deeharperlewis

A Writer’s Corner – Question to all writers: How did writing affect your mental health?

An interesting question came up in the r/writing subreddit. “Question to all writers: How did writing affect your mental health?”
I hadn’t really thought about my mental health during the process of writing a book. But of course, mental health would be affected. After pondering this, I realized it helped, and it hurt.
The first book was cathartic because when I was done, I realized I had put far too much of myself into my character. And that made me examine a lot about my life. Understanding is always a good thing.
But it’s not just about the writing. The entire process affects me in unexpected ways.
I have a naturally nervous disposition, and writing calms me, as does painting or anything that completely engages the mind. That’s the good part.
From the moment I start thinking about a story, no other worries invade my thoughts. Writing is like opening a box of chocolates and wondering which one I’ll have today. Which part of the storyline is speaking to me at that moment? Letting my imagination run riot is like Christmas, and I’m opening one package after another. Ideas careen around unchecked. The actual writing is a challenge I love.

EUPHORIA.
Things start to get tense and nervous jitters begin during the editing, and the tension ramps up after publication. Editing and using Grammarly makes me doubt my writing skills and trust that this machine editor is right and I am wrong.
DOUBT.
Dealing with post-publication completely rains on the parade. I find myself in a state of anxiety and self-doubt, judging myself by the number of sales and reads (or lack of). It feels like I am at work, waiting for a performance review. And I feel like I should have the metrics to judge my success or failure. The worst feeling.

JUDGEMENT.
My next book will be different. I’m reminding myself that I’m in this for the love of it. Some may like it, and some may not. More readers would be wonderful. Sales would be great, but lacking that doesn’t mean it’s not a good book. I’ll keep at it.

A Writer’s Dilemma: “Literally cannot for the life of me sit down and write”

“Literally cannot for the life of me sit down and write”
A writer in a Reddit writer’s forum recently made this complaint.
“So I’ve been stuck on the like in between bits of my story for a while and for the life of me I can’t sit down and write them because I’m so bored! It’s not even that these parts are unimportant or unintresting they’re just not what I want to write in the story at the moment so then I just get stuck and never write. Advice?”

Wow. I went through this very thing last week. Writing was so tedious, and I was stumbling through it, trying to cut through the weeds and find something to grasp onto. Ugh. In the end, I did something drastic. I made a copy of my draft and then took a hatchet to it. I eliminated every chapter that was not essential to moving the story along. Surprise, surprise – a lot got chopped. I cursed myself, feeling that I had wasted an inordinate amount of time, and then decided to concentrate only on telling that story as best I could. Eliminating the superfluous fluff helped me concentrate. Next, for each scene, I stepped into the shoes of my character and did a role play. It suddenly became fun.
Maybe I’ll salvage something from what I cut out, but I doubt it. Sometimes you have to go nuclear. Other times, when I am stuck, I do something else that will be beneficial to this venture, like social media or outlining the next book. I can not imagine how any writer can ‘force’ themselves to write, and if they are stuck, maybe they just need a little change of direction.

One commenter had a wonderful, unique trick for when you become stuck, and I have to share it here:

“Take one of your favorite books. Open it to a chapter you liked. Copy one – four pages of it word for word into your processor of choice – google doc/scrivener project/word file/etc.
Read it back to yourself. Immerse yourself in the words. Imagine the style- dialogue, descriptions, narration, as you think about your own story. Pick a small a scene in your book you haven’t wanted to write. Write a sentence from it in a style similar to what you copied down. If you like it, write another, and another. Let the words come in the style of your favorite book. Later you can decide to keep it, revise it, or delete it.”

This is brilliant and I am definitely going to try it.

A writer’s dilemma: To the finish line.

In a Facebook group, a writer asked the question: “I have about 20 ideas in various forms of completion and I see new things everyday. How do you organize all your creative ideas? And how do you choose what to work on and in what order?”

Yep. It’s hard. And you have to make hard choices. I’m a big fan of working on things you feel inspired to work on at the moment. If you don’t put your fingers on the keyboard or pen to paper when you are really feeling it, you might lose that thought, that perfect phrase or mood.
Creativity and inspiration can not be turned on at will, so you must capture it.

BUT. HOWEVER. AND.

You need to bring something to the finish line.
I know that in order to actually complete something, I must pick one thing and work on that every single day until it’s finished.

Sometimes it seems like a chore. Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate. But I chip at it daily.

This morning I worked on only one scene in a chapter in my next book. It’s a pivotal chapter, and I stepped in the protagonist’s shoes and walked through it, thinking of things that were not in the rough draft.

It was a good day’s work. I could have done more, but something else was niggling at me, so I moved on to a short story I was writing and fleshed it out.

That’s ok, as long as you concentrate part of your day on what will be published next. No matter how many chaotic creative thoughts whirl around in your wonderful imagination, finish something.

Simply carving out a part of your time for the main project while still spending some time on whatever strikes your fancy works just fine. It could just be proofreading or doing a read-through out loud. But you must do something.

I have to work this way so I don’t suppress creative inspiration and, at the same time, dedicate myself to completing at least one idea.

Sinclair’s Dilemma – A Misalliance with Love.

