Hello and a very happy Friday to all of you!
This week has been on the rougher side despite it only being week two but hey, at least it’s another week gone with more words to be thankful for. A while ago I made a video about this one November when I tried my hand at YouTube but I always feel the need to cover it more. It’s become something of a yearly tradition of mine to talk about this topic during NaNoWriMo.
What topic you ask? Why self care of course.
NaNoWriMo is one of those times of the year where we as writers set aside a majority of everything else in our lives in order to focus on our WIPs and keeping our sighs on that 50,000 word goal. Unfortunately the things we set aside also tend to include ourselves. The reason this has become a yearly chat I do every November is because writers are in need of reminding of the fact that we are just as important as our stories. A blasphemous thought, I know. I’m not here to rant and rave about the ways you should be taking care of yourself, but I am here to give some gentle reminders and some suggestions.
Hydrate
It’s important to drink just as much water as you do coffee, tea, cocoa, or whatever your poison is this month. Gasp. Filling your body with something other than caffeine? I know it’s a bizarre thought and goes against everything most writers swear by but it’s true. The body can do funny things to you when you don’t drink enough water and I would hate to see that happen to any of you.
Eat Regularly
We are writers, not raccoons although there are similarities between us that I can understand the confusion. We don’t have to survive off juice boxes and junk food for an entire month all in the name or writing our stories. Likewise we don’t have to starve ourselves just to squeeze out some extra words. It’s important that we feed ourselves regularly with a balanced diet so that our brains function enough to actually focus on the task of writing a book.
Maintain Hygiene
I don’t really feel like I should have to explain why this one is important but it needed to be placed on the list nonetheless as a friendly reminder to brush your teeth, comb your hair, and shower.
Walk Around
Sitting for hours at a time can be hard on the body, especially if you’re staying in one position the entire time. It’s important to get up and walk around some in order to stretch out those muscles you haven’t been using. I’m not saying to go and walk a mile or run a marathon (we’re trying to write 50,000 words in a month, we’re doing our own marathon!) but walk around the house some, maybe do some leg exercises, anything that will get the blood pumping.
Give Yourself Breaks
You can’t write nonstop all day, you’ll quickly burn yourself out and no one wants that. Give yourself little break as a mini reward for every 250-500 words or 500-1,000 words depending on how quickly you write. You could do anything from scroll through social media, watch a YouTube video, or read a chapter of a book, anything that isn’t you typing away. Your brain needs breaks every now again, please don’t feel pressured to write nonstop in order to read 50,000 words, it isn’t worth wearing yourself thin.
SLEEP
The dreaded S word. Like most things during NaNoWriMo, sleep is something that takes to the back burner to be replaced with caffeine induced energy designed to help us achieve as many words in the day/night as possible before finally crashing. As I’m sure you can imagine, this is also not a good thing. The brain needs sleep in order to recharge itself and before ready for whatever your throw at it the next day/night. It needs to process everything you’ve done and refill your well. If you don’t allow yourself to sleep then you’ll be dragging yourself around and not only will your writing suffer but you will suffer as well. I know there are those out there who have trouble sleeping (I myself am an insomniac) and that’s understandable but don’t use that inability to sleep as a loophole not to try. A lack of sleep means a lack of energy and motivation.
NaNoWriMo doesn’t have to be the month where we forget ourselves until we can hardly recognize ourselves in the mirror. We don’t have to live off caffeine and snacks until December comes when our new diet consists of cookies and hot chocolate or eggnog. Don’t let the NaNoWriMo horror stories make you believe that those are the foundation of this event. No, it’s about finding a balance and maintaining everything you want in your life. I know it’s hard, we put so much pressure on ourselves to accomplish this one thing in a month and we feel we need to dedicate every waking moment to it. I learned two years ago that that wasn’t the case and never should be either. You are a victor no matter what word count you hit this month, so long as you don’t forget yourself at the starting line.
Until next week!
✿ Happy reading and writing to all and to all a good day ✿
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