What do writers do when they're not writing?

What do writers do when they're not writing? Or what hobbies do writers have? 

For the next few blogs, I'm going to write about a couple of my hobbies and what else I might do during the day when I'm not writing. 

First, you have to understand a writer's mind, or at least my mind. All the time I'm not writing, I'm “incubating” as you might say. I am thinking of the next novel, the next story, or the next blog, in this case. 

Whatever I do during the day, from a hobby to even watching TV, in the back of my mind, I'm always thinking and formulating new information and ideas about the new plot.

So let me discuss one of my recent hobbies. 

I used to like sewing, and I made my own quilt for my bed. Yes, I made my own wooden bed (will show photo later in series). So, woodworking has also been a bit of a hobby for me.

This is something I did about 9 years ago. I was not writing full-time at that period in my life. I was working a different job, and I worked 40 hours a week plus. When you spend that long time on the computer every week, you do not feel like sitting down at a burning computer, no matter what you might believe. At least this kid couldn't, because I always gave 110% or more to the job I was working on. I was literally mentally and sometimes physically exhausted by the time I clocked out.

But one of my hobbies was the quilt I made, sewing. As with the bed frame, I designed the quilt myself, cut the pieces very carefully, and sewed around each maple leaf. 

So, now that I'm working on my writing full-time, I still have to take time off to as I said incubate or think about what I'm going to do next, or put the characters together in my mind before I can even put anything down on paper or computer, as the case may be. 

Another thing that human beings are able to do, and mostly especially writers, I believe, is to multitask. As I write this blog, I'm cooking chicken teriyaki for dinner. Yummy 😋 

I had long wanted to sew a particular project. It's a very ambitious project, but I decided to start it just to see where I go. I wanted to create a quilted jacket for myself of autumn colors.

Yes, if you can imagine it, it's very challenging and daunting to even think about. Especially for the amateur I am. And I'm at the first stage of getting things ready. 

I ordered a “jelly roll,” as it is called, of material. Always be careful when ordering things online, because they always look much bigger and easier than they are in reality. The jelly roll had as beautiful bright colors as you can imagine for autumn patterns, which is my favorite season. However, the strips were much narrower than I expected, which could pose a problem. However, I decided to go ahead and meet the challenge. 

Next, I decided to pair these strips with odds and ends so no two would be the same. I pinned these together, creating exciting, beautiful patterns that crisscrossed opposite types of patterns. 

Next was sewing. I had not used my sewing machine in at least 9 years, so I watched several videos to refresh my skills. As of today, I completed the first step of the sewing process: sewing the strips together. I also cut off the shreds of excess thread at each end. I'm always cautious about what I do, so I leave a margin at the ends in case something goes wrong. 

Tune in to my next blog post, where I will share the next steps in creating my quilted jacket. 

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your interest. Make a great day. 

God bless!