As writers, we use our minds to create something new in the world. We turn ideas into books. We are awesome!
I don't personally suffer from depression, but in today's article, Mark O'Neill shares how he writes under the influence.
JK Rowling. Carrie Fisher, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sylvia Plath. Winston Churchill. Apart from being successful authors, what is the one trait they all shared?
Apart from being successful authors, what is the one trait they all shared?
They all have (or have had) severe mental issues. Clinical or bipolar depression to be precise.
- Plath eventually gave way to her demons and committed suicide at the age of 30 because of it.
- Carrie Fisher buckled under the strain of celebrity from Star Wars and famous parents, and became an alcoholic and drug addict, leading to severe bipolar depression.
- JK Rowling was a single mother struggling on benefits until she invented a schoolboy called Harry Potter.
As for Churchill, well he was only the British Prime Minister during what was to prove the most brutal war in history, and he fought to stop the Nazis from invading Great Britain. You know, nothing special.
It’s not really known definitively why writers tend to struggle with depression so much. But we can make a few speculative guesses.
For a start, writing is quite often a solitary life. We sit in our office or bedroom with the laptop, and we peck away at the keyboard. We invent worlds and characters, while the real world with its real characters continues on outside. But we are probably so wrapped up in those fictional worlds and characters that we don’t make the time to meet real people.
Isolation like that can have a crushing effect on a lot of people. Some people thrive on it, but humans on the whole are a social bunch and need to interact with others. When that isn’t possible, it’s easy to feel that the walls are closing in.
Lack of sleep, lack of exercise, lack of human contact, and lack of natural light are all factors that can develop into something much more serious.
Let’s not forget, writing is hard. I have just finished writing my second book and it was quite literally the hardest thing I have ever experienced in my life. This is coming from a 42-year-old guy who has already experienced quite a lot in life.
Since writing is so hard, it is very easy to get dispirited and to tell yourself that the whole project is hopeless. Especially when you get rejection slips from editors and harsh criticism from reviewers, and dare I say it, your family and friends.
So you begin to tell yourself you are not talented. That you were not cut out for this kind of life. Your hopes and dreams begin to fade, then…yep, along comes the big D. And when it arrives, good luck getting rid of it.
When I typed THE END on my manuscript, what was the first thing I felt? Was it elation? Well, yes partly.
But mostly, it was utter exhaustion. I just wanted to lie down and sleep for a week. You can see how, in those circumstances, a situation like that is an ideal breeding ground for depression to develop.
If you have managed to read this far, you’re probably thinking “Geez, this Mark guy is such a downer! I think I am ready to hang myself now after reading this!”. But there are many ways you can fight against the depression if you are a writer.
Look at me. Finally, at the age of 42, and after 15 years of extremely serious depression, I have two manuscripts done.
How did I overcome the depression?
Radically Rethink Your Daily Routine
I know how psychologically crippling depression is. But you have to find a way to fight it. You can start by structuring your day. Get up at the same time every morning and go to bed at the same time every night. When you get up, have a shower, have a proper breakfast, then go out for a walk (no matter what the weather is).
Do you know the best way to motivate yourself to exercise? Get a dog. I did and my dog is my lifesaver, my book agent, my movie agent, and my muse. He lobbied heavily for the main character in my book to be a dog and was pretty hacked off when I didn’t take his professional advice.
Develop Your Humour
See what I did there? That was humour. That is the next thing you need to work on. Develop your sense of humour.
Read funny books, watch funny movies and TV shows (I highly recommend “The Life Of Brian” and “Fawlty Towers”). Don’t look at it as wasting time. Look upon it as researching the human condition for your next book.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up If You Don’t Make Your Daily Word Count
So look upon the word count as a highly flexible desired target. But if you don’t get there for whatever reason, don’t get worked up about it. Shrug your shoulders, and tell yourself you’ll do better tomorrow.
Don’t Show Your Work To Your Family
Obviously, this won’t apply to everyone, but if you know you have the kind of family who will instantly criticise you, then don’t show them your work. You’re just setting yourself up for heartbreak and conflict.
