Writing through the Reality of Life

with guests Lenora Worth and Terri Reed.

Hi, we’re so glad to be here to share the excitement as Seekerville begins their eleventh year. We don’t want to put a damper on things, but … when was the last time you stopped to take care of your writer’s soul?

Been a while? Well, stick around because we know a lot about this subject since we both just finished a grueling project involving several writers. While we were busy brainstorming and plotting, it seemed as if life was plotting against us. Anything that could go wrong in our personal lives did go wrong. 

Writer stress messes with both our physical bodies and our heads. Everything from writer’s block and depression, family issues, and physical ailments, can bring our fast-paced rush to get that book done to a slamming halt. When we try to push through without stopping to take care of ourselves, we can sometimes make things worse.

Writers have the need to produce good stories. This brings a different kind of stress, because we think too much. We process, analyze, dissect, put back together and come up with ten ways to worry over a sentence.

When you add life plus deadlines plus health issues plus family issues, well, that’s writer’s stress. Soon, you’re sitting in your office staring out the window. You’ve forgotten how to write and you just can’t form the words.

Here are some suggestions we’ve compiled over the years on how to take care of the writerly you.

1. Set realistic expectations. Don’t try to prove you can do it all. You’ll make yourself sick trying. It’s okay to hold up a white flag and surrender sometimes. Set little achievable goals that work toward the bigger goal. It’s easier to build a house one brick at a time than trying to lay all the bricks at once.

2. Our worst fears stem from not measuring up. We judge ourselves and feel like failures if we can’t do it all. This is a vicious pattern. Give yourself grace the way God does. He knows you inside and out and loves you. Self-love is not self-centeredness. It’s okay to be okay with yourself. You’re enough.

3. Stress is not about everything that’s happening in your life—it’s about how you react to everything that’s happening in your life. When you find yourself in a tight situation, don’t look around. Look inside and to God then decide what’s best for you. He will guide you. Sometimes His answer is to step back and let go of anything unnecessary that is contributing to your stress.

4. Don’t go borrowing trouble. Publishers shut down, editors get shifted around, and e-publishing and print books are trying to cope with each other. This industry is too big for one writer to worry over! Stay informed, yes. Ask questions, yes. Absorb facts, but don’t take on worries about things you can’t control. You only have two shoulders! (Stretch those shoulders every few minutes.)

5. Learn to take things slow. Hard to do in such a fast-paced I-need-it-now world. Or as Judy Christie says in her book “Hurry Less, Worry Less at Work” learn to take the “deadly” out of deadlines. Put some wiggle room in deadlines and in your blue jeans. 🙂

Because your waistline can increase right along with your deadline worries, right? So take time before you head to your writing so you can focus. Let that guilt go and take a walk or kiss your honey. Take a little time to do something that doesn’t involve work. Exercise your body as well as your mind. Even during deadline week!

6. Prayer plus Action equals a good reaction. Prayer or meditation can be very important in every aspect of our lives, but action can bring you peace of mind. Find a way to live with intention. Don’t let the writing own you. If your flame is fueled by what matters in life, your fire won’t go out when your career takes a wrong turn. Sometimes life’s bumps are part of God’s plan to grow and stretch you.

7. Take on only what strengthens you. Don’t say YES to all the right things for all the wrong reasons. You have to carve out a spot where work takes priority. Say NO to requests that don’t bring you joy. If you find writing draining at times, try to find a pace that allows it to become a joy again. Even in crisis mode, remember writing is your thing. It’s important. It’s your job. But taking time to heal or reset your joy button is even more important. Life crisis comes before a deadline, okay? A deadline can be extended. Your life? Not so much if you’re slowly taking away years due to too much anxiety.

8. Are you successful but stressed? Or are you successful in spite of stress? Are there times you want to stay in bed all day, hidden under the covers? Do you make yourself get up? Writing should be a joy even on days when it feels like a drain. But when you’re in crisis mode, it’s hard to be joyful. Start with one or two minutes of gratitude attitude. See if that can be extended a little each day until you’re back. 

