Writer Self Care
This is an archive of the Writer’s Oasis Chat, which meets on BeYourArt.com and AOL. It invites authors and professionals to speak on various topics in writing. Contact Shirley Flanagan, the Writer’s Oasis Chat Administrator, or join the Writer’s Oasis Topic to be added to the mailing list.
By Janny Butler
In order to produce something of value, you have to have something of value to draw on. But too many of us forget that we have to “fill up our own well” before we can fill anyone else’s. If we’re women with families, this “forgetfulness” gets compounded by our natural tendencies to nurture other people before we take care of ourselves. Therefore, in the interests of keeping our writers’ health insurance premiums low, let’s talk a bit about some pointers for Writer Self-Care.
First, of course, comes common-sense stuff we were all told as kids. Yanno, eat your vegetables, Or at least attempt to have some balance in your diet!
Get enough sleep.
Get enough exercise. I can’t stress this enough. Sometimes the best cure for any kind of block or doldrums is simply a long walk outdoors. The benefits of rambling in the fresh air beat paying high health-club dues any day of the week. In short, get yourself as healthy as you can, stay that way as much as you can.
Second…give yourself a really nice place to write if you can. I don’t mean a private office, necessarily–just someplace, even if it’s the corner of the kitchen, that’s all yours.
A place that surrounds you in good feelings, of one kind or another.
Keep your favorite writing “good luck charms” around you.
You’ll want a good chair to sit in and your supplies within comfortable reach. Have good lighting and a coffeepot/teapot/stash of chocolate around. Comfort foods, great colors, a teeny fridge with bottled water in it…you know what you need. This is the place to give it to yourself.
Third, give yourself permission at times NOT to write, but to read.
Or to see a movie.
Or play with your cat.
Or have a conversation with someone you haven’t talked to in ages.
Sometimes all you need is a shift in perspective. That, too, is “filling up the well.”
For some of us, the best kickstart is reading a good craft book. For some of us, the inspiration comes from reading our favorite author. Not even a lot, maybe just a few pages or a chapter…of someone who can really handle the language and gets our own imaginations firing.
Fourth, try as best you can to silence any negative voices in your head.
If your negative voices are audible–i.e. people who live with you, your family members, etc., are not affirming you in your writing life–this is trickier. Counterbalance them with some positive voices: good critique partners…people who just plain love to read…even people like your hairdresser, your manicurist, the person who delivers your mail. Don’t forget the obvious places to pick up some “writer love.” Librarians tend to love writers, so your local librarian can often become your new best friend. People who read, love to meet people who write, and through them, you can get a chance to cultivate a “fandom”–even if you haven’t sold a lick yet. Some of the best support I ever got, early on, came from baseball moms–especially when they found out I wrote romance!
And, of course, there’s always the support you can gather online….
In short, nurturing the Muse isn’t a mystical, complicated operation that requires a lot of extra equipment–it mostly just requires a little more attention to yourself and keeping yourself well-cared-for. But as we all know, the “little” things usually end up being the ones that make all the difference–and taking care of yourself can make a difference that carries forward far beyond the world of the written word!
Happy Writing!
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Janet W. Butler, a member of ACFW,=20 is a non-fiction book production editor with Our Sunday Visitor, one of the nation’s leading Catholic publishers, by day and a “small soprano” by night. She writes–and sings–from Indiana.
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Great advice! You have to look after yourself or the Muse will sulk and get uncooperative.
This is great advice- thanks for sharing!