Bethany Henry: Writing & Wellness

Today I am thrilled and honored to be guest posting over at Fiction University. In case you haven’t yet discovered this gem of a resource, please take some time to browse and learn from the *huge* amount of writing knowledge available on this site. My post is titled  Input for Writers: 6 Ways to Feed Your Muse . It’s all about what it looks like for us as writers to nourish our creative selves and why this is so important. Originally published January 31, 2020 on Bethany-Henry. com.

Whether you’re a writer or not, taking care of ourselves is important. Wintertime self-care is especially important as studies show many people may experience an increase in depressed mood over the winter months. This is especially true for those of us who live in places where snow and darkness surround much of our days! And then you have us writers who stereotypically don’t take very good care of ourselves even at the best of times, neglecting our health so we can write until the wee hours of the morning or binging on junk food/caffeine/alcohol to get us through the day. Let’s beat (and change!) the stereotypes. Caring for ourselves is a type of self-love. It’s also a way to love others and to love our writing. So how can we take good care of ourselves even when it’s not easy? Winter Self-Care Before we get started, we need to remember that  depression  and  Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD)  are serious issues and should be treated as such. In this post we’re mostly l...

As the new year has been starting there’s been a lot of buzz (as always) about resolutions and setting goals. And in a lot of ways, that’s awesome! I love goals. I love setting them, thinking about them, evaluating them. (Yeah, I’m a bit of a geek.)  However, talking about our goals can sometimes actually  make it harder for us to reach them.  Weird, right? It’s backed by science, though. Why We Should Keep Quiet About Our Goals Studies show  that when we tell people about our goals it tricks our brains into thinking of our tasks as already done- when really they aren’t. It delivers a “premature sense of completeness.” For instance, say you want to write a book. So naturally you tell people you’re going to write a book. “Yay, good for you!” “That’s awesome!” “I’ll buy it when it comes out!” All your friends think you’re super cool. However, now you’ve received all this positive feedback… and you haven’t written the book yet. We’re creating a positive feedback loop wh...

Story structure doesn’t have to be boring or legalistic. In fact, it’s vital for maximum reader engagement and emotional involvement. Story structure makes stories stronger. Story elements we’ve covered in this series so far include the novel’s hook, inciting incident, key event, midpoint, and crossroads. All of these elements help with building tension, raising stakes, and bringing us toward our story’s climax. But before we get to the final showdown we first have the dark night of the soul. This moment is crucial to fulfilling our story’s full potential and power.  The Dark Night of the Soul What is it? This is the moment toward the end of our story when all is lost. This is when the protagonist has tried and failed, they are alone, and they are beat.  The dark night of the soul is when  they think the story is over and there is no chance to win. They are in an impossible situation with no way out. Why does it matter? The dark night of the soul ...

Happy New Year! No matter what upcoming challenges you’re looking at, here are some great quotes for us as writers and creatives as we enter the year ahead. Quotes for Writers and Creatives To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it. Kurt Vonnegut The chief enemy of creativity is “good” sense. Pablo Picasso You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have. Maya Angelou Create with the heart; build with the mind. Criss Jami The works must be conceived with fire in the soul but executed with clinical coolness. Joan Miró Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change. Brené Brown Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work. Gustave Flaubert How to unlock creativity: slow down, study another field, get into nature, get out of office, music (lots), sketch, cardio before/after, nibble on small ideas, throw stuff away, atomize the work, look for orthogonal inspir...