How to keep balance in your blogging and writing life

There are many occasions in the writer’s life and in the blogger’s life when things go wrong. This can take many forms:

• Writer’s (or blogger’s) block – when the words just will not come.
• Rejection from publishers – far too frequent I’m afraid; it’s a very competitive world.
• Your server goes down – or your computer crashes (ouch).
• You suffer an illness – who wants to write when your nose is running and the throat is as rough as sandpaper.
• A family crisis suddenly slaps you in the face – family members can be very persuasive and persistent.
• Any number of crises, interruptions, problems or disasters can get in the way of your writing and blogging.

We’ve all had times like that. Lately for me it’s been a combination of demands on my time from others together with personal illness. On another occasion I have written about my BADDs (Beastly Awful Diabetic Days) and how they can slow down the writing process.

Let’s get practical. How does one keep balance in your writing and blogging life? Here are some simple suggestions I found work for me:

Keeping balance

1. Crises: let’s face it – dealing with a personal or family crisis needs to have top priority. Deal with it and then you can get back to the writing.
2. Writer’s block: do something else for a short while, like going for a walk, watching a movie, reading a book. Recharge the batteries and then get back to the writing.
3. Rejection: whether this is in the form of abusive comments or a rejection letter from a publisher, it still hurts. Get over it; they are rejecting your writing, not you.
4. Illness: give yourself some sick leave. You cannot be fully productive when you are ill. Pretending you can soldier on through the illness is counter-productive; it could worsen your condition or at best lengthen the condition. Take a break. Go to bed with a book.

Whatever you do, don’t be like me and become a grumpy old blogger. When things get on top of me, I can easily slip into a state of depression, and that makes me grumpy. In this I am not alone. Even professionals like Darren Rowse on ProBlogger must have grumpy days. He has written an excellent article called How Not to become a Grumpy Old Blogger. He takes a completely different approach to the one I’ve taken in this post, so it’s well worth reading.