You don’t need to be a master researcher to turn up lots of writing advice if you’re looking to hone your craft.

A quick search of the Web or your local bookstore will reveal numerous articles, books, and manuals on how to be a better, quicker, or more successful writer. All of these strategies and techniques, some more helpful than others, require a sharp brain, some creativity, and the energy to see a project to completion.

Many tips offer cures for writer’s block or how to create believable dialogue, but an area often neglected is how to optimize the writer, not just the writing.

Writing, while a hobby for some, is a vocational aspiration for many. But to get to professional status, you’ll need more than superior writing chops and a few connections; you’ll need to be physically sharp as well.

Keeping your body and your psyche in fine working order will help to prevent burnout while making the writing process more enjoyable. With that in mind, here are some tips to keep you in tip-top shape:

• This may be obvious, but begin your day with breakfast. Start with a cup of green or white tea; it’s loaded with anti-oxidants and tastes great, too. Enjoy with a piece of fruit and a bowl of quinoa with a spoon of almond butter stirred in. This protein- and nutrient-rich breakfast is easy to fix and a body-friendly departure from the coffee and pastry habit you’ve developed.

• Get outside! Stepping away from the computer screen is sometimes the best thing you can do to move along a stalled paragraph, even if it’s just a walk around the block. Moving the body moves the blood, thus feeding the brain with vital oxygen needed to churn out that bestseller.

• Observe the world around you. While you are on a walk, look around for things you’d normally overlook. How many cats are sunning on porches? When did your neighbor paint her front door hot pink? Taking off the blinders allows your mind to expand and opens you up to new ideas for writing and living.

• Breathe. Most of us breathe short, shallow breaths that don’t fill our lungs. It’s important to inhale deeply, expanding your belly as you take in air, exhaling fully as your belly moves back toward your spine. The best way to re-learn how to breathe is to take a yoga class.

• Sleep. Get lots of it. The average overworked American gets only 6 hours sleep, but many experts agree that adults need 7 to 9 hours to feel rested. Some tips for a good night’s sleep: No caffeine 4 to 6 hours before bedtime, keep your bedroom dark and cool, and don’t use the bedroom for anything but sleep and sex. If you must nap during the day, do it before 3 pm and for no longer than one hour.

Try these tips to keep your body healthy and mind agile. Remember, writing is a discipline: to succeed, you have to practice!

(These tips are a part of The Un-process, An Alternative Guide to Writing, that I am creating. Stay tuned for more or drop me a line at shanna@shannatrenholm.com if you’d like support in this area).

We back each other, and we bash each other. The extreme dichotomy between these opposing positions seems to show up in all areas of our lives. And lest you think this post is for women only, it’s not. So keep reading, lads and lasses.

Misogyny, I’m sensitive to this. Defined as the hatred of women, misogyny, I’m noticing a lot of it lately. Not that this is anything new, it’s been standard operating procedure for much of what of Madison Avenue, the Hollywood machine, and Seventh Avenue spews forth, but the issue seems to be surfacing with increasing venom.

There’s a back and forth argument out there in the world wide web-o-sphere that looks like this or this . One camp touts the beauty of the ultra-slim runway model, and the other camp is in favor of the voluptuous form that Marilyn Monroe embodied.

You know, curvy is hotter than stick-thin, or stick-thin is so much prettier than fat (and fire her if she puffs up to a size 8, or size 4). Arguing about which body type is better or hotter, often under the guise of health (a related, yet separate issue), is polarizing women, pitting them against one another.

Women (and men) engaged in bashing women who don’t adhere to a body type that conforms to the fascist standards-du-jour perpetuate the myth that women’s worth is measured by her outward beauty; that a woman’s self-esteem should be derived from the reflection in her mirror.

Externally imposed ideals are impossible to uphold—whether the pressure is to morph our bodies into the airbrushed, ultra-thin type that stares back at us from Vogue or into the curvy Bettie Page body shape—the damage is still the same: women at war with one another and themselves for failing to fit into a false and dangerous norm.

I know a woman who is very thin. Her entire family has the same build—athletic, runner types. She had an eating disorder in her college days (even she felt fat), but that was many years ago. By the time I met her, this woman had a hearty appetite and no food issues. Sadly, women would come up to her at work and ask her if she was anorexic. To her face. As if asking her what shade of lipstick she was wearing, except with disdain in their voices. I worked with her for a few months and witnessed this on several occasions.

