The two greatest challenges for me are self-doubt and finding the mental energy to write after being tapped out from a day’s work.
I put in 10-12 hour days at a physical and emotionally challenging job, and some days I can’t even decide what to have for dinner when I get home, let alone how to unbox my heroine from the corner I’ve painted her in.
By the end of a long day, I’m suffering from decision fatigue, and that’s hard to overcome. It’s hard to write when your creative well is dry.
Is Writing Only a Self-Indulgent Hobby?
Self-care is critical, but society in general often demands we give 100% to our jobs. Families, hobbies, and secondary jobs like writing come third, fourth, and fifth on a list already filled with responsibilities.
This makes me a slow writer. I’m lucky if I produce a novel a year that I feel is strong enough to publish. This is an industry that demands a high rate of production to be successful.
Failing to meet that goal makes me less likely to succeed, and more likely for others—including myself—to treat what I do as a self-indulgent hobby.
Which brings me to the second part of the challenge of writing: self-doubt.
Blame the Self-Doubt on the “Not Good Enough” Syndrome
I can get 50 glowing reviews—it’s the less than stellar one I’ll remember. One of my stories can be named a finalist in a prestigious award, and I’ll consider it a fluke.
I think this is because on some level I recognize my writing is nowhere near the quality I want it to be—that I fall short of the storytelling capabilities of the authors I love and admire.
Blame it on the “Not Good Enough” syndrome I think many women of my generation suffer, but add to that the vulnerability of exposing your inner thoughts to the world and being judged for them, yeah, I’ve got some work to do before overcoming Imposter Syndrome.
I Need My “Meditative Walking” to Unlock Creativity
I’m currently using meditation to help with my overall anxiety. It also helps for me to get off social media, and ignore the news for a while.
I read at least one book every 2-3 days, which is another form of meditation. I’ve taken some online classes though DailyOM.com, though it’s often difficult to find the time to complete the coursework.
I ride my horse, and take the dogs for long walks, though recently a knee injury has sidelined me, which definitely impacts my mental health.
I used to say I needed an hour in the woods each week to stay grounded. I still believe that’s true, but man, once you get out of the habit of doing something, it’s SO HARD to pick it back up again! I’m hopeful that as things cool off, I’ll be able to get back to walking again.
Those quiet moments in which you still your mind are critical to unlocking the creative process.
If your mind is always fettered by the constant bombardment of imaging and messages, how can it possibly meander toward your creative goals?
One of the things I miss most about what I call my “meditative walking” is the eureka moments that occur when your subconscious suddenly hands your brain the piece of the puzzle your story was missing.
Spending the Day Typing Leaves Me in Pain
My day job keeps me moving and on my feet constantly, so it was a real shock to discover how hard it is to sit at a desk and type all day long. I don’t know how anyone does it!
I was in a severe car accident many years back and live with chronic pain, but most of the time, as long as I’m up and moving, I don’t notice. Have me sit for even thirty minutes, and when I get up, I’m going to be as creaky as the Tin Man without his oil can.
Shoulder pain, neck pain, elbow tendonitis, you name it. They’ve all been issues. I have to remind myself to move frequently so I don’t wind up in spasm.
I see a massage therapist regularly, as well as a chiropractor. But the older I get, especially with the setbacks from my knee injury, the more I realize that isn’t enough. I used to do yoga, but at the moment I can’t find a class I can take with my current work schedule.
A better work station would help, I’m sure. When I spend the day typing at the kitchen table, I lie away hoping the pain will subside so I can get some sleep.
Sometimes I Remind Myself to Play
Creativity feeds creativity. So sometimes I remind myself to play.
Write a story in a fandom I love. Create scenes with action figures and create a story in photographs. Watch a favorite movie or re-read a favorite book. Find new-to-me authors and series. Daydream.
Imagine “what if?” and see how many scenarios I can come up with.
When I Write, It Takes Me Out of My Existence for a While
There have been times when life has derailed my ability to write.
I’ve had a lot of personal loss in the last few years, so much so if you’d put all the events in one story, the reader would roll their eyes.
Recently, I had a major failure occur during the book I’m about to release, Bishop Takes Knight. I’d been working round the clock for a hard deadline, only to discover that I’d somehow lost all the edits I’d completed in the last week.
