Writing Tip: Why I stand up when I write

Dec 5, 2013 | Better Writing

I got the idea from Ernest Hemingway. I saw a picture of Hemingway standing up to write at what looked like one of the lecterns we had in church. I figured that if it worked for Ernest, it was worth a try.

It works for me. When I write standing up, the writing has more energy and I’m more creative, too.

I’ve found that I think better when I walk around. I do it when I’m on phone calls and when I’m writing. I walk away and go back to the laptop, which sits on a heavy duty music stand ($40) set at just the right height for typing. I walk around the house and back to the keyboard. I write for a while and then walk and then write some more.

Standing and walking around more has to be good for me physically, too. We humans weren’t designed to sit as much as we do.

You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a fancy standup desk to make this work. One picture of Hemingway shows him with his typewriter sitting on top of a fat book that is sitting on top of a bookcase.

Bottom Line

Every one of us needs to figure out how we write best. But you need to give working standing up a try for the benefits that go beyond writing.

Your Turn

How do you write?