So you go online for author advice and get sermons about self-care and the balanced life.
The bits about self-care are largely true, while the bits about the balanced life are largely hooey.
Ever had children? Health issues? Worked and attended school? How did the balanced life work for you then? For that matter, how good is your self-care during crises?
Let’s get the tired topic of self-care out of the way. Here’s my own list:
- Good food = good brain/body fuel.
- Move my body. Why die prematurely from sitting all day?
- Get social interactions. If I sit behind a screen all the time, I go funny.
- Sound sleep = better brain function. (This one’s elusive. I often write while half-zonked. Does it show?)
My list is kind of duh, right?
And if I miss a healthy meal or two, that won’t kill me. If I eat entire bags of cheezy chips every day while writing? Okay, that could kill me.
(Am I the only one who craves salty and/or sweet things during times of challenge? What evolutionary purpose did that serve? And where did the Neanderthals get their cheezy chips anyway?)
But I don’t live a balanced life, nor do I aim too. If I’m on a hot streak with writing, I run with it.
I’ll gladly put in sixty-hour writing weeks whenever possible, because I’m in a glorious, self-imposed, stress mode.
Yes, yes, I’ve burned out, and it sucks. Worse, I can’t afford to buy my way into R&R. (Not yet! Buy my book! Several of them!) I don’t fly to foreign countries, go on cruises, or attend a spa. At best, I might set aside my writing for a few days, bake something—immediate rewards on so many levels—and watch dumb movies.
Avoiding burnout requires a larger scale approach than basic self-care. A more useful term might be the holistic life. Here’s my personal list. (Note that neither list limits my writing time).
- Pursue creative pursuits in addition to writing.
- Severely limit online time. Always.
- Say no to many good things in order to focus on the few best things.
Because, you see, I don’t have a particularly large bucket to hold everything, or even an average-sized bucket. There are days I seem to have no bucket at all.
“What about the business side of writing?” you might ask. “Doesn’t that require time and energy?”
It sure does.
A little business at the beginning and end of each day, and when necessary, an entire day to catch up. That’s’ my plan. I also avoid setting launch dates months in advance. I did that for my debut novel and it was disastrous. Everything went wrong.
“But, Catherine,” you persist. “You sound like you’re just winging it. Surely there are better methods?”
Yes, there are. I tried many of them, and you probably have too. Do you thrive on daily word counts, multiple spread sheets, and fixed schedules? Go for it, and God bless you.
But whether you work best within a formal or informal approach, consider building a holistic author life.
For that, I recommend Story Hearth, run by Orthodox deacon Nicholas Kotar, one of the two online communities I participate in. (The other one is focused on technical issues, ie formatting, advertising, etc.) Kotar and his community have taught me how to have a productive creative vocation and stay sane.