DOES WRITING GIVE YOU A PAIN IN THE NECK?

by Patricia Bradley (If you're a writer, be sure to check out the information at the end about a really neat writing conference)

One of my goals this year is to step out of my comfort zone and what better way than to write a blog about neck exercises and use myself as a model. Scary thought.

Because these exercises have helped me so much, I wanted to share them with other writers or anyone who sits behind a computer all day. As you know writing is sedentary work and can result in neck, shoulder, and back pain. I should know. I am in the middle of physical therapy for said back and neck pain. And I want to share a couple of the exercises I've been doing

Before I continue, I am not a physical therapist, and if you have any doubts about doing exercises, consult your doctor.

Pain in my neck and back resulted in a visit to my doctor who sent me to a physical therapist. He gave me a set of exercises and worked on my neck and back--work that included dry needling. And while I'm not pain-free--I am after all of the older generation--I am at least able to write.

The first exercise is a stretching exercise for the neck. Sit in a chair, (can be your office chair) and place one hand on top of your head and the other behind your back. Make sure you are sitting tall.

Disregard all the kitty toys in the floor and the flower coming out of my head.

Next, pull your head over like you were trying to smell under your arm. Hold this stretch for a count of 20. Be sure to focus on letting those muscles relax. 

Go ahead, try it. I'll wait.

Doesn't that feel good!

Now do the same thing for the other side. I do ten of these every morning after I get out of bed. This is after I've stretched my hamstrings (before getting up). If you have tight hamstrings, you probably have back pain. Tight hamstrings = shorten muscles that support your back. And this can cause pain.

The next exercises I do are head turns and shoulder rolls. For the head turn, I sit straight and look as far as I can to the left for a count of 10. If I'm looking to the left, I put my right arm behind my back. This gives more stretch. Be sure to repeat the first exercise by turning your neck as far to the right as you can.

The shoulder rolls are just that. Rolling your shoulders, first one way, then another. I also put my fingertips on my shoulders and make an arc with my elbows until they touch, then reverse the process.

Then there's the sideways tilt--it is similar to the first exercise, except you try to touch your ear to your shoulder instead of smelling under your arm. :-) And the last one is to stand straight (Like a marine at attention) and press your index finger against your chin. Hold that for 20 seconds. 

When I started these exercises, I set a timer and did them about every 4 hours. Now I only do them first thing in the morning. But I have increased how long I hold each stretch to a minute.

I really want to encourage anyone who sits at a desk all day to find some type of stretching exercise. These just happen to be the ones that have helped me to stay pain freer...if that's a word. At my age, pain and I are old friends. But I believe in exercise. I was facing knee replacement surgery a few years ago, but exercise and collagen injections have kept me out of the OR!

Before I go, I must mention how important it is to have your computer screen where you are looking straight at it instead of looking down. 

Looking down is what I've done for 20 years, but now I've bought a desk that raises and a thingy that I set my laptop on so that I'm looking straight at it instead of looking down.

What exercises do you do to feel better? Leave a comment and I'll enter you in a drawing for Crosshairs.


Now for our readers who are also writers, here's that writer's conference I told you about earlier. It's on Saturday and it's virtual--that means you can attend in your pajamas! You can check it out here.

And...the day before, I'm teaching a workshop with Johnnie Alexander! That's on Friday March 18, 2022. Here's the blurb and link:

NATIONAL PARK RANGERS AS HEROES

 by Patricia Bradley

We've had a tough two years and I'm hoping and praying that 2022 will be better! But I did learn a few things during 2020 as I wrote Crosshairs, the book that came out in November. One, if I show up at the computer and make myself write, the words will come. Eventually. Two, I can’t edit what I don’t write. Three, this too shall pass—“And it came to pass” has long been a favorite Bible scripture.

It wasn’t like I didn’t love the story in Crosshairs, more that my mind was paralyzed. I found it easier to spend time on social media or even cleaning the toilets. Before I knew it, it was September and I only had two months to finish the book. 

That’s when I learned the most important lesson—if I practice 1 and 2, the words will add up, ideas will come, and the story will come together, and I will have a completed manuscript and three becomes true.

Another way I lost time was in research. Researching about the Natchez Trace Parkway Rangers and the Investigative Services Branch (ISB) was fascinating, and it was much easier to do that than to pull the words out one word at a time. 

A couple of the things I learned was The ISB, or Investigative Sevices Branch of the NPS has thirty-seven special agents who are regarded as the FBI of the National Park Service. They are spread out all over the US and are sent in when needed, sometimes even undercover.

