Healthy Writer

If you’ve dropped by this blog with any type of regularity, you probably have come across a post alluding to me striving for balance in my life. (usually that post came after a long out of date post).

Case in point. ahem

The detrimental effects of long-term stress have been well document, and let me tell you I’m a walking text-book case of it. Name a stress related malady and I can put a checkmark beside it. It got to the point where I realized that if I didn’t take active measures, I could very well find myself in the hands of medical professionals, both mental and physical, at some point in the near future. ‘Just trying to chill’ just wasn’t cutting it.

I started hitting the gym on a consistent basis, expanded the vitamins & supplements I take, changed my eating to be more healthier/organic, drink more water, juices, herbal/green teas, etc. It’s really starting to pay off after only a short space of time.

One area I’m still struggling with though, is the writing. I can’t totally claim the lack thereof is all due to stress (though dealing with stress & it’s accompanying health concerns will always trump dealing with the writing). It’s partly a discipline, also. Need to find the right block of time to write and make it a habit. One other factor comes into play, too. Mindset. I need to be immersed in the book, constantly thinking about the characters, plot streams, goal, motivation, conflicts. Scenes need to play out in my head on a regular loop. The whole stress thing interferes with this process. But this morning I was reminded of one way to overcome this. Reading. But reading good shit.

Not mediocre/okay/pretty-good/not bad stuff. I’ve been reading a lot of mediocre/okay/pretty-good/not bad stuff. Short-stories/novellas, mostly erotica. (most of which has not been listed on my Goodreads shelf, btw). The equivalent of fast-food—tasty, goes down fast, but no nutritional value. I was reading mostly for sheer entertainment/content and as a quick/easy distraction. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but it can’t be all there is.

Almost none of what I’ve been reading has nourished or inspired me. I wasn’t getting carried away by the storytelling or the emotions, or the basic writing-craft to the point that I wanted to rise to that bar myself. This morning I read a chapter of something by a skilled author that reminded me, this is what I want to do. I want to write seamless, realistic dialogue like this. I want to flesh out my story world with these types of details and my pacing to flow so easily. I want my characters to live and breathe like this.

So, I’m going to have to cut down on my literary equivalent of ‘just chilling’ reading choices, and start a diet of more fulfilling stories, that should in turn bring some vigor/health to my own writing output (and that includes blogging ::fingers crossed::).