“The cool evening air soothed his raging mood as he left the House of Lords. He waved off his carriage and continued to walk towards St. James. The early evening was damp, and he turned up the collar of his topcoat. He had wanted to redeem himself in the eyes of society by working hard and showing himself, to be honest, serious, and reliable.
All of that was ruined now, and he looked like a fool. Like his father! Sinclair felt incensed at the unfairness of it all. He was not responsible for what happened but must do all he could to limit the damage. He must get Rosie to be a real wife, even if he had to go straight to Castle Holme and haul her back to London.”

Excerpt From: Dee Harper Lewis. “A Misalliance with Love.”

A writer’s dilemma: Adding character flaws

There was an interesting thread in the Reddit writing community about how to avoid making a character too perfect. (How can i avoid writing/creating Mary sues)

The comments and suggestions were great and well worth a read. The consensus was that the character must be given a flaw or a weakness. I agree and believe the flaw is most interesting when it interferes with the character’s goals. This is important for secondary characters as well.

I find male protagonists often painted as either totally flawed or too perfect and unattainable. Female characters who are imperfect are far more interesting, particularly if the writer allows the reader to discover why they have these imperfections.

The character I’m writing now is a bit of a Pollyanna, saved from being unbearable because, although she does good, she complains about it and wants to stop being forced to do good. Her escape route from this life makes her look like an opportunist. Not a good look, but somehow, you can’t hate her for it.

Rosie, in A Misalliance with Love, listens to other people’s conversations and is too rigid in her thinking, and Sinclair is trapped by his family’s past.

There are so many ways to take the shine off of a character to show they are not so perfect after all. It’s even more interesting if this is revealed slowly.

Image generated by Canva and digitally manipulated.

Rosie and Sinclair – A Misalliance with Love

“He offered her his arm, and they descended the terrace steps to the long table where sandwiches and cakes had been set up. A footman handed them their cups, and Rosie tilted forward to survey the delicious food arranged on platters. She selected a cucumber sandwich and munched on it with gusto. He thought that her lack of refinement would not do her any favors, and she did not seem to be conscious of it—or to care.”

Excerpt From: Dee Harper Lewis. “A Misalliance with Love.”

A writer’s dilemma: When do you abandon your book?

There was a pretty interesting discussion on a writer’s subreddit where someone was at 30,000 words into their book and ready to abandon it.

I really related to this.

I once abandoned a book at 40,000 words and then realized months later that the book really had no plot, and I hadn’t given the characters any likable personality traits. They were just going through the motions.

I moved on and became obsessed with another plot. That one was finished and published. Maybe one should go back to the basics of why they want to tell a particular story. What is compelling about the characters, and why are they even there? Give them a reason to live and then something to survive.

A Writer’s corner: Stability killing my creativity

“I’ve been struggling with writing (and journaling) in the past few years, basically since my life took a turn and it became ‘normal’.”
A writer in my favorite subreddit related their continued struggles to produce any work. I can very much relate to the frustration and angst behind this statement. I think it is something all artistic people fear.

I stopped doing anything creative when I was living a normal life with a stressful job. The only time I started writing again was when I was either between jobs or when I had a job that gave me hours of downtime. Once, when I was required to travel for work, I ended up with six hours of time to kill per week. I wrote a non-fiction book in that time.

During the pandemic, I started a fiction novel. Creativity requires energy and concentration, and I find it very difficult to work, socialize and be creative. Something must be sacrificed.

That said, I think carving out 30 minutes a day is not too difficult. It will take longer, but in the end, you will have something.

A Misalliance with Love: Ely Cathedral

“The weather was perfect, with the sun shining bright and a cool breeze blowing. Rosie felt exhilarated as she kept pace with the more experienced riders, and they galloped through the vast expanse of marshy flatlands, the soft ground cushioning their horses’ hooves.

It did not take them long to reach Ely, and they stopped in view of the town to admire the grandeur of the towering cathedral, majestically rising above all else in the distance. ”

Excerpt From: Dee Harper Lewis. “A Misalliance with Love.”

A writer’s dilemma: Boredom

What’s the most boring part of writing for you?

This question was asked in a writer’s forum that I like, and I couldn’t answer it immediately. I had to think about it.

There will always be days when every little thing is boring. The writing, the characters, the situations. And then there will be days when it’s all exciting and feels fresh and new.

The responses from other authors were pretty uniform. It’s the mundane tasks that most writers find tedious, centered on proofreading: line-by-line edits, checking grammar and punctuation over and over, and still not catching everything. A few authors confessed that they liked this phase because it gave them time to fine-tune and tweak their prose. And, curiously, what can also be boring is trying to follow the ‘rules’.

I was astonished to see that the creative side causes angst as well: making their prose less boring, the challenge of introducing characters in a captivating way, or coming up with fresh ideas. One claimed that connecting scenes was tedious.

Some said that writer’s block and lack of motivation are a dilemma. But this can be a sign of a more serious issue with the story itself.

I confess I have experienced most of the problems that were mentioned, but I’m not certain I would call them boring. Writing is sometimes tedious and actively avoided at other times. Mostly I just slog through it and try to get something done. This persistence enabled me to finish my book, for better or worse.

Image generated by Canva and digitally manipulated.