Obviously, criticism is necessary. Without criticism, how would we know what we did right and wrong in our last book?
But there is a huge difference between constructive criticism and outright cruelty – and not many people know the difference. They say “you have to be cruel to be kind”. Well….no you don’t. If you have nothing useful to say, then say nothing at all.
To avoid that potential source of pain, perhaps write under an alias. Hey, money is still money whether you write under your own name or someone else’s.
Join Writers Groups – Online Or Offline
The best way to find acceptance for what you do is to find like-minded people. For a writer, this would obviously be a writer’s group.
This is where the Internet shines because there are so many support groups of many different stripes.
Whether it’s Facebook groups or Twitter, there’s always somebody there to give you support, guidance, and advice.
The chances are whatever problems you may be experiencing right now, there are people in these groups also experiencing them (or have done in the past).
Conclusion
If you have identified with this article and you know you are suffering, then don’t accept it as a part of life and a part of being a creative. At the very least, see a doctor and get treatment. Then get started on that next big novel that will make you millions and get you a movie deal.
I’ll see you on the evening talk show circuit!
Has depression ever affected your creative and writing life? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.
An incurable bibliophile with over 1,000 books, Mark is now rebranding himself as an independently-published author.
His first book, The Renegade Spy, is now out, with two more books due out before the end of 2017. You can follow him on Twitter @markoneill.
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1 2 Next »Understand that clinical depression has a biochemical basis. You can't talk yourself out of it. Get meds. Getting effective meds can take a long time, but it is worth the effort.
As my above comment, and you're right about getting the right meds, as many people seem to need to try different types.
Antares - I hope I didn't give the impression in the article that you can talk yourself out of depression. I agree that medication is essential. Without it, I would be dead today.
The point I was trying to make was that you also need to have a daily routine as well as finding your own coping mechanism. For me, that's walking the dog, getting enough sleep, laughing as much as possible, etc. That helps me tremendously.
But as I always say to people, everyone's depression is totally different, and every sufferer handles it in their own way. I can only speak for myself.
One suggestion in addition to the above. Long term depression (me!) leads to chemical changes in your brain which sustain the depressive state as "normal." When anxiety is thrown into this brew, it can be crippling. Consult a psychiatrist for medication. Seriously. Some people say anti-depressants cripple their creativity. Fortunately, that hasn't been my experience. If it's yours you must consider other alternatives. But make no mistake, depression can be life-threatening, and it certainly detracts from the quality of life. Seek professional help for depression. And don't listen to people who tell you to be strong. Every second you endure an attack of anxiety or depression and continue to function you are being stronger than most people know, simply to put one foot in front of the other and continue functioning.
Thanks for sharing, Tom. As someone who doesn't suffer from depression but studied clinical psychology, I agree with you that for some people, depression is caused by a chemical imbalance which absolutely benefits from medication. As you say, there are side effects. I wrote about this in my novel, Delirium, and it's absolutely an individual case-by-case situation, so people should consult a medical professional regardless - and then make decisions on management.
I totally agree. Depression IS a crippling condition, and medication & seeing a psychiatrist is absolutely essential. But in my experience, medication and seeing a doctor only takes you so far. Despite what they may think, doctors are not God and are not infallible.
So it is also up to the sufferer to also find some other ways of getting through the day. For me, that's writing, sleeping, spending quality time with the dog, and with my wife when she comes home from work. Oh and laughing. As the saying goes, laughter is the best medicine. Watch Monty Python ;-)
Hi - I have chronic depression and can honestly say that writing for myself has saved my quality of life and kept me breathing.
I'm one of those who can't be labelled as bi-polar as my swings aren't too drastic, but there is a cycle and that was the hardest part of getting diagnosed, as I believe these go back to when I was 12, or even younger than that.
I didn't start on anti-depressants until 2001, but I've been on various drugs and dosages ever since and this keeps me stable and able to function pretty well. But it didn't help me to overcome the effects of the sources and triggers for depression. That was put down to my falling, almost by accident into an online 'pen and paper' fantasy roleplay community in 2005 after my most spectacular breakdown that led to my retiring early. I loved writing and developing characters and backstories for them and rediscovered poetry (which I hated at school) because I played a bard.
