Mental,Physical,Emotional,Health and Safety Rules For Writers.


Some of the rules most writers need reminding about and many which we, in our headlong rush to get something down on paper, forget.

Always have a well lit space in which to work. As the years go by your eyes will thank you.
Try and have a particular place in which to write that is yours and will remain in the same state in which you left it. Difficult with families, I know.

Make sure you don’t work in unventilated fuggy stale air. Your brain needs oxygen as well as inspiration to work efficiently.

Eat healthy regular meals. Don’t graze on junk and too much coffee or, heaven forbid, cigarettes and wine. The shelves are full of biographies about artists and writers who died too young because they didn’t take care of their physical health.

Posture, a word not used a great deal these days but think about it. After years of sitting at a computer or desk, unless you are very diligent, your neck will begin to curve into what used to be called an ‘accountant’s hump’ or ‘dowager’s hump’. Even worse, you can develop extreme problems with the vertebra of your neck, causing trigeminal neuralgia which is I assure you, MOST painful.

Re above. Physiotherapists say that half an hour at a time working at your computer is enough and then you must change position, stretch or better still, get up and walk around. Set an alarm to remind you if you have to because it is too easy to begin during daylight and suddenly look out of the window and assume there has been an unexpected eclipse when actually the sun has set and that gnawing feeling in your stomach isn’t excitement, it is hunger. Dogs are even better than alarms; they won’t let you work past their meal times.

Use time while doing mundane jobs to work out plots, dialogue etc. It makes the mundane more exciting.

Don’t forget the people in your life. They need to know you don’t live entirely inside your head. Your writing can’t give you a hug or laugh at a joke with you.

Don’t become so obsessed with your own work that people you mix with and talk to(or is that at?) feel trapped and suddenly remember appointments they had completely forgotten about and henceforth hide behind bushes when they see you approach.

Be organized. Writing for an hour a day will get you much further than talking about writing for four hours a day.

Read writing advice books etc by authors you admire. You will learn more because you understand the books they are talking about.

Keep your feet on the ground and your emotional and mental health tip top by reminding yourself constantly that there are many occupations in the world just as important to the human race as yours. i.e. growing food.

When you have attained a measure of success, don’t become a Prima Donna overnight. That path leads to narcissism, self absorption, and selfish behaviours and makes you a complete pain in the neck to everyone. Pedestals are notoriously unstable things to sit upon.

Remember some of the writers you know who are shy or perhaps not as quick and verbally articulate or ‘forceful’ as you are, may still have written expression and insights superior to you own. To quote from the Desiderata,’ listen to the dull and ignorant, for they too have their story.’ They may after all, not be so dull.

When you do become involved with agents, editors and publishers treat their opinions and advice with respect. They are the professionals who will help you achieve your goal. If you get a reputation for being a difficult writer, the waves you make will spread quickly across the relatively small pond in which they swim.

Try and remember to use at least 80% of the above rules all the time.
Liz Thompson ©