A thread in the Lounge - about the post-partum weirdness of finishing something big (a novel, in this case) and sending it out, has made me curious about what WWers do to refuel at times like these.

Leaving aside reading, for the moment, which for writers is sometimes double-edged, I:

- go to exhibitions - (Renoir's Landscapes at the Nat Gal highly recommended, BTW)

- walk - just locally if nothing else offers, through central London is also good.

- sleep

- hot baths

- go to the gym including hours in the jacuzzi and steam room

- ride horses if money, time, place and health of vertebrae all conjoin to make it possible

- ring up all the friends I've been neglecting, which usually spawns a movie or too, and lots of coffee and gossip.

What do you do?

Emma

I drive over to Lancaster. Brunch in the old Assembly Rooms, a mooch around the shops, maybe a walk along the Quay or, depending on the tide, I’ll go round the bay to walk on the saltmarsh. I always come home refreshed and ready for the next project.

If I can't do that, I go round all the second-hand and charity shops in town collecting books on the grounds that I now have time to read them… if only!

Dee

Music - either hours listening to old CDs, or going to gigs.

Poker - cards, beer and cigars (never online)

Cinema - good honest shlock

Reading - as I don't do enough while writing

Travelling - money permitting, especially visiting family in India or States

Sport - mainly skiing and boarding, usually in combination with Travelling

Getting lashed - though this isn't restricted to just when I'm refuelling. It's more of a lifestyle thing.

Sleep and surf (food and web, that is).

Walking for hours around London is a good one for me.

Trains or any kind of movement really help me to think/rcharge the batteries.

Another thing I used to love is having the complete shit beaten out of me/beating the shit out of others. Not so much in a fight club way but in a good three or four hour session of jiu-jitsu. It gives you a such a buzz in a way you can never hope to emulate from visiting the gym.

And ofcourse there's always sex

I would say pootling around. And tidying up the old workspace.

Sleep.

Shop.

Ha! Yep, me too ... or window shop anyway!

sleep, sex, drunkenness, walking, reading, being sociable - usually in that order.

Drunkenness and walking seem to work the best, although I have to have company for the walk - usually little one, because it still feels odd to be plodding about somewhere and not pushing a pram.

B

<Added>

Ooh - I forgot tidying and cleaning. My house shines and I scrub like a demon with OCD when I can't write or have just finished something. Usually, I'm disgusting, so finishing a project or having writers block is probably good for my health.

Ooh, shopping, baths, and eating lovely food, esp. at my favourite restaurant which is local, family-run and Italian.

Not enough.

Read all those books I never have time for.

Walk (though we're trying to do that every weekend anyway now).

Music - listening to or playing.

Nice meal (Thai or Japanese ideally) and a few beers.

Watch You've Been Framed.

Write something different and shorter. (I find that if I've been working on something for months then writing a poem or a short story, usually for my eyes only, offers a really refreshing change. Sometimes these can turn into other things).

What I'd love to do (when time and money permits) is take a nice break. Either by the sea, in the Lakes, or (and this may yet happen) spend a few days in Brugges.

Nik.

Good question! Hope to be in that position soonish.

I find I need structure or else I just balk at the amount of housework and household admin I ought to do but can't face. So I try to watch a movie at least four times a week and blog it on my movie-review blog. (Which no-one can have any possible interest in since I only watch movies on Sky Movies and Film 4, all around 3 years old...)

Plus, I read novels, go for walks and mooch online, here and at Litopia.

Interested to read other people's suggestions, see what else I can add to the mix.

Try to shift the two stone I've gained sitting at the keyboard eight hours a day eating chocolate.

Walk the dog.

clean the house.

Read more.

Catch up with friends.

Probably in reverse order.

Have a minor cardiac arrest, get resuscitated and spend a week walking around wondering who this new personality is inhabiting my body that can actually finish mammoth tasks