WRITING THRU THE STRESS

WRITING THRU THE STRESS
LYNDE LAKES
The Double Whammy

Things are going along nicely and then whammo we are hit with a double whammy. Things fall apart around us, family responsibilities pile up. We are running around like a chicken trying to avoid the axe. When time is scarce, the writing is pushed aside and just when we may need it the most to relax and replenish our well.


Personality Traits Needed To Be a Writer

It may help to look again at the personality traits needed to be a writer. Besides having a great imagination, we as writers need to be a self-starter, determined, like reading, love books, have a curious nature, like research, have a willingness to share our creative vision of the world, and love challenges. And when our life starts unraveling, we’ll need that love of challenges.

Fighting the Stress Devil

We all know the stress devil well. He jumps into our lives with a bag full of conflict and suffering and unleashes it on us until all we want to do is go to bed and cover up our heads. But that doesn’t help, at least not in the long run. So we make a list. What are the problems? Which ones can we take care of today? Some we can never solve. Some just have to be lived through. The ones we can handle, we can check off on the list as we do them. Maybe set a goal of one a day. And for mental and physical health we add daily exercise. Yes, exercise. It makes us stronger and better able to handle the red guy. We also add fifteen minutes a day to write. Every day. That is to replenish our mental balance and get us over the rough spots. We can’t think about our troubles if we’re making trouble for our characters. Perhaps we can sling some of our trouble at them. They are heroic, like us and they can handle it.

We Say It Isn’t That Simple.

Right it isn’t! But in our fantasy world we are in control. We deserve to let ourselves enjoy that for fifteen minutes a day, don’t we? It will probably save our lives and make us stronger.

Rainbows, Lynde