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How seniors can enrich and prolong their lives with daily writing exercises

by Ruth Belena

Seniors can find many benefits from daily writing exercises. Mental exercise is equally as important in prolonging an active mind as physical exercise is for maintaining a healthy body. Daily writing is an excellent way to exercise a mature mind, to keep it active and alert, and regular writing will also enrich the daily lives of many seniors.

A senior who has not previously dome any creative writing, or kept a journal, should find the daily exercise of writing a stimulating and challenging experience. A retired person who has always wanted more time to write will gain even more advantage by writing every day.

A daily writing exercise can be completed within an hour or two, but for an enthusiastic senior, writing can become a satisfying full time occupation.

Daily writing exercises can lead onto success in starting a personal journal, writing fiction or posting articles online, and seniors who love to write can become motivated by their daily writing exercises to complete a full length book, or to write regularly for extra income.

There are further advantages to daily writing exercises for seniors:

* Writing can be done by anyone at home alone. Single or solitary seniors can communicate with others through their writing.

Some seniors may want to participate in writing groups where their work can be evaluated by their fellow writers. Others may prefer to post their writing online and interact with Internet users.

* Writing exercises can help seniors to start writing poetry, fiction or factual accounts, and to become more productive as writers.

By trying out different forms of writing in their daily exercises, seniors can develop their own creative talents. They will acquire new writing skills through the practice of writing.

* Writing gives purpose and meaning to life

Whether it is kept private in a personal journal or published on a blog, seniors benefit from learning how to express themselves by writing out their thoughts and feelings, opinions and life experiences.

Senior fiction writers and poets find an outlet for their creativity, and feel fulfilled by writing every day. Some of those stories and poems can be published in print or appear online.

There is a market for all kinds of writing. Seniors who can write well will get great satisfaction from seeing their stories in print or articles online.

Extra money can be made by submitting articles and reviews to sites that offer upfront payments and share of advertising revenue, or by finding freelance writing jobs. Senior fiction writers can get paid for short stories submitted to magazines or entered into writing contests. Writing or blogging every day can be a good source of regular income.

All seniors who enjoy writing can expand and develop good skills when writing exercises become a daily habit. Seniors can enrich and prolong their lives with daily writing. Some may be given a formal exercise to produce a piece of writing every day, and to share this within a group of seniors. For others in retirement, writing daily is a voluntary practice done out of choice, for pleasure and for extra income.

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200 Brickstone Square Andover, MA 01810 USA