So, this body bashing needs to stop. And yes, health issues: obesity, anorexia, body dysmorphia, etc. are epidemic. We are an overweight culture, we make poor food choices, or we over-exercise and count every calorie within a 3-mile radius of our lips, but all this makes me wonder: without the emphasis on body-as-cultural-currency, would we have half the food- and health-related issues that we do? What do you think?

Walking down the street, wearing your favorite green high-tops

You see none of this. Vaguely aware that you did pass the homeless person (he asked you for spare change), but you couldn’t pick him out in a line-up. Never mind the birds and the nascent rose blossoms, you couldn’t pick them out, either (good thing birds and roses don’t suffer the humiliation of police line-ups).

No, you didn’t see the birds or the roses or the lady with the yellow hat (lady with the yellow hat?) because you are busy. Busy-busy! As you continue along your trajectory, serious and focused, your friend, a woman you haven’t seen in forever, comes out of the coffee shop and lands right in front of you. You stop, pause, and feel irritated that this woman slowed your roll, but then recognition kicks in and you realize that it’s Susie.

Susie, Hi! You exclaim (note exclamation mark for veracity of statement). Susie asks you how you’ve been and you reply, the same way you always do when asked this question, busy. I’m really busy.

Ah, busy, so important-sounding, such a modern affliction. If I had a penny for every time I asked someone how they were doing and they replied, “busy” well, I’d have a fistful of pennies.

What is it about busy? Why are we so freaking busy? Yes, I know all about the day-to-day pressures, things to be done, and read, and watched and eaten and ad infinitum, but do you ever stop to wonder why busy has become our, your, buzzword? Why, when someone wants to know HOW you are, and instead of replying sad, happy, grateful, you blurt out busy?

Busy is the veil we are afraid to lift for fear we will have to actually take the pulse of our life. If we stopped long enough from our busy, we might have to consider our jobs, our relationships, or the way we live. Does your relationship feed you; do you feel like you are loved and the beloved? Your job, it pays well, ok, maybe not even that, but hey, you have benefits, right? And you feel like you die a little bit each day you head off to work, don’t you?

I challenge you to lift the veil of busy, even if just to peek out a bit and notice what you might be hiding from with all that activity. Sit quietly, meditate, assess your one all-to-brief life and ask yourself if this is the way you want to be doing it. Is it fulfilling? Do you feel intimate with the idea of joy? Are you doing work that you love? Or are you just…busy?

I am posting this amazing offer as an affiliate of the Unconventional Guides, Chris Guillebeau’s informative and action-oriented guides for travel, self-employment, and now publishing. With the success of his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity, and equally successful book by the same name, his Unconventional Guide to Publishing is bound to be a hit.

There are few products that I love, fewer still that I am an affiliate* for, and, well, only one person (Chris) that I would give up precious blog space for. Chris has high standards of excellence and I heartily endorse his stellar guides. Chris is a good friend, and I believe in what he does. So rest assured, I would not recommend anything that I wouldn’t want my own mother to buy (hey, maybe she wants to write a book?).

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Yesterday I awoke with a start, the mid-morning light

The delightful aroma of chocolate and butter, two of the most amazing elements on the planet, filled my apartment making my stomach grumble as I slipped into the kitchen to start a pot of tea.

I still haven’t gotten used to the fact that I can smell pain au chocolat from the boulangerie across the street while I float in early morning sleep.

My tiny 6th floor flat in a stately but worn eighteen-century building in the 6th arrondissement has everything I need and love: a cozy fireplace, sitting room with huge windows, a simple, but sunny kitchen; and an amazing bedroom with a claw foot tub under one window. I could easily stay in all day, enjoying the play between light and shadow as the morning turns to afternoon turns to dusk. Instead, I have a painting class in an hour and that bakery across the street has a croissant with my name on it.

Lost in reverie as I dress and consider my good fortune, an unwelcome intrusion imposes on my perfect Paris day. I wake up. For real. In my bed in San Diego. The incongruity of it all shocks me conscious. No smell of chocolate, no bakery across the street, no painting class to attend.

