Are You a Healthy Writer?

Writers have to be extra conscientious when it comes to their health. They need to go out of their way to make sure they’re taking good care of themselves.

Why? Well, let’s examine what are often the habits of writers. Check all of them that are problematic for you.

𐲘 Isolation. Writing is not like working in an office or a school or a store, where we’re surrounded by people all day. Many writers like it completely quiet when they work. Other writers cannot write when there’s human interruptions (kids or spouses). Being isolated doesn’t always lead to good mental health.

𐲘 Rejection. Writing might be done with a rose-colored (wine) glass in hand, but most writers (I imagine) view the glass as half empty rather than half full. We tend to fixate on the rejections, instead of the acceptances. Dealing too often with the (erroneous) idea that we’re not good enough certainly makes us prone to depression.

image by Pixabay

𐲘 Eating and exercise. Writers chant, “Butt in chair. Butt in chair,” as their mantra. After all, most of us don’t write as we’re hanging upside down from a couple of mile-long pieces of silk. Usually we’re sitting on our rear end, hunched over our keyboard and eating Krispy Kremes by the boxful too much. As we nibble gorge on apple slices crackers dipped in a sour cream and salsa creation chocolate chip cookie dough, we think, ‘Well, I’m on a writing roll (not to be confused with a Hawaiian roll). If I get up now and walk or bike or do the treadmill, I’ll ruin the writing groove I’m in.’ Eating unhealthily, and maintaining the activity level of a sloth, makes for a vicious cycle.

𐲘 Sleep. If we’re writers who write full time, we probably stay up late, trying to squeeze every last minute out of the day. If we have a regular job and write in our “spare” time, we don’t have much choice. Staying up until midnight 3:00 in the morning is almost unavoidable. Not getting enough sleep makes us more depressed… and our weight creeps up… and we become more lethargic… and we eat more. And the cycle continues. Not getting adequate sleep just adds to the perfect storm of problematic choices.

I could check each of those boxes. On top of all the bad things I’m doing to my body and my psyche, depression/mental illness runs in my family. Serious mental illness. I’m talkin’ ‘bout homicidal and suicidal mental illness, and four blood relatives are proof, so in my opinion, I need to be extra vigilant. The one I’m most concerned about? My eating and lack of exercise. I believe if those two areas would improve, a couple of the other ones would fall into a healthy place.

During the summer, my goal is to find something I enjoy doing—and something I can do even when there’s snow on the ground and even when it gets dark at 5:00 at night and even when the humidity level and temp are both hovering close to 100. I’ve ruled out a gym (waiting for machines is frustrating for me) and biking. I’ve got a couple of exercise CDs, and one of them I even used to enjoy (Billy Blanks kickboxing) but that was 20 years ago. Am I going to topple over if I try it now?

My most recent plan: I’ve ordered a mini trampoline. Since I love music and I love to dance (like Elaine Benes in Seinfeld) and since music energizes me, I think it might work… but only time will tell.

If you'd like to read an article on why writers are not always easy to get along with, check this piece out.

And now for you. How many of those things are a problem for you? And what are you doing to get back on the right path?

Sioux Roslawski is a teacher during the school year (although she's currently looking for a job) and a writer in her spare time. She's busy querying  publishers and agents, hoping to get her middle grade novel published. If you'd like to read more of Sioux's stuff, check out her blog.

12 comments mental health and writing, Sioux Roslawski, writer's bad health habits