The Most Important Writing Resource: You

A new local bookstore, Purple Fern Books, has a lovely display of my books.

This week at the SFF Seven we're asking: What is the most useful resource you have for writing?

Usually with this sort of topic, we talk about reference materials or computer programs. I think this time I'll riff on last week's topic, which included an array of really good advice on self-care and avoiding burnout. I'm thinking about this because one of my Unpopular Opinions is that writers really don't need Stuff. It's one of the lowest overhead creative enterprises there is. Yeah, okay, to submit or publish work, a writer needs access to a computer at some point. That's the world we live in. But no writer actually NEEDS a fancy program or reference books or, or, or...

There are only two necessary resources for writing: a way to put the words down and ourselves.

I mention this because, in our quest for great tools, we tend to forget that WE are the critical component in the equation, the limiting reagent in the magical, chemical reaction that is bringing a book into the world. And yet we don't always treat ourselves as the treasure we are. Imagine if you had a laptop as expensive as the single-use body and brain you were gifted with. How much would you baby that laptop? Do you treat yourself that well?

I think my most useful resource is a rested body and quiet mind. Do I always go the lengths I should to make sure I'm running at top operating condition? Not always - but I try. I often get in bed around 8 or 8:30pm, if I'm sleepy enough, because getting plenty of sleep is key for my ability to sustainably create. Do people sometimes think I'm weird and crazy for doing that? Yep. Do I care? Nope. It's easy to let other people push and pull us to suit their ideas of how we should be, but we are the only ones who know what we truly need. Treat yourself as that expensive, delicate, and precious resource that is most important for your writing and see what happens. 

Photo Credit: Pexels

As the release of my debut, A Realm of Ash and Shadow, draws near, there are three things I’ve learned over this past year that I’d love to share with other authors at the same stage of this journey as I am.

3 Things I Learned as a Debut Author

Learn to Slow Down

You’re going to be pushed and pulled in many directions. It’s inevitable. But you need to learn how to slow down. You can take time for yourself and recharge in the ways that recharge you best. Sometimes that’s self-care; other times, that’s losing yourself while drafting another book.

For me, it’s Saturdays on the couch with a book or binge-watching a show with my husband. Maybe for you, it’s Tuesday nights on Fortnite, or it’s Thursday mornings at Target.

Whatever it is, slow down and relish in the peace of it.

Embrace Rejection

Often, writers believe that once you sign with an agent or sell your book and you’re finally, FINALLY, being published, the rejections just… end. They don’t. They keep coming, and staying positive can be hard when you’re constantly being told no. Or when you’ve put in so much effort to market your debut, and you don’t make any lists. Or when you host a book event with twenty empty seats.

Or when negative reviews inevitably come in, and it feels like a personal attack.

I remember the first one-star review I ever received on my debut A Realm of Ash and Shadow. My chest felt tight, and my cheeks were hot. It was brutal. But I let it hurt, leaned on my husband and writer friends, and then I… got over it.

Not everyone will love your book, and it’s best to accept that sooner rather than later.

Create A Routine

Amidst all the hecticness of debuting, you will want to create a routine. Currently, I’m fortunate enough to freelance part-time while I focus on my career as an author. But it wasn’t always like this for me. Before I cut back on my client work, I was working full-time, drafting a sequel, and going through the entire pre-publication process for my debut.

It was so incredibly draining that I had to make cuts somewhere.

So, I cut back on my client work and forced myself into a routine that looked like this:

Morning:

Before I even start my working day, I enjoy some me-time! I take a long walk with my dog, brew coffee, and scroll on social media. Then, I dive into client work. I spend about three hours doing as much as I can to get all of my client work finished because I can’t focus on debuting or drafting if I have other deadlines looming over me.

Midday:

I always, always, try to remember to eat lunch. Sometimes I think I’m a workaholic, and I can sustain myself on iced coffee. It’s not good for me. (It’s not good for anyone, really.) Then, after lunch, I start working on all things debut. This looks like answering emails, creating social media graphics, calling indie bookstores to see if they’ll stock my book, etc. I also focus on building my author platform. So much goes into debuting that it’s hard to keep up.

Afternoon:

Once I’ve done everything on my schedule for my debut, it’s time to sprint! I most look forward to this part of my day because I love drafting and working on my craft.

All that to say, not every day goes perfectly. Sometimes there are fires I have to put out for my clients, and it cuts into the time I’ve allotted to draft. Sometimes I end up deviating from my routine altogether. But I always go back to my routine because it allows me to set boundaries and focus on what’s most important during those time frames instead of stressing about everything all the time.

Compartmentalizing is the best!

All this to say… you can and will survive your debut year as an author!

I hope these three things I learned as a debut author are helpful. Do you have any tips for debuting? I’d love to hear them! Feel free to comment below or come let me know over on Instagram @laraonfire.