Since then I've written 3 novels (literary fiction, fantasy memoir and dark fantasy) which I self-published. I also provide author services and typesetting for print or eBook and cover and book trailer design.
Learning to live with depression has been the making of me - literally. Writing is now my life and I wouldn't have it any other way, even on days when I'm feeling low and knackered. :-D
Thanks for sharing, Jan. It is a regular part of life for many creatives and learning to live with it, embrace it and make it part of the process is so important.
I totally resonated with your last paragraph Jan - "Learning to live with depression has been the making of me – literally". Exactly the same with me. Since my initial breakdown in 2002, I have changed into an entirely different person - some of it good, some of it bad. But the depression has made me into the person I am today. Ironically I think I don't think I want to go back to the old me. I hated the old me. The new me is more assertive, more wary of people and their motives, but best of all, my writing has improved by leaps and bounds! ;-)
I was diagnosed with depression about this time last year ( due more or less to being bullied by my then manager) I got so that i was fighting to keep my job, then one day I had an epiphany "Dude, why are you fighting so hard to keep a job you don't even like ?" Fast forward a year and I have a new job which is much less pressured and i'm ready to come off the pills
TBH the medication (I'm on 20mg Citalopram daily) only effected my creativity in the first week, where I was also warned to expect it to make my symptoms worse before it made them better, once I got beyond that it was fine
Okay so nit seems i was a bit optimistic in October and not in fact ready to come off the pills - Depression kicked my arse around Xmas, always a difficult time for me, but I kicked back and am now ready to come off the pills :)
This is an extremely informative article. I'm glad it was discussed. Many of us go through some form of depression as we create. I often wonder if it is simply part of the journey. One key point that you brought needs to be highlighted: Do not show work to your family. Wait until your work is finished. When it is leave your book on the kitchen table.
Good stuff. Thanks!
Hi,
My name is Jenny. I suffer with depression and I am a beginner writer. At the moment I write for a school newspaper. The stories I cover are pretty simple, yet I have a hard time focusing and figuring out how to word it. I really feel like I am putting the worst articles out there. I relate with this. One piece of advice someone gave me was when you are depressed give yourself extra time to work through it. Take 45 minutes to write, focus on the moment, then take a break. This advice is good as well. Thanks for your help.
There's these days when I just can't. When it screams at me, says that I'm not enough, not enough, nobody likes what I write. But sometimes I get these highs where I can't stop writing. And then after that, I look back, wonder how did I write such a piece of crap and then delete it all. It's quite tiring.
I call it the 'Point of Pointlessness', the cycle of depression when you're writing. It starts with an abundance of energy and enthusiasm. Then, after a while, it develops into anger and frustration, as every thought, scene, word becomes a pain. Eventually, there's hopelessness, as you feel everything you have written up to this point is meaningless and worthless. You feel it's pointless to even consider continuing. Lastly, there is the long break from your work, dust covering it. Until you find it again and think, "Hm, this really isn't so bad. Let me work on it a little", and the cycle continues.
I have been depressed my whole life, since I was 6. I find solace in solitude. I've already learned to keep my writing world away from friends and family. I honestly think that, as terrible depression is, it is what fuels the creative process of a writer. It can inspire just as much as it can be disheartening. And it's not just the case with writers. Any person involved in a creative field of creation will have already been or become depressed. Leonardo Davinci, Picasso, Mozart, Tessler; they all suffered from depression. Yet, look at what they have the world. I'm not saying embrace depression. I'm saying, it's a part of you. Use it as a tool, not a disability.
It seems that i can not write unless I'm down. It sucks. Bit at least I still have that option. Then by sharing my demons its like sending them away. For a bit at least.
What do you do if sales slump ,but get lots of positive feedback
Kinda depressed
Book marketing is part of the author life. Sales go up and down with seasons — and with the amount of marketing you do.
Tips here: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/marketing/