Writing can be hard sometimes. But it doesn’t ALWAYS need to be hard. And that’s okay.
Do writers need to suffer?
The stereotypes of starving artists and writers who go mad seems to be the most common representation of writers and creators.
Sometimes we buy into this.
It feels like in order to be a good writer we should be suffering for our art. Like our art isn’t real if we’re not sacrificing our mental stability and putting our most treasured relationships at risk.
But here’s the thing: Suffering doesn’t necessarily make our art better.
In fact, research has shown that experiencing significant distress may actually decrease the quality of our creative work.
What does this mean?
Obviously suffering can’t always be avoided. Life isn’t always happy or fair. Sometimes all we can do is manage the hard times as best we can.
But it’s important to remember to strive for wellness. To know that we are worth caring for.
We don’t want to buy into the suffering artist mentality and unintentionally sabotage our own well being.
Dear Writers, it’s okay to be okay.
We don’t have to feel guilt if our writing is going well. We don’t need to be ashamed of success.
We can practice self care and feel happy and at peace.
Our writing can make us happy!
We can enjoy our work.
It’s okay to write quickly and not struggle to finish something. As with any skill, it’s okay to improve our abilities.
And it’s okay to make money! Sure writing is art, but it can also be a business, and job, and a way to pay the bills.
We don’t need to be starving in order to be artists.
Writing can be and is often hard.
We need to have grace and be patient with ourselves when things don’t go well.
But let’s not make things harder for ourselves than they need to be!
Let’s enjoy the writing journey and let’s take care of ourselves in order to thrive.
Let’s write great stories and live great lives.
