Writing Tip #4 - Self-Care

This was originally supposed to be part of my time theme of posts, but other things came up. Since I felt it was still an important topic, I wanted to write about it. Here we go!

Any past Tips & Prompts can be found on my website: Writing Tips & Prompts.

Writing Tip #4: Self-Care

Almost every writer has asked this question at one time or another: "How do I find the time to write?" Most writers hope there's some secret that the successful writers they know and love will share with them.

And no, I'm not about to tell you where to find the time to get words down -- that honestly varies depending on the individual. But for those who do answer this question, it tends to boil down to one thing. Sacrifice.

Now, sacrifice could cover a lot of tasks. Me, I tend to sacrifice doing more things with my kids and cleaning the house on a regular basis. I feel guilty about the first, and I internally struggle between frustration and "I don't give a crap" with the latter.

Some people though, they sacrifice sleep, exercise, and relaxation. If they want to get an hour of writing in each day, they get up before the rest of the house wakes, or stay up late after everyone else is asleep. Or instead of unwinding for an hour at the end of the day by watching TV, they hop from the day job to their writing job.

That doesn't sound too bad, does it? Many of us might be able to function just fine with one less hour of sleep or not having quite as much down time as we usually do.

The problem is when that sacrificing becomes excessive. And all concerns for self-care are tossed out the window.

Unfortunately, the current atmosphere in indie publishing only drives writers to sacrifice more, since releasing books on a consistent basis is the best way to gain readers and make a living (and I'm talking at least one book per month). This rapid release definitely works, but to keep it up, you have to hit a certain word count each month. And to do that, you have to sacrifice even more sleep, more down time, and possibly even a lot of your physical activity.

I've read posts where people are working a full-time day job and trying to rapid release. They're sleeping less hours than fingers on a single hand. They give themselves no time to take a break and recharge their mind and body. To keep up with their word counts they're wringing themselves dry.

OK, I know there are people that can keep up with such schedules and thrive on little sleep and minimal relaxation time. Good for them -- they are few and far between.

In most cases, though, the writers sacrificing any time they don't see as worthwhile (including sleep) for a long period of time will start to feel the effects. They'll hit a wall. And in all likelihood, that wall will be physical and mental strain, even injury.

Along with that, it could even lead to burn out, where you just can't write anymore because you've fried your brain. I'm always scared of this one, even at my slower writing pace.

I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing. Believe me, I'm not one to climb on my high horse over healthy living. I need to exercise more (like way more) and eat better. Sometimes I stay up way too late, not because of writing, but because of games or TV. I suck at this whole balance thing, as I've discussed many times before.

But I try to be aware of the self-care I know I need to work on. This also includes realizing what kind of balance is right for me. Some people don't need a lot of down time to unwind. Heck, for some people writing is unwinding.

For me, though, I need a bit of extra time to relax. I have to schedule it in everyday, or I'm going to get myself in trouble. The days I go full tilt, getting tons of tasks done, house, writing, or otherwise, without taking time to breathe and relax with games or TV (or reading, of course) feel awesomely productive. If I keep that up for a few days in a row, though, I ram into a nasty steel wall and I'm out for the count several days in a row with a productivity concussion.

Physical and mental health for a writer is insanely important because if we push our bodies too far, they'll break down. And then how will we be able to write anymore?

I know, I know, sometimes we need to sacrifice to find any time to write. Just make sure once in a while you're taking a step back to reassess how much you're actually sacrificing. Self-care is just as important as the writing itself, so we can keep writing.

You can't write if you're dead.

Mini Mind Splat #6: Colored Eggs

MINI MIND SPLAT WARNING: Nothing I comment on is meant to offend. It's simply my opinion and how I feel about certain things (mostly inconsequential things). I'd love to see thoughts from others in the comments. Just remember, have fun with it. This isn't meant to be super serious.

Yesterday was Ostara, the spring equinox, the first day of spring. And I dyed eggs with my kids! (We do it on Ostara in our house instead of Easter, since we don't celebrate the latter.).

The kids definitely had fun, and Hubbie allowed them to get a glitter kit. One that claimed "Less Mess". Yeah, right. I'll be finding glitter around the house for the next year. =/

Anyway, one of the more fun things about coloring eggs is mixing the colors. Dipping an egg in one color to then follow it up by another color and then see what comes out of it. Of course, you need to be careful what order you do this in, plus some colors just don't mix.

Hubbie and I got some pretty nifty resulting colors from that practice this year.

See, one of the things we do every year when dying eggs is make Wish Eggs. We blow out the insides of an egg for each of us. Then as we decorate the egg, we think of a wish for the year ahead and share it with each other. We keep these eggs on a shelf in our dining room so we can remember our wishes, until next Ostara.

This year Youngest wished that a chick would hatch out of her egg (remember these are emptied out). We all laughed, but she plans to check on her egg every day to see if a chicken comes out of it - lol.

My wish this year is for more balance in my life, with a side of inner peace - that inner peace goes hand-in-hand with the balance, of course. I just want to feel like I'm paying the proper amount of attention to each thing in my life.

Yes, I'm talking about that long list from my Balance post. What, you thought I was off the whole time theme? Nope, still going. Time to chase down that Balance Unicorn, with a pitchfork if I have to.

Now that spring has sprung, what's your wish for the year?

Mini Mind Splat #5: Balance

MINI MIND SPLAT WARNING: Nothing I comment on is meant to offend. It's simply my opinion and how I feel about certain things (mostly inconsequential things). I'd love to see thoughts from others in the comments. Just remember, have fun with it. This isn't meant to be super serious.

