Writer’s Guide to Self Care

Ruth E. Walker

For the past two days, you’ve been in the middle of an important edit and you have a magazine article deadline looming. You’ve ignored that tickle in your throat but today, you wake up, head pounding and your throat feels like someone’s taken a scrub brush to it.

You’re sick. You long to pull the covers over your head and stay in bed. The house is warm yet you are chilled and shivering. But if you stop now, you’re sure the edit will lose its forward progress. And that article was paying pretty good per-word compensation.

STOP

Let’s rewind a day or two. It was just a sore throat and a bit stuffed up. And if you paused long enough at that point, you might have remembered the last time that happened you ended up with Strep. Or bronchitis. Or influenza. Or…

If you paused long enough.

We writers sometimes get so caught up with taking care of our work we forget to take care of ourselves. I know this because I have a lot of friends and colleagues who are writers. Many times I’ve heard them say “I’m so darn tired but I can’t go to bed early with that deadline.” Or “Oh, it’s just a cold. Can’t let it stop me.”

I have a confession to make. Since before Christmas I’ve been dealing with a rotten cold. It would get a bit better and then a couple of days later, I’d be blowing my nose and coughing. And coughing. Eventually coughing so much I could barely talk. I was exhausted just climbing the stairs.

Did I go see a doctor?

Nope.

Well, not until I recognized that the rattling sound in my throat and chest wasn’t a good sign. I even ignored that for a couple of days. Editing commitments and deadlines took precedence. My priorities might have been a bit whacky. At least that’s what the doctor inferred when I said how tired and short of breath I’d been. “Yes,” he said and fixed me with that you-ought-to-know-better eyeball. “That’s probably because you have bronchitis.”

Two kinds of inhalers and some heavy-duty meds later, I got on the road to recovery. However, if I’d gone to see the doctor when the coughing got bad instead of struggling through a week of Buckley’s cough medicine, I’d have been on the road at least a week earlier. Yes, Buckley’s really tastes awful and helped control some of the cough but it’s not meant for chest infections. So I was just applying a Band-Aid to an artery wound.

Back to you, writer

Do you recognize yourself in any of this? What would you tell that writer deep in the edit and with the looming deadline?

• you should come first; the passion to edit your novel will come back stronger when you’re stronger
•  deadlines can be renegotiated
• if you can’t renegotiate the deadline
  • ask a trusted colleague to take what notes you’ve got and complete the assignment
  • offer up a name or two to the client to replace you
• by doing either of these things, you may lose the money but your client will know you are professional

But let’s not forget that sometimes illness happens because you’re not taking care of you in the first place. So remember the usuals:

• proper meals, exercise and sleep (just like the doctor ordered)
• take breaks, even if just for 15 minutes to step away from the work (set a timer if need be)
• treat yourself with kindness in whatever form that takes for you (avoid negative self-talk)
• spend time with people you really like and enjoy (this is a choice, not a chore)

Consequences remind us to be smarter next time

And, most of all, if you feel the onset of something, don’t bury your head in your work and “soldier on.” Be smart. Pay attention and if it is warranted, get yourself checked out medically. The hours of solid editing I lost by refusing to acknowledge I needed to see my doctor, have meant even more hours making up for the lost time.

However, I’m not forgetting to take care of myself in the time crunch.

You’ll have to excuse me now. I hear the kettle boiling and it’s time for my tea break.

Did You Know?

There’s all kinds of ways to take care of yourself. You can expect a healthy dose of pampering at Spring Thaw, our all-inclusive writers retreat in April.

Enjoy catered lunches and dine overlooking the lake in the evenings. Afterward, head to your lakeside cottage to unwind by the wood burning fireplace or head off to bed in your private bedroom.

What about writing, you say? Write in your jammies every morning with in-cottage breakfasts. Daily workshops will fire up your pen with exercises and inspiration. And Gwynn and Ruth will offer written feedback and personal consultation on pre-submitted work, plus be available for chats all weekend long.

As if that’s not enough of a good thing, you can add two more days with our Extend Your Pen option, designed for uninterrupted writing time except for lunch and dinner. A wonderful way to dive even deeper into your writing project.