Now don’t misunderstand me, San Diego is a fine place, but it’s not Paris. Or Mexico. Or Argentina. Or Croatia. Or any number of foreign locales that get my wanderlust flowing. And while I don’t have a pied-à-terre in Paris, or any other town for that matter, that doesn’t keep my vivid dreams from insinuating themselves into my somewhat average life. I dream in color. I dream in adventure. I dream expatriate. I dream of zipping from continent to continent, touching down for a few months at home, only to jet off to another home—just one of a few scattered about the globe like crumbs along my path.

I am afflicted, in equal parts, with wanderlust and the opposing need for rootedness, for a sense of home. Like the Pushme-Pullyu, Dr. Doolittle’s fictional two-headed llama, I am torn by the leave or stay dilemma, a situation that makes my life a moving target. Just as I figure out a new neighborhood or town, and I get my home set up and infused with the things that make it mine, I am ready to shove off again for another town.

More compelling than the itch to travel is my desire to move to another country. To be foreign, a stranger, the other.

I love the challenge and the sensation of being in an unfamiliar country forced to use all my faculties and abilities to navigate curious streets and colorful maps while steering clear of creepy areas and food that doesn’t agree with me. To wake up in Paris or Prague and sip a strong coffee from the corner bar in my adopted, regardless of how brief, neighborhood gives me joy beyond compare.

Lately, these travel scenarios have become a mainstay of my nightly dreams and my daily musings. It’s a sign that I need to get out and unfold my wings. It’s been far too long since I have left the comfort of my country and done something other than work. I think 2008 will be a year of new adventures, carbon footprint be damned. And who knows, perhaps I’ll come across my dream country—a place I can truly call home.

[This piece was originally published in All Things Girl, Dec. 2007]

Sit down within the space of a few quiet moments or hours; think about what you want your life to look like in February and May and November. Jot it all down in ink to make it stick. Approach 2012 the same way you would any list. Decide what you want to accomplish, write it down, and make it so.

But, wait! Screech! Reverse!

Your life is not a friggin’ to-do list of tasks and goals. Your life at its most rich and rewarding is an organic journey, an opportunity to nurture your whims, a path without a destination to travel. In fact, life lived as it unfolds–without so damn much exertion–is a life to consider, and one that I suggest you try. Instead of striving for resolution, I propose evolution. Resolve to evolve. Be, rather than do.

Instead of front-loading a bunch of crap onto your days, as if you are a walking carbon checklist, perhaps you might try building in some room for rumination, some time for tinkering, and some space for spacing out. Yes, I am suggesting that you spend at least some of your days in 2012 without a plan! Crazy-talk to some of you, I know, but consider this your opportunity, a big shiny permission slip, to live without constraint—even if it’s just occasionally. Don’t worry, your list will still be there if you want it.

What, you wonder, would that look like? How would you spend your time? Maybe you aren’t even sure what you want to do with your life. No, not what you think you should want, but what you really want to do. I am not anti-goal-setting, I think goals, like anything, are best if approached without fanaticism. Feverish pursuit of the future blinds us to the gorgeous-sexy-goodness of the now.

And lest you think that I think you are independently wealthy and don’t need to work to pay the bills, I don’t. Most of us do need to work to sustain ourselves, and often there is little flexibility within our workday, especially when working for others. But the remaining hours of the day, at least eight of them, after you knock off the other eight with good quality sleep, can be yours. Yes, they can. You get to decide (unless you are a 6-year-old reading this, then I suggest you go outside and play, but ask your mother first) how to use them.

Consider: How much time do you squander away in front of the telly? Arguing? Gossiping? Shopping for crap you don’t need? Comparing yourself and your success (or lack thereof) to that of others? If you engage in even one of these activities throughout your week, you could free up at least a few hours (or more) if you just stop it. Now.

A new year gives us a point of reference for a new start. Each hour is a new hour. Each day is a chance to start fresh. How are you going to evolve in 2012? How will you get closer to living your life authentic?

I make green juice daily.

I am an evangelist for the healing and energizing properties of the emerald elixir. Delicious, nutritious, and, did I mention, delicious?

I am often asked, by the curious and the somewhat grossed-out, what exactly is in that glass of goodness. Since several people have asked for my recipe, I am more than happy to share it here.

