Self-care For Writers: How To Glow Up Like A Smart Creative

For many writers, writing is a word synonymous to burnout. When people think of writers, they usually think of a recluse behind the screen, sporting breakouts and eyebags, running on caffeine and the almost visceral need to get their story out. You know the image—it is a universal one.

It is universal because many writers fall into that unhealthy category. The few who don’t are those who love them a good life more than anything else. Writers like me, and hopefully after this post, writers like you.

Self-care. That is what we’d be discussing today. Not the bubble baths and scented candles, although they are a part of it, but the self-care that is specific to the struggles writers face.

Writing is mentally and emotionally tasking, and the very nature of it has people slouched behind their screens, for hours on end sometimes, lost in a different world. This is alright—except the slouching part—during bursts of inspiration but is detrimental otherwise. Because when you constantly do this, you will eventually burnout. Self-care as a writer is what will allow you to do what you love doing while keeping your well-being a priority.

The first, and my favourite form of self-care is to sleep. Ah, some of us hate the word. It seems counterproductive to sleep when you could be hitting that daily milestone or writing out that twist we would not see coming. I know. I have been guilty of pushing sleep to the wee hours of the morning in favour of writing.

However, my writing has significantly improved since I began to prioritise my rest, and I can bet that yours will too. Sleep is one of the most talked about topics in the 21st century for good reason. Everyone is so busy these days we never have time to close our eyes and rest our brain. Going without sleep for long is like constantly wounding up a machine: someday it would go berserk.

The same is true for our brain. We get stimulated everyday with the happenings around us (even if all we do in a day is write) and the brain needs time to process and to recuperate. Sleeping does this efficiently. Note that I’m not saying you should sleep when you should be writing; I’m saying sleep when you should be sleeping.

This brings me to my next point.

Schedule your day. Again, most of us would groan at this word. Especially fellow pantsers who don’t just pantse (pants? pantz?) while writing but enjoy the unpredictability of every day. Lack of structure is unimpressive. When I say schedule, I don’t mean you have to divide your day into small bits, down to the time to use the bathroom. All I am saying is that you should have a structure, no matter how small.

Give yourself time to write and time to do other things. It does not matter how many minutes or hours you schedule for your writing as long as you are consistent. I write better in the wee hours of the morning (from 4:30 a.m. – 5:30 a.m.), so I make sure I sleep early to get my 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. You may write better late at night or in the quiet evenings. Find your writing time and be consistent. That is what a schedule is—structure and consistency.

You do not have to draw stringent tables, bar charts or whatever scary image pops into your head at the mention of the word ‘schedule’. So, as a form of self-care (and ultimately, self-empowerment) make a schedule to sleep when you should be sleeping and to write when you should be writing.

…Even when you do not believe in yourself. In your writing journey, you are bound to hit periods when you feel like you are not good enough. For freelancers this is usually during dry periods—when you have no clients or outstanding projects. For writers who submit to magazines, this could be after a few rejections too many.

It is easy to slip into self-doubt during these times, so surrounding yourself with people who have seen your work and believe in you is a great way to boost your esteem and keep the fire burning.

These people don’t have to be your family. They could be friends, or they could be strangers who just love your style or see something hilarious in your words even when they seem dry to you.

Community is a form of self-care.

Stop sitting in front of that goddamned screen all day! Respectfully. And I hope this doesn’t give you PTSD, because many writers have had variants of this shouted into their ears at some point, usually by a well-meaning family member who believes writing is a fancy term for laziness.

Now, I’m shouting it into your ears not because I believe that, but because I care about you. As tempting as it sounds, the body is not equipped to sit around all day. You could get bad posture, backaches, muscle pain, a pooch you do not want, and eyesight problems from sitting in front of a screen for long periods of time.

No judgement here. Really. Remember I am a self-proclaimed couch potato princess.

Yet I’d be the first to tell you that you need to change positions frequently. Move around, stay active, get your blood flowing. Now, you don’t have to do high intensity workouts to achieve this goal of staying healthy. A walk on the street, a little stretching, watering the plants or, if you’re so inclined, spying on your arguing neighbours could do the trick.

Stay away from social media.

If you cannot, do a media cleanse so the toxic news do not get to you as easily. I don’t know about you, but I believe we are what we read. Spend so much time being bombarded with inconsequential things and news about men who are horrible to their wives and suddenly, your world view shifts. Even just a bit.

