Wrists: the gateway to pain. Weak, pitiful things, pathetic and flimsy and easily snapped.
Fingers! Wiry wee sausages, with the strength of a kitten.
I’ve had RSI folks, and it’s not fun. It feels like cement has been poured into your hands and wrists and all movement (which is shockingly limited because of the cement) is painful and creaky.
Tips to Avoid Cement Hands
The world’s greatest invention: Powerball! This gadgy strengthens your forearms, fingers and wrists, and it’s called Powerball, so obviously it works. http://www.powerballs.com/ I give my PB a spin for 5-10 minutes every night and can vouch for its effectiveness.
NSDPowerBall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Always use a gel wrist support if you’re typing at a table, and keep your keyboard flat. (Also make sure your feet are firmly on the floor or footrest, shoulders are down, elbows are level.)
Stretch those wrists and fingers.
Switch between writing and typing.
Avoid gripping the pen as if it were a weapon. Yeah, we all get involved in those angry, emotional scenes, but the depth of ink will not make it to the final published copy. And you might put your pen through your notepad, and nothing upsets me more than notebook abuse.
Finger Puppets (Photo credit: Kami Jo)
Avoid finger puppet theatre. Observation is fine, but leave participation to the professionals.
Convince a nice person to give you a hand massage. If that fails, do it yourself (although you’ll quickly become trapped in a cycle where each massaging hand needs a massage, and you only have two hands and I don’t have a viable solution, UNLESS you lay your hands flat on the floor and encourage your dog or large cat to roll over them).
Pay for a scribe, and dictate your work. If you’re a woman, you must do this on a chaise longue while drinking a martini. If you’re a man, it’s a high-backed armchair and whisky. Both sexes require a long, satin house coat and slippers, and everyone must speak through their nose and round their vowels.
Stop writing.
(Ha! That last one was a joke. )
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