I use a Breville Compact Juicer, which can be found for about $100 USD on Amazon (affiliate link). The Breville Compact is, well, umm, compact, easy to clean, and takes up little counter space (I have a tiny kitchen, so this is important). Despite the post title, juice such as this cannot be made in a regular blender.

Some people prefer green smoothies, which can be made using a Vitamix or other similar machine. Check out my friend Sue Ann Gleason’s post on her Conscious Bites Nutrition website for a great green smoothie recipe (among many other crazy-good recipes).

Without further ado, here is the recipe for my green juice concoction that I lovingly call Frog-in-a-Blender (note: no frogs were harmed in the making of this juice or in the writing of this post):

Frog-in-a-Blender:

• Large handful or bunch of kale
• one apple
• one cucumber
• two stalks of celery
• one large or two small carrots
• half a small lemon with peel

All the ingredients I use are organic. If you use conventional produce, be sure to peel the peel-able fruits and veggies. If you can only use a few organic ingredients, I recommend that you splurge on the apples, kale and lemon.

Nice additional ingredients or substitutions are:

• chard
• parsley
• limes
• spinach
• pear
• mint

So, what are you waiting for? Get juicing!

Unplug-from-the-digital-crackpipe-that-governs-your-life. Yes, exactly.

Luxuriate in the shadowy solstice; revel in this shortest day and longest night, this dark, cold first day of winter’s eve when the fallow time slowly begins to return us to creative fecundity with the promise of spring.

Take this day and night, finish your good work, and switch off. Stow your electronic drug of choice in its full upright position and step away from device. Yes, I just mixed metaphors. The solstice allows for this kind of messy.

Things to do during a digital-free evening:

• Make and eat soup with friends
• Share a glass of velvety red wine with said friend
• Take a bath by candlelight (friend optional)
• Meditate
• Practice yoga
• Read a book
• Breathe and observe

I challenge you to join me from sundown 12/21/11 to sunup 12/22/11 to remember the ancient days, the days before we allowed the electronic thrum and buzz of our devices held sway over our lives. If you do unplug, please comment to let me know how you enjoyed the eve of the wintry solstice.

Be Realistic!

How many times have you heard someone say that? Oh come on, be realistic, you know that isn’t possible/practical/logical/appropriate/safe or some similar admonition. How often do you hear this? How often do you say be realistic to the people you work with, your friends, family, or yourself (in that funny little inner voice of yours, you know, the critical, high-pitched, shrill one)?

In my experience, this entreaty to be realistic is often used when someone expresses a dream or a non-conventional goal such as when someone shares the desire to live in Bora-Bora, or when one wants to quit her lucrative and prestigious job, or perhaps when someone follows her desire to do something crazy like take up Olympic archery at age 41. And why do we say this? Ah, the why is a pretty easy one; we say this because we are afraid.

What are we afraid of when we think or say be realistic? I posit that we are afraid of bucking the status quo, we are afraid to get uncomfortable as we contemplate living our truth, we are afraid to piss people off, or that we will be judged, or that people won’t like us, etc. So we stay small, we eke out an existence of obligation and adherence to social convention and expectation, regardless of how painful this is.

It’s easier to let our dreams, as unrealistic as they may be, slip away, than do the sometimes hard work of taking a stand for our truth, pursuing the things that make us do cartwheels (actual or figurative), or following the path that make our eyelashes tingle. Cultivation of mediocrity seems to be de rigueur, and realistic is firmly in the mediocre category.

When it comes to being the admonisher, it’s often because we feel challenged by others when they dare to think or dream or do outside the well-circumscribed lines. If we live in that miniscule, fearful place, the dreams of others only serve to highlight our misery and shed light on the fact that we are not following or path. And yes, I do realize that not everyone is discontent with a life of conformity, but I’d wager a week of chai lattes that everyone has unfilled dreams that at some time someone (or that pesky inner critic) told them was unrealistic.

So, where can you throw of the realistic mantle and embrace a little (or a lot) of risk, adventure, and hell-yes-I’ll give-it-a-try attitude? What lines have you been coloring in? Where are you playing it safe and small? What’s your one big dream that you thought was unrealistic?

Dreams don’t really have an expiration date, so I suggest you dust off one that you thought was impossible and chase it. Society needs dreamers and doers just like you.

 Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.      ~ Mark Twain