You become more negative, more forlorn. And suddenly, you are thinking ‘Ah, what’s the use of writing? One girl is being butchered by her boyfriend in Abuja and here I am thinking I can make the world a better place by my writing’. Of course this is an extreme, but there are studies that show that the media we consume really does impact us.

And I’m not saying to turn a blind eye to society’s ills, but to be selective with what you consume. I have experienced the negative impact of indiscriminate media consumption on my psyche. I no longer have X, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook on my phone because of this, and I do not wish to go back. Too much peace in touching the grass and living in the moment.

As a writer, your mind is your most precious tool, and you need it sharp and clear. If you let social media clog your mind with the warped realities of millions of strangers, you are doing a disservice to yourself.

You know how people detoxify their bodies? Detoxify your mind by saying no to social media in whatever way you can.

Have another creative hobby. You probably started writing as a hobby, and writing could still be your hobby even as it is your job. Read my lips though, get another creative hobby. You need to have another creative outlet to de-stress and feel creatively fulfilled.

When you begin to write for money, it becomes a job, and we all know the saying ‘all work and no play…’ Do something that allows you to express yourself creatively, and that doesn’t demand perfection. Give yourself a break from work. Choose novelty.

Just because you now write a storm doesn’t mean that is all you are. Haven’t you heard the saying ‘All writers are readers’? Before you became a writer, before you knew there was a way to communicate those songs in your head to others through writing, you were a reader. You either loved those books so much you were moved to emulation, or you hated them and decided to show the world how it’s done.

Whatever your reason, reading is the source for writers and is something we tend to take for granted when we attain a certain level of proficiency. When you read other people’s work, you are opening yourself up to wonder and filling your tank of imaginations for when you would return to the screen to write.

It’s just like with artists who seek art out, musicians who listen to other musicians (I wouldn’t want to listen to my voice 24/7 either) and dancers who watch other dancers (think Step Up). We don’t just read to gain inspiration and not look at another book until we run out. Reading is therapeutic, and don’t you just love the thought of curling up under the covers with a good book? Or reading in the veranda with a chilled glass of yoghurt by your side.

Give yourself a break and enjoy a good book.

Okay, so you’re thinking ‘This is all good, Sophia, but I don’t have the time to write, let alone the time to indulge in self-care’. First, I take objection to the word indulge, never mind that I created the hypothetical statement.

Self-care is not indulgence; it is a necessity. Now, you would agree with me that there is almost never enough time to write (can be solved with a good ‘ol schedule), but you still manage to write, don’t you?

Self-care frees up time for you to focus on what’s important: You. The writer. And by so doing, ensures the product (your writing) is as polished as it can get.

Here’s a scenario you’d relate with:

Say, you have a deadline approaching and you have so many tabs open in your browser but none of the articles is helping shit. Pardon my French, I’m trying to learn the language. Anyway, you’ve only managed to write 87 words, and you are just about ready to rip your hair out because why did it feel like you wrote 5000 words? The clock teases you and you note that it has been an hour.

The light is suddenly too bright, and you can feel the beginnings of a headache. You grit your teeth and decide ‘no pain no gain’ so you take your fingers to your keyboard and try to reiterate everything you have researched about your topic. Your brain begins to do the salsa in your skull and after punching a triumphant full-stop, you check the word count. 97.

It is a full-on madhouse in your head now, but you add the three words to make it 100 and shout eureka. 13 powerful words in 30 minutes is better than 500, yes? No. (Unless you’re a copywriter and those thirteen words are the only words you need for your client’s super ad.)

Here’s what I would do. I would shut that laptop with pzazz and, depending on the time of the day, either close my eyes in blissful sleep or literally go touch grass. (Plants, if we’re being technical, but they’re both green anyway.)

This simple act energises me. The creases on my face from frowning at my screen dissolve. The headache dissipates. More times than I can count, when I do return to my screen, my relaxed brain raises a smug lid and says, ‘oh yeah, about this’ then goes on to give me the best ideas.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that with all my theatrics I have managed to convince and not confuse you about the importance of self-care as a writer. Your face needs care, your body needs care, but most importantly, your mind needs care if you are to function optimally as a writer.

See you next time, fam. In the meantime, take care of yourself for you and keep creating magic!