Many writers have a physically active lifestyle, and many of these writers believe that this physical activity aids them in their creative endeavors. I have written an article about this before, which you can read here.

I recently started doing this unusual writing prompt myself and have found it to be a lot of fun. It has equaled some interesting results. The first thing I do is write down a title and then the number of lines I plan to write. On the side of the page I write down the number for every line. I usually do no more than 12 lines.

I often use a piece of paper and not a computer for this prompt because I tend to sweat. Once I write down the line numbers I decide what exercise I am going to do. I usually do something like jumping jacks or squats that are easy to count. I don’t like to do more than one form of exercise because the main point is the writing.

Before I write the first line I have to do 20 jumping jacks, or 30 squats, or 5 pushups, etc, and then I write a line of poetry. For each line of poetry that I write I do the same amount of physical exercise.

It is really strange to go between one activity and the other, but I have found that I am more likely to write poems with a lot of energy and strangeness in them, while doing this prompt. Happy Writing!

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