9. Are you keeping up the act of a happy, successful person when you feel like a complete flop? Reach out to others. If you strip things down and spill your heart, you’ll become surrounded by the grace and the fellowship of people who understand. And you’ll find out they need to talk about such things, too. It’s not so much that misery loves company. But misery NEEDS company!

10. Learn to show poise under stress, grace under pressure and acceptance of yourself during hard times. Remember, it’s how we react to stressful situations that matters. It’s not easy but the next time you want to throw a hissy fit, go ahead and do it. Find a private place and rant. Get in the shower and cry. Then pick yourself up and take deep, calming breaths for several minutes. 

Breathe, really let go and breathe. Define stress as part of life, laugh in its ugly face. Put on some color and blow kisses into the wind. You can’t burn out if you know how to sparkle! 

Two good books on this subject are Judy Christie’s “Hurry Less, Worry Less at Work” and Allie Pleiter’s “How to Write When Everything Goes Wrong.”

Now we’d like to hear from you. Are you in a good place or a bad place? What have you done to get through a hard time?

Today, Lenora and Terri have brought a terrific prize package. Three commenters will take home books. One will take home Terri Reed's Guardian, another Lenora Worth's Tracker and a third will win Classified K9 Unit Christmas featuring novellas by both Terri and Lenora!!

Here's a sneak peek:

 Classified K-9 Unit Christmas

A Killer Christmas by Lenora Worth


When FBI K-9 agent Nina Atkins thwarts an attempted murder, she becomes a target of the killer—the same hit man US Marshal Thomas Grant is tracking. Even caught in the crosshairs, Nina’s reluctant to share her case, but working with Thomas may be the only way to capture a murderer before she becomes his next victim.

Yuletide Stalking by Terri Reed


Determined to stop an arsonist with the help of his accelerant-detecting K-9 partner, FBI agent Tim Ramsey must protect the only witness. But when the criminal begins stalking Vickie Petrov, can Tim convince her to trust him…and help her survive to see another Christmas?

Tracker 

MISSION: REUNITE MOTHER AND SON



Single mother Penny Potter has spent months in hiding to keep her toddler from his father, a rogue FBI agent turned fugitive. But he’s determined to flee the country with the child, and she can’t dodge him forever. When he corners Penny in the Montana wilderness and gets away with their son, she’s forced to trust his brother, handsome FBI K-9 agent Zeke Morrow. And Zeke must decide where his loyalty lies: with his sibling or the woman he wasn’t supposed to fall for. As the bullets fly and family ties are tested, Penny and Zeke will fight to save the boy who brought them together.

Guardian

PROTECTING THE SINGLE MOM 

When a fellow FBI agent is kidnapped and a protected witness vanishes, Leo Gallagher will stop at nothing to find them both. So when he discovers a link between the case and a single mother in Wyoming, Leo and his trusty K-9 partner rush to question Alicia Duncan. Could she be the key to locating the missing persons? Not if a killer has anything to say about it. Someone is determined to keep Alicia from talking, so Leo and his chocolate Lab must keep her and her little boy safe on their family ranch. With danger lurking around every corner, Leo must work overtime to not lose another person who's important to him.



Lenora Worth writes romance and romantic suspense for Love Inspired and also writes for Tule Publishing. Three of her books finaled in the ACFW Carol Awards and several have been RT Reviewer’s Choice finalists. She also received the RT Romance Pioneer Award for Inspirational Fiction. “Logan’s Child” won the 1998 Best Love Inspired for RT. She has made the NY Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. With seventy-five books published and millions in print, she enjoys adventures with her retired husband, Don. Lenora loves reading, baking and shopping … especially shoe shopping.

 Terri Reed’s romance and romantic suspense novels have appeared on Publisher’s Weekly top 25, Nielsen’s Bookscan top 100 and featured in USA Today, Christian Fiction Magazine and Romantic Times Magazine, finaled in RWA’s RITA contest, National Reader’s Choice Award contest, ACFW’s The Carol Award contest. Contact Terri @ www.terrireed.com or P.O. Box 19555 Portland, OR 97224m.