Be Kind To Yourself

As writers, the work can be mentally and emotionally draining as you grind away on those manuscripts. Creative slumps, dry spells, and writer’s block hit all writers from time to time.

Writers can be very neglectful when it comes to self-care, especially those who work from home and know that there are bills that need to be paid, looming deadlines, household chores and children who need your constant attention.

It can be quite daunting.

Pause.

Take a deep breathe.

A reminder that you need to give yourself permission to sit back and let the well refill.

As you reflect on the year that has been, here are some reminders:
1. Write for 20 minutes, then stretch your arms, back, and shoulders.
2. Take frequent breaks. Go for a walk. You can people watch and observe and listen.
3. Don't check your sales figures every single day.
4. Buy some new accessories (maybe a bullet journal or colorful post-its)
5. Remember that everyone feels like an impostor sometimes.      
6. Have a little bit of writing-related fun where you give your inner writer a little TLC such as, doodling or writing some bad poetry. Alleviate the pressure from yourself by not expecting the writing to become “a thing.”
7. Read for the sake of reading. When was the last time that you picked up a book just to enjoy the experience? Too often writers seem to focus on craft books instead of reading for the sheer love of reading.
8. Accept that you'll always have room to grow so you need to stop beating yourself up for not being 100% productive all the time - remember that perfect is the 'enemy' of good.

Are there any other tips you can add to this list?

5 Ways to Recover from Writer's Fatigue

There are many reasons a person can experience writer's fatigue. It’s that feeling of being spent, used up, and drained of creativity. It can happen after any intensive session of writing, editing, battling deadlines, and even taking part in online challenges like the April A-Z Challenge. While we gain a lot from all these activities, they can also wear us out. If this has happened to you, then below are my suggestions on how to refill that creative well.

1. Take a short break and stop trying to “be the writer.” Be something else for a while. Turn off the computer and experience some life. There is no better well-filler than life. Even mundane life. We get our ideas and creativity from those unexpected places, the bland, the interesting, the unusual places that life has to offer.

2. Read a good book. Not a book you have to read because you agreed to write a review. Not a book you promised to read because it was written by a friend. Just a book you enjoy. One that brings with it little to no pressure. No matter the subject matter or genre, good books inspire.

3. Write something new. Step out of your comfort zone and try writing within a different genre than you would normally. Try non-fiction. Flash fiction. Explore a different topic.

4. Learn something new. Feeding the brain with new and interesting information or different approaches to an old method, can open the mind to new possibilities, new ideas, and new avenues of creativity.

5. Get physical. Exercise gets the blood pumping and pushes those cobwebs away to make room for new, energized thoughts and creations.

What works best for you while recovering from writing fatigue?

Don’t forget, the IWSG Day is this Wednesday when we encourage you to share your insecurities or offer reassurance to others. If you haven’t already, you can sign up for it on our sign-up page.

Healthy Writing by Pat Hatt

How do I do it? Do you ever sleep?

Two questions I get asked frequently on my blog. People always get hung up on the time it must take to do everything I do. I blog every day, both the cat and I have over 80K Twitter followers, over 100,000 blog comments, release a book every month, comment on 50-100 blogs every day, etc. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, that's the cat's job. That is just to show there is a lot that goes on. But is there a lot of time involved? Not as much as you might think. Can you do it as well? Yes!

Time is only a factor if you let it be a factor. Yes, social media takes time, blogging takes time, book writing takes time, it all takes time. But get ahead of the 8-ball and the time factor is a distant memory.

Pre-blog posts - have posts set up in advance. You should post at least once a week to stay relevant. So have a few set up and ready to go.

Pre-social media posts - From Facebook to Twitter to any other site out there, there is a program that will do the work for you. For instance you can use Hootsuite and set up tweets, status updates, etc. in bulk. In one day you can have content scheduled for three months out.

Pre is the word of the day. You are always told to live healthy and prevent disease, while write healthy and prevent writer's block, burn out and other pitfalls.

Just think, if you don't have to fret about the need for a post or the need to tweet you will be in a happier state of being and it will show in your writing. Those things will be done and you can enjoy doing what you want to do, write. You can visit more blogs, leaving a worthwhile comment of course, follow more on Twitter, and all the while you are still building content. Your content will be seen by others and they will follow back, return comments, etc.

People will enjoy your content when you enjoy your content. One by one your numbers rise, your reach will rise and you will remain a healthy writer. When content isn't forced it will flow. When you don't "need" to write a post, it will come. It takes some time to get ahead, but after that time works for you and you no longer work for it.

If I want to take a week off or if I want to write a new book, I can and no one will notice. There is no need to take a blog break or shut anything down and there is no need to divide my time. All because I've made time work on my schedule.

Healthy writing is just as important for your writing as exercise is for your health. So get ahead, stay ahead and get back to what you love to do, writing.

Pat Hatt can be found in the East Coast of Canada. He hates writing these things but doesn't mind talking in the third person. He is owned by two cats, one of whom has his own blog, It's Rhyme Time. Yeah a rhyming cat, who knew?

He is also quite the movie and TV buff and a bit of a health nut. As you can probably tell he does not take himself seriously and has more stuff in his head than is needed. Thus the 7 novels and 37 children's books that he has released so far. His newest release being Max Blizzard and The Gem of Camelot. He just likes to set his imagination free and have fun along the way.

Find Pat here - Blog, Website, Twitter – Pat, and Twitter – Cool Cat
Pick up Max Blizzard at Amazon