I know I've probably grumbled about balance in past posts. It's a thorn in my paw, for sure. Seeking that ideal balance in life is near impossible, though so many things out there insist you should easily be able to attain it (lies, all lies, I say -- those who claim it's possible, just want to make you feel like a failure).

Of course, the big obstacle in the way of perfect balance is time.

Did you think I was done with the time theme? Nope. Nowhere near. Heh.

Anyway, there are so many things in my life that need attention -- writing career, editing business, reading, kids, husband, extended family, house management, house cleaning/organizing/projects (and yes, management and cleaning are two separate things -- the mental load of the former can be a bit crushing at times), social media, friends (this one seems to be the first thing kicked off the list nowadays), errands, going out to movies or events, TV, video games, hobbies (and I have many which get ignored, including cross-stitching, drawing, and coloring), exercise, spiritual studies and work (I really have to put myself in the non-practicing Wiccan category at this point), cats, and probably several other things that I can't think of right now because I've ignored them for too long. (Also, I didn't mention cooking because I avoid it at all costs, though I really should cook more often.)

The above is in no particular order of importance, but just making that list causes my head to spin. I can't do it, I can't keep all the balls in the air, I just don't have the time.

And it sucks. Let's face it, most of us realize we have a limited amount of time on this planet, and to know that we'll never accomplish all we want to do, well, that more than sucks.

I've attempted to plan it all out, the whole time management thing, in hopes to divide that time up more wisely and squeeze in a little bit of everything, but it always fails.

Balance is a unicorn. An annoying unicorn (I'd say a rabid unicorn, but those things only think of supple human flesh). But I don't think I'll ever stop trying to tame the damned thing.

What is the toughest task in your life to balance?

EDIT: I realized after posting, I forgot the most important thing on my tremendously long list. I never seem to get enough of it (maybe if I would, I would have remembered it). Sleep!

Coming-of-Age and Balance in A Wizard of Earthsea

SPOILER ALERT! If you have not read A Wizard of Earthsea there are spoilers in this essay.


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Ah, A Wizard of Earthsea. I've read the initial Earthsea trilogy before (I have yet to read the newer two books in the series, though), and it's another story that I enjoyed reading again, especially since Ursula K. Le Guin is one of my favorite authors. A Wizard of Earthsea is a true coming-of-age story for the wizard Ged. Le Guin also does an excellent job structuring her magic system--it perfectly reflects what Ged becomes at the end of the novel.

"The first two books of the Earthsea cycle thus recount coming-of-age stories for two children, a male and a female" (145). What Richard Mathews states here is simple truth--it's hard not to see the coming-of-age story in A Wizard of Earthsea (and the female coming-of-age story in The Tombs of Atuan is a wonderful mirror to the first novel). We meet Ged when he's still a boy, still unnamed, and as he learns his magic, he goes through many stages and emotions to finally reach adulthood.

When Ged first becomes Ogion's apprentice, he's an impatient child. He wants to learn everything, and he wants to learn it immediately. The childish impatience gets in the way of what Ogion is trying to teach him. It's not until far later in the novel that Ged finally accepts and craves learning by listening and watching as Ogion originally wished. That impatience also sends him straight to Roke.

Once on Roke, Ged develops a disdain for his fellow student, Jasper. It's another emotion and impulse of childhood or even adolescence. And it leads him to believe that anything that goes wrong isn't his own fault, but the fault of another. When Ged looks like a fool his first day at Roke, he doesn't take responsibility for his own actions. "And Ged followed sullen and sore-hearted, knowing he had behaved like a fool, and blaming Jasper for it" (Le Guin 41). It was Ged himself who actually chose how to respond to Jasper's questions and made himself look the fool, yet Ged blames Jasper.

And the next stage in Ged's life is his fall, which comes about due to his pride. Like a pompous teenager, he boasts and shows off, which then comes back to tear him down. His spell causes the shadow to enter the world. Ged's pride comes crashing down, and instead of simply learning from his mistakes, he feels as though he needs to be constantly punished. Initially he was so high on himself, and now he drags the perception of himself to rock bottom.

Then Ged runs. He attempts to hide from his mistakes in a literal sense, by running from the shadow that pursues him. This is yet another stage in his growth.

Finally, when he's ready to accept the mistakes he's made, he decides to face them head on. He chases the shadow to the ends of Earthsea because he knows he must face the truth about himself. And once he finally meets face to face with the shadow, he realizes he is made up of his successes, failures, and mistakes; that there is a balance inside of him between good and evil, just like there is in everyone. This realization is Ged's step into adulthood. "Ged has completed one stage of his life and is ready for the next" (Mathews 141).

The balance that Ged attains at the end is a reflection on the entire magic system of the book. Le Guin masterfully outlines just what and what not magic users can do in Earthsea. You can't get something out of nothing, you can't change something without it effecting something else. There must always be a balance. And when Ged takes the shadow into himself, he's righting that balance inside of himself, just like magic.

A Wizard of Earthsea is a great high fantasy that shows that coming-of-age arc, and that's only emphasized by the magic Le Guin weaves into the story. The following novel focuses on the other side of the coin, the growth of a female protagonist, making both books powerful reads in a great series. Le Guin is an author that I think should be read by any fantasy or science fiction writer (or reader) since she is an exceptional storyteller.


Works Cited

Le Guin, Ursula K. A Wizard of Earthsea. Bantam Books: New York, 1975.
Mathews, Richard. Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination. Routledge: New York, 2002.


NEXT UP: A review of the first episode of Grimm.