Another thing I learned, the Natchez Trace Parkway Rangers are separate from the National Park Service, although under the same umbrella. That really changed the way I wrote about them. 

I also learned there's a difference between rangers: there are interpretive rangers--the ones you see the most--they give you all the information about the area you visit. And then there are law enforcement rangers--On the Natchez Trace, they're the ones who carry a gun and give you tickets for driving over 50 miles an hour. lol

Linc is an interpretive ranger with the National Park Service in Natchez, while Ainsley is an ISB Special Agent. Interpretive rangers in the South don’t carry guns which worked well for Linc since I wanted him to be a ranger. Writing this series has changed the way I look at the National Park Service. I’ve always admired rangers, but even more now!

Someone asked me which of the characters in Crosshairs was the hardest to write. I’ll have to say Lincoln Steele was. As a former FBI sniper who suffered from PTSD from almost killing a child and who believed he was responsible for his friend’s suicide, it was hard to flesh out a hero who was no longer a hero—or who at least didn’t see himself as one since he could no longer even hold a gun. Yet, he had to be strong, someone Ainsley, the heroine, could trust. I discovered there are other ways to show strength in a character—like throwing himself in front of Ainsley to protect her. His willingness to do anything to keep her safe showed his true character, and eventually, he came to embrace who he was.

As for Ainsley, she is stubborn. Strong-willed. She didn’t want to admit she had any faults. And she certainly didn’t want to forgive Linc and her father for undermining her singing career. But if she hadn’t lost the singing career, she would never have found her life’s work—that of an elite Investigative Services Branch Special Agent.

I'm giving away a print copy(must have a Continental US address; Digital copy for all others) of Crosshairs to someone who leaves a comment. Tell me if you knew any of this stuff about National Park Rangers. :-) Be sure to leave you email address like this: pat at ptbradley dot com

The Writing Life

by Patricia Bradley

A month ago, my alarm went off at 6:03. Once I silenced it, I lay in bed and planned my day:

· Quiet time.
· Blog posts.
· Time to start the next book in the Natchez Trace Park Ranger series.

You see, life had interfered with my writing schedule for about six weeks. I now have less than three months to write a 90,000-word book...

What does a writer do when that happens? Pray. A lot. Then get to work.

An hour later, I opened Scrivener, clicked on Patricia’s Fiction template and named the new project--Crosshairs. At least I had a title, not one I came up with, but my publisher is great at titles, among many things. Then I stared for the next hour at the blinking cursor… How did I do this the last time?

It happens every time, and I know I’m not the only one who goes through this. And it’s not that I think I can’t do it again. Or is that a fairy tale that I’m telling myself? No. God has given me the seed of a story, and I’m confident He will give me the rest of it. I.can.write.this.next.book. I just have to remember how to do it.

When I first started writing, I made elaborate character charts, plot boards, outlined…the whole nine yards. How’s that for a cliché? But that’s another post.

I don’t outline now. Or make plot boards. And the character charts I make are more about conflicting values, motivation, and goals than what kind of car a character drives. I still log the basics—age, height, and eye and hair color, etc—because I’m apt to forget. 

Instead of plot boards and outlines, I get out my artist sketch pad, the one with the spiral wires at the top because I'm lefthanded and I don't like dealing with the spirals on the side. However, it's too early for plotting. I can't know the story until I know why my characters act the way they do. I have to figure out what makes them tick.

To do that, I have to know the lie the hero and heroine and villain believe about themselves. How do those lies affect them? What actions do they take because of the wound the lie causes? I brainstorm all of this on my sketch pad. Why a sketch pad? I don't like lines. A blank page frees my mind to go in any direction.

Once I have that, I discover these characters' core values and the motivation for their goals. That way I can sabotage those goals. Hehehe. Then I figure out why the hero and heroine should be together but aren't. Learning who my characters are is almost as much fun as putting them through the torture rack!

Once I kindofsorta know my characters—and I say kindofsorta because I really don’t totally know them until I start writing—I let all my research and noodling percolate. As scenes come to me, I jot them down. I play the what-if game. What if this happened? By knowing my characters, I now know how they will react.

I now have a little over 17,000 words written. Most of them are good words that I'll keep. And tomorrow when I open Scrivener I will begin with someone trying to kill my heroine...

I really need to write my steps down while I’m working on this new book. If you have any tips you want to share, leave a comment and I'll enter you in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card!

Oh! Before I go, I want to share the cover of Standoff, my first Natchez Trace 
Ranger book!