WWN12: Long Walks

A long time ago there was a flood that covered the known world.

And at the end of it all, God said

Well, today the rain is falling.

And I mean really falling.

Like, “I know you said you’d never flood the whole earth again God, but does that apply to Aberdeen?” falling.

And so what better day to publish this piece about long walks?

I’m stuck inside, unable to walk anywhere without getting drenched like Noah, so I might as well write about it…

…right after our sponsor for today which is Content Academy.

Content academy is a new offer I’ve spun up with The Art of Purpose, Harrison Schenck from Save Your Sons, Culture Critic and more. It’s a 3.5 day intensive weekend where we will cover everything you need to know to create killer content on X-Twitter (and other platforms) and supercharge your writing success.

And it starts with a kick-off call tomorrow.

So you have less than twenty-four hours to check it out:

To make that an easier decision, nab it through my affiliate link there and you’ll also get:

• A copy of my burnout bonus training (retail $50)

• A copy of my "Sins of digital writers" workshop (retail $57)

• A copy of my upcoming Voice Box training (retail $111)

• A copy of the recent training I ran on email freedom (no retail, it was part of a $999 cohort and I don't just make up "values" like some gurus)

But that’s still some $217 of retail value by my reckoning, all completely free if you grab Content Academy from my link before midnight Eastern on Thursday the 11th of July and send me your receipt to claim.

But back to our walk…

Because writers need long walks like

…fish need water and birds need air!

Mankind might not have enjoyed Noah’s flood so much but the fish were loving it. And long walks are the water writers swim in.

A while back I was processing a few different things and I set out to walk a few miles into town, weighed down by myriad musings and a chronic lack of sleep.

So I took it slow.

No rush.

No agenda.

And absolutely NO stimulation of any kind. No music, no podcasts, no audiobooks on 2x speed etc.

Just me and my thoughts.

And as I wandered, so did my mind.

I got to the 1.6 mile mark and suddenly I solved a structural problem with my novel that hours of sitting at my desk had done nothing for.

Even though I wasn’t thinking about it at all!

I also had a few hymn ideas, some thoughts on various business problems and the opening to a random novel that I’ll write one day…

…even though I wasn’t thinking about those either.

And I was feeling better for the exercise as well.

This isn’t the first time that’s happened either. Long walks are essential for the writer.

Why is it so vital?

Because you need long stretches alone with your thoughts and nothing else to stimulate you. No phone, no music, no podcasts, no company, no social media. Nothing but you and your thoughts.

All that creates mental space. And mental space lets your brain roll around and grapple with your problems. To think through them. Not always consciously, either. Your subconscious mind is incredibly powerful, but it needs time. Time when it’s not constantly distracted by dopamine dealing diabolisms like social media.

And look, I could go into all the psychology and why we need it and the neuroscience behind it but frankly, that bores me.

So just give it a try next time you have a problem. Go for a long walk with no other stimulation.

Even better, build it into your routine, to have long stretches of quiet with something to occupy your basic functions and prevent boredom. Not that boredom is bad, more on that another time, but there’s something about the physical act of walking that helps to get you into just the right level of minor distraction that lets your brain start firing.

Walking isn’t the only way either. Smoking a pipe fulfils a similar role for me. That whole time you’re puffing away, if you’re doing it right, is giving you mental space. You can't DO anything, you're just sitting there. Contemplating. It focuses the mind. Not to mention the mental boost from nicotine, there’s a reason they’re so keen to ban it.

I wrote a whole poem about this once.

Likewise, I rag on cold showers on X-Twitter for the same reason.

Oh, okay, I rag on them because it's hilarious how fragile the "tough guys" who promote them are when you criticise their practice.

But the reason I gave up on cold showers years ago?

I value that thinking time. Sometimes I even put the plug in the bath, run the shower hot and just lie down with the water falling on my face. Total sensory deprivation. Can't hear or see anything, just feel the water beating down.

It's all a means to the same end:

Space to think.

(I’m not the only one either, author N. D. Wilson likes to make the bathroom pitch black, set the shower uncomfortably hot so he can’t fall asleep, and then think through plot problems there.)

So give it a try.

Stop listening to audiobooks on 2x speed to 10x your commute time.

Let the silence fill the space.

Get comfortable with your thoughts, being alone with them.

Let your brain do its thing.

And set aside at least an hour a week for stillness and silence. Whether that's a pipe, a hot shower, a good cigar, a long walk, or something else. Make the space, embrace the silence, and let your subconscious write away in the background.

And until next time may your pipe provide many hours of mental space,

James Carran, Craftsman Writer

P.s. Don’t forget to sign up for Content Academy through this link by tomorrow midnight and grab your free stack of bonuses. I’m going to be doing content edits for people in the academy all of Saturday and I’m buzzing for the other sessions too.

It’s going to be lit.