Hello dear writers, I hope you had a good and merry christmas this year. I may get right to the point. I found out that I am addicted to writing. It consumes the main part of my day. I can't think about anything else and it started getting compulsive. Over the christmas days I had a burnout, I literally had no ideas for reworking my novel and I sat there and panicked. That was the point I decided to take a creative break over the holidays. Then I found myself fleshing out my characters for hours deep into the night. I thought that I might be addicted to writing since it is one of my few ways to receive joy. I searched the internet about this phenomenon but that topic seems to be pretty dry. Are here some of you struggling with the same or have experience in this? Do you have any advice on an addiction to writing? Tomorrow I will be going to vacation and I leave my laptop at my house to not get tempted to write. I am excited what my mind will trick me in to... Have a good rest of the year! =)
Sounds like relatively normal mid-novel behavior to me. If it starts preventing you from doing things like going to your day job, feeding your canary, or showering regularly, then you can start worrying about pursuing a twelve step program.
Actually to most of us that sounds like a pretty good addiction to have. Unless of course it's interfering with your 'real' life. How long have you had this addiction? I get it when I'm excited about a story idea or the story is going well, but when it stalls the addiction seems to dry up.
Try to bring some balance to your life. Spend time doing activities that use other neural networks in your brain besides the loop devoted to your writing. Get regular exercise. Do other creative work, like cooking in the kitchen or hands-on crafts. Spend time with people. Getting outside of yourself is freeing. You mention it brings you joy. If it was a true addiction, and not just an engagement, it would not bring you joy but exhaustion, a sick feeling, and anxiety. How do you feel when you are away from it?
I realized it since yesterday but I have that compulsive feeling for far longer. I would guess that I have this have to mentality since june this year. That was good advice. Thank you! For me, writing is a kind of double edged sword. It brings me joy but with that joy comes like a kind of compulsiveness that I have to get done with things. Not so long ago I wrote a trilogy and it wasn't really good executed so I have to rewrite the entire thing which made me really sad. When I am away from writing, I feel really unproductive. I always think I can do at least background things like fleshing out characters, drawing pictures or anything else that lifts my progress with my books. It's like I am unable to take a break from it.
You might try doing a different hobby for a while instead of writing. I sometimes switch to drawing or painting for a time. Sometimes one of them becomes my main hobby for a while, months or longer. It's good to get away for a while, concentrate entirely on something else that requires different skills, and then when you get back it's like returning after a vacation. You feel refreshed and renewed. I remember you used to do fencing. Do you still do that?
There's always a little bit of obsessiveness involved in writing. It requires a great deal of dedication and persistence. But only you know if it's become so intrusive that it negatively impacts other aspects of your life. If it has become more of a heart-sickening, dreary chore than a joyful, creative process. Then take a break. As mentioned, get some exercise, be with people and use your brain for other skills.
Hello. Fencing would be interesting, but there seems to be a confusion. The thing is, that writing is my passion. But besides that I sometimes draw and paint some pictures, mainly for my books. =) I guess I will take some time off the writing and take some time for painting. My last book had no pictures and the people were sad, that it had none. Guess I will draw some for the next books.
You did fence, didn't you? I remember your avatar picture where you were wearing the white outfit and I think holding a foil? But it sounds like your passion for writing might be becoming more like an obsession. That's when it can get unhealthy. You might try to balance it somewhat by fueling or creating a passion for other things you can switch to, or at leat some hobbies to get you away from nothing but writing. If you do the same thing for too long or with too much intensity, it can drain you and create problems in your life including mental and physical health problems. The idea is to try to broaden your horizon a bit, find other things you can do at times so it isn't always just writing. Hopefully things that engage you on nearly the same level.
Hehe. Sadly no, I never did fencing. Your advice is really good! I will look out for a new hobby as a secondary activity to my writing. There‘s some work ahead.
You talking to me? My fencing experience has mostly been on rangeland in Wyoming, though I own a farm in a southern state (not NC) that does indeed have a pond on it. As for kinky... mmm, that would be telling. Who is Betsy?
Our cows have generally have enough sense not to fall into ponds. They also have names like A-31, though my grandfather named every cow he ever owned, and he owned hundreds over the decades. Absolutely unsentimental about them, but he did name them all.
A-31? Are you a multi color operation, or work only in the generic yellow? I am old enough to remember ear marking. Ours was a double underbit left, swallowtail right. Seems like forever ago now.
We're not big enough to require more than a single color. My son came up with the current identification system. I recall ear markings, too, but have long forgotten the ones my grandparents used.
Michigan requires all beef and dairy cattle (and maybe other farm animals) to have plastic ear tags with numbers registered by the state.
Me too, and lately I'm also addicted to driving. I prefer country roads and rural areas and try to avoid cities and congested areas. I used to take a lot of pictures but not anymore. I went from photography to using a dashcam and then I wanted to do a live video feed but no go with the dashcam so I mounted my Android on the dash. I usually write something before heading out and then something else when I get back.
