How do you keep writing?
So… how are you doing?
In the past week, especially if you live in the U.S., things have been… chaotic, to say the least. For some of us, there is an active despair. Demoralization, depression, rage, grief, all there in a shaken cocktail of emotions. Who can write in this maelstrom?
The thing is… maybe you shouldn’t. But if you can, and feel you should, there are some things to think about.
I’m kind of wiped out.
I’m not going to lie, it’s been pretty exhausting over here, for a variety of reasons.
I have consciously made the decision not to write fiction until 2025. (This usually prods my brain into a sort of rebellious “oh yeah? HERE ARE EIGHTEEN NEW IDEAS!” and I scribble something, but I think this time it’s just going to go into hibernation.)
I know myself well enough to know I need to self-care as best I can. I will still move forward with Rock Your Writing (coaching and coursework is my “day job” after all) but my fiction is more fragile in many ways, and my creativity needs the nurturing right now.
Strangely enough, the clients and friends I’ve told this to have actually gasped. I don’t know if we find self-care shocking, or our identity as a writer is usually tied so firmly to “we must write every day” and “we must write all the time.”
You are a writer, no matter what.
This has come up a few times with clients, as well. They feel like, if they’re not writing, their identity as a writer is being leached away.
I promise you, it isn’t. Being a writer doesn’t mean you physically do the thing every day. Being a writer, in my experience, is a way of thinking and a way of being.
Did you know most non-writers don’t come up with story ideas ever, for example? They don’t think of characters or snippets of dialogue?
And I don’t mean in a “I’m exhausted, this is a fallow period” sort of way. We all have that. It literally never occurs to them.
Which is why I say: if you want to see if you’re a writer, try being anything else. At some point, you won’t be able to help yourself.
I’ve got a lot of articles on this subject.
Turns out I’ve been writing about this for some time… which is perhaps a little sad, but it does showcase Helen Keller’s quote: “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.”
If you’re interested, here are some articles I’ve written for Writer Unboxed addressing how to write when things are *gestures at world.*
Keeping (and losing) the faith.
Writing in a time of dystopia.
Community will help.
It’s easy to isolate when you’re feeling shell-shocked.
That said, once you get some stress grounded out of your system (see: burnout newsletters!) one of the best things for you is to commune with fellow writers who get it — who are struggling, who won’t judge, and who will encourage.
You’re not alone.
Hang in there. As always, feel free to email me at any time. I will talk to you again soon.