Question: How can I take better care of myself as a writer?
Answer: You can be kind to yourself as a writer by changing your attitude about the hard times in your career.
You can and will make it through whatever hard times you may have in your writing career. You can make it because you have the skills and resources you need to do that. You will make it because that’s your only choice if your passion is to write and bring your writing to the world.
Your first step is to fight back fear. You must struggle against fear as relentlessly as the heroines of your stories struggle against the obstacles they confront in their journey to survive and go on to thrive in the end. Will yourself through the scary places.
Every morning say to yourself – “I will not be afraid today.” “I refuse to let anxiety infest my spirit today.”
Fight back fear by changing your thinking about now and the future – about today and tomorrow – especially in terms of your goals for yourself. Stop thinking about your goal as far away. Stop thinking of your progress as painfully slow.
That kind of thinking ends in discouragement and drains your hope. You lose what Ralph Waldo Emerson called The Power of Enthusiasm. Never let go of your Powerful Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the energy you need to fuel you through testing times.
Get your psyche on your side. See your goal as right here with you today. See yourself as progressing toward that goal today. If you see any progress at all – even a small step – then this is a successful day. A day when you’ve made progress toward your goal.
Do this every day. One day at a time. Set a goal for each day. Know what you want to accomplish that day. Make sure it’s a realistic goal. Don’t defeat yourself before you start by filling your plate impossibly full.
If you want your psyche on your side make sure your To Do List is on your side. Beware the tyranny of the To Do List. It’s the monster you create for yourself all by yourself.
Set a reasonable realistic self-sensitive goal. Pursue that goal that day deliberately – with intention without anxiety or rushing. Haste really does make waste. It wastes your ability to experience your achievements and savor them as they happen.
Do each day intentionally and well. Think of each day as a jewel on the thread of your career. Place it artfully and never underestimate its worth. Most important – never forget to admire its beauty.
RR
My next story is A YEAR OF SUMMER SHADOWS – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book #2 – Mark & Hailey’s Story. Available May 15th at amazon.com/author/aliceorr. This is my 13th novel and I was kind to my author self the entire time I was writing it. Alice Orr – www.aliceorrbooks.com