7 Ways to Nourish the Writer by Author Vanetta Chapman

I thought I’d talk to you today about “taking care of the writer.” 

We talk a lot about formatting, scene and sequence, characterization, plots, even synopsis … but we rarely talk about the writer.

Whether you are a writer or just know someone who is, I think there are certain things that you can do to take care of yourself.

1. Let go of the guilt. Many of us feel pulled in a dozen different directions. When we do finally sit down to write, we feel guilty—because we’re not doing something else. Clothes need folding, or dishes need washing, or maybe the lawn needs to be mowed! All those are good things, but when you do sit down to write—just write. Let the guilt go.
2. Get some sleep. I know we all want to write the book. We have the characters and ideas and plots in our mind. However, our body needs rest. Even when I was teaching full time and writing for multiple houses, I made sure I had 6 hours of sleep during the week and 7-8 on weekends. Your body and your  mind needs that time. In my opinion, you’re better off writing one hour instead of two, if it means you get the sleep you need.
3. Step away from the computer! Oh my, between blogging, writing, and social media I could sit at my computer for EVER. Because I’m never really done. It’s hard for me to swallow that one. I always thought I could complete any to-do list if I focused. It’s important to realize that you need to step away from the computer. You need to eat, spend time with your family, and take a walk outside. You need to LIVE, and when you do – you’re writing will be much richer.
4. Say yes to your family. I will confess that when my children were young, and I was writing, there was a note on the door. “Don’t knock unless you’re bleeding – a LOT.” I was serious too. Mom’s time in the cave was important. However, my kids are older now, grown and moved out of the house. And I almost never turn them down if they call and ask me to go see a movie, or eat dinner, or let them come and do laundry. We play board games or watch old movies on tv. We spend time together. They really are more important to me than words on a page.
5. Take Sunday off. I know. I know. When my pastor first spoke on this, I asked him, “Do you mean like … every Sunday?” He decided I needed an intervention. But the truth is that we all need a day of rest. And it’s sort of – well, a commandment. So take one day off a week, whether it’s Sunday or some other day.
6. Get moving. When I’m stuck on a word, a get down on the floor and do 10 sit-ups. When I make my word count, I reward myself with a visit to the gym or a 20 minute walk through the neighborhood. Then I come back home and start working on the blogs, marketing, and accounting. We have to take care of ourselves physically, or our writing will suffer.
7. Eat what your body needs. You body does not need Cheetos or chunky monkey ice cream or a 2 liter of soda. You need fruits, vegetables, and a lot of water. You need a little meat and cheese. It’s pretty easy really. Want to feel good? Want to write well? Eat and when you do, eat the right things.

It probably sounds like I don’t spend any time writing. But I do! Honest! I spend at least 8 hours a day, and when I was working full time I spent 2 hours before work and 2 hours after. I love to write. I love to sit in from of my computer and make it up. I have a set word goal every day, and I write 3-4 books a year. I’m focused—like a laser. But it’s very important to take care of myself. If that means that I don’t have time for Candy Crush, that’s okay. If it means that I have one less post on Facebook, that’s okay. Set your priorities, and then follow them – and make one priority taking care of yourself.

If this list seems impossible, start with one item. Bless yourself in one way for a month. Then go back to the list and choose one more.

May your rest, and your writing, be everything you’ve dreamed it will be.

Vannetta Chapman is the author of several novels, including A Promise for Miriam and Falling to Pieces. She discovered her love for the Amish while researching her grandfather’s birthplace in Albion, Pennsylvania. Vannetta won the 2012 Carol award for best mystery. She is also a multi-award-winning member of Romance Writers of America. She write Amish romance for Harvest House, Amish mysteries for Zondervan and Amish novellas for Abingdon. Vannetta was a teacher for 15 years and currently resides in the Texas Hill country. For more information, visit her at www.VannettaChapman.com.

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Return Friday for a chance to win a copy of Vanetta's new release!

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Did You Know? ~ Helen Blanchard, Inventor

Last week I wrote about the sewing machine patent wars between Elias Howe and Isaac Singer. As I wrote that blog article, it occurred to me that the people who invented the first sewing machines were men, yet now it seems mostly women use them (there were no men in my quilting class). Then I was heartened to discover that a woman named Helen Augusta Blanchard developed techniques for zigzag stitching and overseaming.

Helen Blanchard was born in Portland, Maine on October 25, 1840, although that date isn’t certain. She had five siblings. Her father was a well-to-do ship-owner and businessman who suffered financial losses in the business panic of 1866. That resulted in the loss of the family homestead. He died leaving the family in financial trouble.

Personal details about Helen Blanchard’s private life are sketchy, but as far as I can determine, in the late 1970s or early 1880s, she established the Blanchard Overseaming Company to market her inventions. Her first invention was the over-seam of the long stitch in 1873. In 1880 she invented the sewing and trimming seam, and in the same year the zigzag stitch for hat.