Lara Buckheit is the author of A Realm of Ash and Shadow: https://books2read.com/aroaas. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Wilmington University, is a 2021 WriteMentor Mentee, an avid writer (and reader) of spice, and one time she met Taylor Swift's dad. She started writing at a very young age, mostly fanfiction centered around women with swords and men with devilish grins. And she hasn't stopped since. When not writing, Lara can be found drinking tea, hustling for her day job, and reading from her endless TBR pile. Lara currently lives in Charlottesville, VA, with her husband, dog, and thirteen houseplants named after fictional characters.

You Need More than One Bucket to Fill a Well

'Where I get inspiration', 'filling the well' and all the other euphemisms we use to encompass what really amounts to self-care is a tricky devil. I mean, do you ever have discontent rolling from your gut to heart and back again, but the wine and the bath bombs that did the trick yesterday don't put a dent in it today? Or is it just me pacing my house like a caged lion?

I'm guessing that answer is no. Especially not now. We're all looking for ways to self-soothe. It's a skill we're supposed to pick up in the transition from child to adulthood, but rarely do in healthy ways. This culture isn't big on it. It doesn't help that what makes us feel empty and depleted is often an incredibly fast-moving target.

What to do, then?

Multiple weapons, my friend. Multiple weapons. Some days, all you need to restore your soul is an exquisite piece of chocolate. Or a meal made by someone who cares about you. A piece of poetry or art that steals your breath. A drive (where you don't get out of the car) just to see what's over that hill or around that bend over there. Music. Movement - never underestimate the power of dancing like a goober to music you love when no one else is home. Go for a walk - just wear your mask. Learn something new. It doesn't have to be weighty or even germane. I've watched a dog training show on Youtube, for heaven's sake. I don't have dogs. Can't have dogs, more's the pity, and so the chance that I would EVAR use this is . . . well hell . . . now it's going in a story. Right now, a thunderstorm is doing the job for me. Sitting outside, under good cover, never fear, exposed to negative ions and listening to the rain and not-so-distant rumble.

Also, I think it's important to say that it's okay to be spent. It's okay to be empty. There's power in that, too. It's a rich, fallow space to lie in while you take a breath without rushing to fill back up again. Nature abhors a vacuum. You will fill. It's legit to take a break before you rush to do and just be.

PS: New book out! The Blood Knife released yesterday as a part of a box set called Beyond Twilight that's available for the next three weeks. We have eleven vampire books in the collection. A portion of proceeds supports the Southern Ohio Wolf Sanctuary. The stories are based on how vampires might have changed in the years since Twilight first came out. Politics have changed. Social justice has changed. Vamps have had to adapt. We wrote a few of those stories. While we may be writing Team Edward, we're supporting Team Jacob.

Check us out.

The Abbreviated Manual for the Care and Feeding of Writers

Generalized instructions for keeping a writer alive, interacting with other humans with minimal snarling, reasonably happy, marginally sane, and writing (which feeds the first four conditions.)

If you love a writer:

1. Advocate for a room of the writer's own. Perfect world, this room of the writer's own is not shared space, but you know, you do what you can.
2. Ask the writer to declare office hours (this is a negotiation you participate in, because the hours have to work for you, too, in the interest of the next step.)
3. Stop talking to us while we're writing. Seriously. The house is only so big. You can find your missing thing yourself. This goes double for the refrigerator and pantry. Not everything can be in front. Move things. If you still can't find what you want, go to the store. No more interrupting writing time to ask how to find something. If the house is on fire or blood is being spilled, by all means interrupt. If you're leaving and want us to know, that's a yes from me, too, but your writer may disagree. Asking what your writer prefers belongs in the negotiation above.

If you are the writer:

1. Take responsibility for your own well-being. Creativity doesn't exist in a vacuum. It needs feeding as much as you do. To that end:
• Take your meds if you need 'em. See the MD if they aren't working.
• Drink water.
• Eat actual healthy food.
• Exercise.
2. Talk to your loved ones and your friends when you aren't writing. Help them find their things in your off hours if that's their love language. Part of caring for and feeding you means caring for and feeding the people you care about. (Yeah, I know the numbering has lost its damned mind - went into the HTML to fix and let's just say that didn't go well. It shouldn't be news to anyone that computers can't really count.)
3. Set office hours. Keep them. Enforce them from a place of love and compassion for the people and critters in your life. This is why I will always advocate for a writer having a door to shut, even if I don't have that, myself. Remember that 'No.' is a complete sentence.
4. Get out into nature once in a while to remind yourself you live in this world as well as the worlds of your stories.
5. Cultivate a hobby. Preferably one radically different than writing. Knitting. Gardening. Painting. Serial remodels. Whatever. You're looking for something to take you out of the frustrations inherent to writing and put you in different brain space. Bet your problem solving is speedier.
6. Find community. It's natural to talk about what we do, what we aspire to, and what we wish we could do. Our families may not be equipped to have those conversations. It isn't that they don't care, they just may not have the frame of reference that allows them to do anything more than smile and nod. So it's vital to find or create a community of fellow writers who can validate your experiences in a way family might want to, but can't.
7. Lighten up and don't take writing, yourself, or the care and feeding rules too seriously. Cause this is all about figuring out what works and what support you need from your nearest and dearest.