Maintaining health as a writer
Hey, all.
So, here's something that might seem obvious to all of you, but it's something I've been struggling with for a long time: maintaining your health (physical and mental) while working as a writer and balancing life in general.
I may have mentioned this already, but I have epilepsy, which has thrown me for a curve in life. It forced me to make a lot of changes, but allowed me to explore my fiction career more than I ever would have imagined before. It also gave me a chance to be a stay-at-home dad and help my kids whenever I can. I also have some mental health struggles that make life immensely hard.
Now, I don't want to turn this into a pity-party. I do want to point out that people, whatever the struggles are, can push through those struggles and be successful.
I know a few authors (I won't mention their names for the sake of their privacy) that are open about their struggles with mental health. And I've asked them how they manage to slog through the days when everything seems to be coming apart at the seams. The simple answer: you might not be able to. I know that for me, I have to get things done even when I have absolutely no motivation. I have to drag myself through the day to do things I have to do. Or there are times when I desperately want to do something with friends, but I have such horrible social anxiety when the time comes that I feel like I need to throw up.
So what does this have to do with writing? Simple. We need to take care of ourselves. We may be writing because we love to do it, but it's still work. If we're working on fiction and find ourselves dragging to get things done, we should step back and look at how we're feeling. Are you sick? Angry? Sad? Hungry? Any emotional or physical need/ailment is going to impact us in our productivity and ability to work well.
I don't really know what else to say. Hang in there! If you're struggling, know that I'm here for you. You can always tweet at me or send me a message and I'll be more than happy to reply. We're all friends here, and it helps us all identify with one another when we share a common struggle.
Thanks for wreading!
Jeff
So, here's something that might seem obvious to all of you, but it's something I've been struggling with for a long time: maintaining your health (physical and mental) while working as a writer and balancing life in general.
I may have mentioned this already, but I have epilepsy, which has thrown me for a curve in life. It forced me to make a lot of changes, but allowed me to explore my fiction career more than I ever would have imagined before. It also gave me a chance to be a stay-at-home dad and help my kids whenever I can. I also have some mental health struggles that make life immensely hard.
Now, I don't want to turn this into a pity-party. I do want to point out that people, whatever the struggles are, can push through those struggles and be successful.
I know a few authors (I won't mention their names for the sake of their privacy) that are open about their struggles with mental health. And I've asked them how they manage to slog through the days when everything seems to be coming apart at the seams. The simple answer: you might not be able to. I know that for me, I have to get things done even when I have absolutely no motivation. I have to drag myself through the day to do things I have to do. Or there are times when I desperately want to do something with friends, but I have such horrible social anxiety when the time comes that I feel like I need to throw up.
So what does this have to do with writing? Simple. We need to take care of ourselves. We may be writing because we love to do it, but it's still work. If we're working on fiction and find ourselves dragging to get things done, we should step back and look at how we're feeling. Are you sick? Angry? Sad? Hungry? Any emotional or physical need/ailment is going to impact us in our productivity and ability to work well.
I don't really know what else to say. Hang in there! If you're struggling, know that I'm here for you. You can always tweet at me or send me a message and I'll be more than happy to reply. We're all friends here, and it helps us all identify with one another when we share a common struggle.
Thanks for wreading!
Jeff
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