Bethany Henry: Writing & Wellness

It’s been a crazy few weeks! Like something out of a book or a board game but definitely not something we expect to ever experience in real life. And for us writers it raises the question of what does creativity during coronavirus look like? First things first- I hope everyone is staying safe and being careful out there. Wash your hands. Practice social distancing. Follow the  advice of the CDC , even if it’s not easy. Ask for help. Help others. We may be needing to distance ourselves physically but that doesn’t mean we can’t all be uniting together in the face of adversity. Let’s help each other be well! And let’s be well ourselves both physically and mentally. So amidst this global coronavirus pandemic, where does creativity fit in? Today we’re looking at why creativity during coronavirus is important, what time management looks like during uncertain times, and tips on nurturing creativity. 3 Reasons Why Creativity is Still Important during Coronavirus 1: Times like the...

Slow writing versus fast writing is an interesting comparison. Some authors write  famously (and ridiculously) fast , writing books in a matter of days or weeks. And others take years and years (I’m looking at you, George R. R. Martin) to complete their work. So which is better? Should we push ourselves to write our novels quickly or be taking our time to labor over each word as we go? As with many things, there is no easy or “right” answer. Each writer, story, and situation is different. But just because neither is “best” doesn’t mean we should consider the question. There are some definite pros and cons to writing quickly versus writing slowly so we’re going to break some of those down here. Take a look and see where you think you may fall along the way! Slow Writing Versus Fast Writing Full disclaimer, currently I fall into the “fast writing” category for the most part. I try to write my first drafts as quickly as possible (yay  nanowrimo !) and I generally push myself to k...

So last month I took on a new challenge– I signed up for February Album Writing Month ( FAWM ) and committed to writing 14 songs in 29 days. It was a whirlwind month with its ups and downs, complete with school vacation for my kindergartner which made things extra exciting. Some days were good writing days, others were not. Overall? I’m 100% glad I jumped at this chance to try something new. It definitely pushed me to do something I wouldn’t have done otherwise. Over the month I wrote 10 songs and wrote partial lyrics for around 8 more. (I even like a few of the songs, which is something!) In the spirit of letting you all learn from my experience, here is a glimpse into my month of songwriting! 27 Lessons Learned from a Month of Songwriting (by a non-songwriter) 1. People are friendly! The FAWM community welcomed me to their midst with encouragement and friendly hellos within a few hours of me signing up. (Including a shout out from Finland, where I have family, so that made my day...

Writing can be hard sometimes. But it doesn’t ALWAYS need to be hard.  And that’s okay. Do writers need to suffer? The stereotypes of starving artists and writers who go mad seems to be the most common representation of writers and creators. Sometimes we buy into this. It feels like in order to be a good writer we should be suffering for our art. Like our art isn’t real if we’re not sacrificing our mental stability and putting our most treasured relationships at risk. But here’s the thing: Suffering doesn’t necessarily make our art better. In fact,  research has shown  that experiencing significant distress may actually  decrease  the quality of our creative work. What does this mean? Obviously suffering can’t always be avoided. Life isn’t always happy or fair. Sometimes all we can do is manage the hard times as best we can. But it’s important to remember to strive for wellness. To know that we are worth caring for. We don’t want to buy into the suffering a...

Story structure provides us with a time-tested road map of elements to include in our stories to help them connect with readers and satisfy expectations. This structure gives us a framework to make our stories as powerful as possible. We’ve looked at many components that make up a strong story previously. Today we’ll be looking at one of the most dramatic moments in our novel! This is the moment most of our story has been building toward: the story’s climax. The Climax In some ways, all of Act 3 is the climax of our story. Things are happening, stakes are rising, and it’s filled with conflict.  However, there should be a pinnacle of this conflict where everything comes together in a scene that changes things completely. Whether the enemy is defeated, the lovers are together at last, or a truth has been discovered that alters how we see things-  there should be a moment where the story’s central problem is overcome. This is the story’s climax. 6. Components of a Stron...

So this month I’m trying something new with my writing. I’m not really very good at it and I very much expect to fail. But… I’m doing it anyway! Who here has heard of FAWM? FAWM stands for  February Album Writing Month . It’s a lot like  Nanowrimo  only for music. The challenge is to write and possibly make rough recordings of 14 songs by the end of the month. This works out to be about 2 days per song. Like Nanowrimo, FAWM has an active and encouraging worldwide community. They provide forums, feedback, writing prompts, and more. So yeah! We’re a few days into February now which means I’m taking a break from focusing on my novel writing in order to dabble with songs. It’s not something I have a lot of experience with and frankly I’m not expecting to become a rock star in the next few weeks. It’s a bit scary, actually, but also exciting to throw myself into something new. I think it will stretch me as a writer and I know it’s good for me to be challenged. It’s like when I...