Healthy Writing Tips

Past couple of months were rough. It was even thougher, writing wise.

I know why.

Well…NOW that I’m back from a long writing break…
That I’ve been able to sleep, and at long last, finished cleaning the dirty dishes from the Holidays party’s (almost not kidding, m’dears).

NOW, I know why.

Dear fellow writers, feel free to skip the next part where I simply rambled about my writing block. You can find the healthy writing tips I gathered a bit below.

Blocky Block Block

Every writer experiences it, in different ways, for a different period of time.
Exemple, my previous writing block lasted two-plus years.

Why I hit a colossal writing block wall?

For months, I:

neglected to sleep or eat well;
rarely took a break from doing something (day job, trying in vain to crush word count goals, Xmas shopping, trying to find clients, housekeeping);
pushed myself to write every single day. It was either working on the new book, blogging, writing emails.

To get around it all, I slept less, always grabbed a bite on the fly, and started to think date nights with my hubby-to-be were a waste of precious writing time.
No « me » time. No guilt-free pauses.

Soon, writing, the thing I LOVE, became a heavy chore, on top of all the other ones.

Results: by mid-December, the only thing I wanted to do is read, watch old tv shows and be left – the f-word – alone.

Which, for a writer on a deadline (self-imposed but still), a mom, a fiancée and a solo-preneur, is kinda not in the realm of possibilities.

Ends escalating stress, anxieties and frustrations.

Not pretty emotions on a strugglin- to-get-a-decent-night-of-sleep mama, a writer aspiring to be traditionally published, and freelance writer looking for paying contracts.

My Chosen Healthy Writings Habits

Never again, I decided.
And I still mean it, from the bottom of my soul to the top of my heart.

And so I reflected on it, did some research, read many great blog posts.

Following a friend’s advice, I wrote on paper what were my aspirations, goals, dreams… Very pop psychology, but it helped to figure things out.

I’m a list-maker freak, so I made a list of the healthy writing habits that I think will work best with a busy schedule.
Please note, there’s nothing new here and I do not pretend to have the ultimate list of healthy writing habits every writer needs to follow.
No dears.
I think, if the list helps me, why not share it and risk to maybe help other writers!