It was a shattering moment, let me tell you. I came very close to chucking the whole thing. But then I recalled what I told myself when I got a bit of a nasty review. You see, mean reviews have one of two goals. They are either playing to the reviewer’s audience, in which case it’s not about you, or they want to hurt you so badly you quit—also not about you.
I don’t quit because I’m not chasing the writing dream in the hopes of becoming a NYT Bestseller, or a gazillionaire who can quit the day job. Oh sure, that would be lovely, but that’s not why I write. I write because frankly, life sucks.
Most of us are overworked and underappreciated, grinding our way through crushing day jobs while taking care of our parents and our kids. Maybe we’re dealing with chronic illness, or are full time caregivers.
When I write, it takes me out of my existence for a while, and if I can do the same for a reader, make them forget their toxic boss, or their horrible divorce, or their nausea from chemotherapy, or whatever for even a few hours, then I’ve done the job I set out to do.
How Winning an Award Made Me Feel Like a “Real Writer”
My second book, Ghost of a Chance, was a finalist in the 2019 Booksellers Best Awards.
I went to the National Romance Writers conference as a result, and it made me feel like a “real” author for the first time.
I learned a tremendous amount while I was there, and it gave me hope that perhaps I had a shot at being more than a hobby writer after all.
Advice for a Young Writer: Develop a Thick Skin
Develop a thick skin.
It would be easier to say “never read your reviews” but I don’t think that’s the answer. If lots of people say the negative same thing about a story, then somewhere along the line, you missed your mark as an author. Learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell on them.
Even if your creative efforts are only a hobby, treat them like a business. Don’t ignore the business side of things or you’ll languish in obscurity, no matter how good you are.
Support those around you. Make good connections. Practice self-care. Turn off the news, the social media, the internet. Put down the smartphone from time to time. Give your mind the freedom to play like a child let loose in the Hundred Acre Woods.
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McKenna Dean has been an actress, a vet tech, a singer, a teacher, a biologist, and a dog trainer. She’s worked in a genetics lab, at the stockyard, behind the scenes as a props manager, and at a pizza parlor slinging dough. Finally she realized all these jobs were just a preparation for what she really wanted to be: a writer.
She lives on a small farm in North Carolina with her family, as well as the assorted dogs, cats, and various livestock.
She likes putting her characters in hot water to see how strong they are. Like tea bags, only sexier.
For more information on McKenna and her work, please see her website, Amazon author page, and Facebook author page, or connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.
Ghost of a Chance: At sixteen, Sarah Atwell walked away from her love of horses and a promising career as a competitive rider after discovering she’d inherited the family curse. Years later, her grandmother stunned everyone by leaving Sarah her horse farm—worth millions—but with conditions Sarah might not be able to meet.
A former Redclaw agent, Casey Barnes retired when a security assignment went bad, killing his partner and leaving him as a partial amputee. His inner wolf is in hiding. He’s been living quietly as a horse trainer, but June Atwell’s death now pits him against her granddaughter for rights to the stable.
With both of them snowed in at the farm, a series of increasingly serious accidents draws Sarah and Casey closer together, but they each harbor secrets that might tear them apart.
Available at Amazon.
Bishop Takes Knight: New York, 1955. Former socialite Henrietta (“Rhett”) Bishop, destitute after her father gambles away the family fortune, takes a job at Redclaw Security. But Redclaw is no ordinary operation. Part detective firm and part enforcement agency, Redclaw regulates matters involving the growing population of shifters who have emerged since the onset of the nuclear age.
Peter Knight is a nuclear scientist shattered by the death of his wife. Blacklisted by the government and scientific organizations, he drowns his sorrows while searching for the people behind his wife’s murder.
When Rhett is assigned to recruit Knight, their meeting is more than either bargained for—a rival organization will do anything to secure Knight for themselves. Following a lead to locate a missing cache of alien technology stolen from Redclaw, Rhett is thrown back into her previous glittering life with Knight as her pretend boyfriend. But when someone from the past turns up to start a bidding war on the artifacts, Bishop and Knight wind up in a fight for their very lives.
Available at Amazon.