She also founded the Blanchard Hosiery Machine Company in 1882. She moved to New York in the early 1890s, and continued to patent a variety of inventions, including a pencil sharpener and a hat sewing machine.

When I discover accomplished people like Helen Blanchard, I want to know what made them tick. What gave them the drive to dream and then take it a step further and make it real? Is it upbringing? Genes? Necessity? And in this case, what gave Helen the courage to invent and patent her inventions in an era when women couldn’t even vote?

Helen profited from her commercial ventures and was able to buy back the family homestead in Portland that her father lost so many years before. That must have been gratifying for a woman like her, and it makes me wonder if the family’s losses so early in her life left a mark on her—perhaps the family lost some of their social standing when her father lost so much. I can only speculate. At any rate, she returned to live on the family homestead in 1901. She continued to patent inventions until she suffered a stroke in 1916. She died in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1922 and is buried in the family plot in Portland.

One of her machines (1873) is on display today in the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.

If any of our readers have more information about this interesting woman, I’d love to hear from you!

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Did You Know? ~ History of the Sewing Machine

Last week I introduced the history of the sewing machine by sharing some of my own sewing history. I could continue my personal sewing story with tales from the quilting class I took yesterday where I felt totally incompetent as I tried free motion quilting for the first time. But I’ll leave that story for another time—after I’ve had some time to develop my skill.

Instead I’ll blog about my promised topic: the sewing machine patent wars.

In1834 the first somewhat successful sewing machine was invented by Walter Hunt. Poor Walter was a brilliant inventor, but a very poor business man. He didn’t pursue a patent for his machine for fear of putting seamstresses out of business. That kindness lost him a fortune. (Walter Hunt also invented the safety pin and sold the invention for the equivalent of $10,000 today. W.R. Grace & Co. acquired the safety pin patent in 1849 and made millions from sales.)

The next sewing machine inventor, Elias Howe, Jr., had a bit more business acumen than Walter Hunt. In May of 1846, Elias was awarded a patent for a lock-stitch machine using two threads, a shuttle, and a curved needle with a point at the bottom end. Suspicion was rife that he took ideas from Walter Hunt’s invention, but that was never proven. 

Elias tried to sell his machine in Europe, but to no avail. His patent machine never worked well. In fact, it was only after a lot of modification that it stitched at all. When he returned to America, he discovered several companies making sewing machines using ideas that were similar to his. That made him angry, and he began taking people to court.

Despite the ongoing court battles, Elias’ lockstitch mechanism continued to be adopted by others who were developing innovations of their own. Isaac Singer, a name most of us recognize, invented an up-and-down motion mechanism instead of one that went side-to-side. His was the first truly successful sewing machine, and it went into mass production in the 1850's. Along with the up and down motion, Singer's machine used a foot treadle. All previous machines used a hand crank.

But Elias Howe wasn't giving up. He sued Isaac Singer for patent infringement and won in 1854. If Walter Hunt had patented his invention, Elias Howe would have lost his case and Isaac Singer would have won. Since he lost, Isaac Singer had to pay Elias Howe patent royalties.

Between 1854 and 1867 Howe earned close to two million dollars from his invention. During the Civil War, he donated a portion of his wealth to equip an infantry regiment for the Union Army as well as serving in the regiment as a private.

There's more to the sewing machine story, and I'll cover some of that next week. But in the meantime, can you imagine what these men would have thought if they could see the machines we use today?

 

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Did You Know? ~ Sewing Machines-Introduction

I began sewing many of my own clothes when I was 14. Using the family sewing machine, I stitched my way through high school, making my prom dresses, as well as everyday clothes. But it wasn’t until 1978, when I was 21, that I finally got my own machine, a Kenmore from the Sears Outlet Store. I loved that machine. Over the next 22 years, I used it constantly, sewing clothes for me, my daughter, and her dolls. I learned to quilt, discovering a whole new sewing hobby.  
 
But in 2000 my life was turned upside down. In years following I lost the joy I’d once found in many things, including sewing. I put my machine away, along with my stash of quilting fabric. I wondered if I would ever return to sewing or if it was something gone forever.

Then a couple months ago my stepdaughter and husband needed their pants hemmed—again. I was tired of doing it by hand so I dug out the old Kenmore. And in that simple task, I rediscovered my sewing joy. . .that peaceful feeling I used to experience when the sewing machine hummed.

Glorious day! I was ready to sew again. Unfortunately, my Kenmore wasn’t. It had grown cranky from age and neglect. Perhaps, I thought, the time had come for a new machine. And so I blithely began shopping only to discover the space age of sewing. Wow! Things have changed. Sewing machines are computer driven and do things easily that used to be so hard, like making button holes. The choices are confusing. I felt like my grandmother must have felt when she went from her old treadle machine to an electric sewing machine.

But in the midst of all this sewing machine brouhaha, I began to wonder when the first sewing machine was invented and by whom. As usual, I uncovered some interesting facts, but I’ll have to wait until next week to share those with our readers since my introduction to this topic was so wordy.

Next week. . .sewing machine patent wars.

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