Top 3 — On Writing and Mental Health, Accepting Rejection, & Expounding on Four Writing Adages
By: Stephen Dalton
Tags: Writing Tips, Short Story, Top 3, Self Improvement, Writing

HELPFUL WRITING ARTICLES

Top 3 — On Writing and Mental Health, Accepting Rejection, & Expounding on Four Writing Adages

My Top 3 for November is a compilation of three articles about writing I found beneficial.

Photo by Hannah Grace on Unsplash

What Is Top 3?

Top 3 is a publication where Medium writers support other Medium writers by promoting each other’s work. Medium members are encouraged to post three stories from other writers that they enjoyed reading.

If you want to join, please read the Write for Us Guidelines.

My Top 3 for November on Writing

These are not in order of which I found more helpful or by using a subjective analysis to say which is “best.” I am merely presenting to Medium writers three articles I found constructive and beneficial that they may have missed.

Missy Crystal wrote Being a Full-Time Writer Could Harm Your Mental Health

“We don’t talk about this enough”

I know personally, in 2018, I made $92,000, mostly from writing the content for 66 websites, though I did have several other regular clients and a few other sources of income from writing.

I got so busy, even with outsourcing a lot and a virtual assistant, I was working nearly non-stop. I don’t think I took a full day off. Some workdays lasted 16 or 18 hours, only stopping for meals.

I wound up having a heart attack and spending nearly all that money on hospitalization. I did get most of it back from my health insurance. However, I had to cut way back, and I lost quite a few clients.

Some clients were absolute gems about my illness and let me go right back to writing for them after being cleared medically.

Two CA traffic lawyers I write for said they wouldn’t think of hiring anyone else, so that was comforting. Plus, my septic tank cleaners kept me on, which I had mixed feelings about. Only because it can get tough to think of a new way to say these guys are the best shit-suckers on the planet twice a month.

Anyway, enough about my personal story, this is about Missy Crystal’s article. I just felt the need to share my personal experience about writing full-time and possible health issues.

Missy echoed my point by saying, “I write for a living so I can spend more time with my family, but sometimes I’m only physically present. Like today, for example. My brain shut down approximately 5,000 words into my workday, and now I have nothing to offer.”

One more crucial point Missy makes is,

But burnout and mental health concerns are common in the writing community, despite numerous studies that rave about the benefits of creating written work. Studies that describe writing as therapeutic generally have one major flaw: they’re geared toward casual writers.

So, here it is. Believe me; your health will appreciate you for reading and heeding her advice.

The next subject is a well-written article by my battle-buddy, Tom Handy. Not an actual battle-buddy. We did not go into combat together, but I call everyone I know served “Battle” out of respect.

He chose another extremely essential topic for writers, and that is handling rejection. If you have thin skin or cannot handle rejection, you really need to read this.

The inability to cope with rejection as a writer could cause anguish and even cause you to quit before becoming a well-known writer or columnist if you prefer.

In The Writer’s Guide to Getting Rejected 100 Times, Tom advises, “Don’t let the rejections get you down. Keep writing. Be patient. Stay focused and write your next masterpiece. There are worse things that could happen.”

This is also true of positive critiques and corrections too. Learn to take it for what it is, another writer’s assist. I like to think of those who send me a note to make my work better (including publication editors), my writing team’s Point Guard (PG). Even if you are the only one on your team, you need a PG!

So, here is Tom’s fantastically precise piece.

In this piece by Karen Banes, who takes the advice we as writers have been getting for centuries and expounds on it, she says,

After over two decades working as a freelance writer, I can assure you they don’t go far enough. Here’s my take on how you can use each snippet of advice to really up your game, when it comes to producing a quality piece of writing.

What I particularly liked about this article is that it packs so much into a 4-minute read. She doesn’t drone on or repeat points. Her writing is clear and concise. I suppose that’s why it was “curated or distributed in topics,” as Medium is fond of calling it now. Or is it us that did that?

Her advice, though we’ve all likely heard it before, “Write Like Nobody’s Watching,” is spot on. She says, “Here’s the thing. People are going to be reading, eventually. And they may also be responding, commenting, and analysing what you’ve written. So write your first draft like nobody’s watching, then edit as though the piece will go viral.”

“W rite like the best, wittiest, most articulate version of yourself.”

I’ll leave the rest for you to read here.

Takeaways

We all need help with our writing from time-to-time. Don’t get bogged down with too much work, rejection, or not going far enough with the four pieces of advice most readers need to consider, which are read, write like nobody’s watching, write like you talk, and let it sit.

Hopefully, you can take a little bit from these Top 3 about writing to add to your quality of life as a writer. Contrary to what a lot of internet writers want you to believe, writing full-time is not “a walk in the park.”

About the Author Photo by Jean Springs from Pexels

Stephen Dalton is a retired US Army First Sergeant with a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and a Certified US English Chicago Manual of Style Editor. Top Writer in Fiction, Short Story, VR, Design, & Creativity. Editor of Pop Off, Top Dalton’s Blog, 100WordStory, B.O.S.S., and SportsShorts100WordsOnly

You can see his portfolio here. Email thewriteresults@yahoo.com

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