn't right for my column's readers. It belongs instead in a business magazine, which I'll pursue. It's important to keep the readership at heart.

But thankfully another column idea started clicking after dinner, so I quickly got it down and saved it. It's simmering, like a good stew, until tomorrow morning . Then I'll read it with fresh eyes while sipping a good strong cup of coffee. And when it feels right for my readers, I'll submit it to the editors.

Here are a couple of writing tips I teach to new writers:

1. No matter how much you love what you've written, let it simmer like a good stew. Allow the thoughts, transitions, and take-aways to blend their fragrances for the readers you have in mind. You will never regret holding on to your finished product while it gathers its aroma.

2. Write the best you can for that moment. When you read it later you'll probably kick yourself and say something like, "How in the world could I have written that? It could have been so much better!" And you're right-- it could have been better. But you know that now because you practiced.

That is the world of being a writer. We are constantly improving. It's important to know that the best writers --even the best actors-- look back at their work and see how they too could have done it better. That's a sign of growth -- that we're always striving for the best.

Whatever you do today, I want to encourage you to do your best. I don't care if it's sending a query letter to a New York editor or cleaning out cracker crumbs from your toddler's car seat. Just do your best, then let it go. And you'll have no regrets.

Copyright (c) 2007 by Judy Halone