There’s a common belief that, as a freelance business writer, you have to be a slave to the clock.  You don’t get weekends, evenings, holidays, or even sick days.  You have to be ready to grab that keyboard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to meet a customer’s requested deadline.  This common belief is correct, I’m sad to say.  You do have to be constantly ready to hop on a new deadline, and it can lead to the dreaded writer’s burn out.  So, what do you do to take care of yourself as a writer?  You, well, take care of yourself, obviously.

What self-care means as a writer

Understanding what self-care means as a writer is critical to making sure that you are ready to put it into action.  As writers, self-care means that you have to protect yourself as a writer to keep yourself in top working order.

For some, taking care of yourself as an individual will automatically fuel your creative energies as a writer.  However, for most of us, we have to focus on self-care specifically designed for business writers.  As you can probably guess, it’s going to have to do with writing.  What a shocker!

Examples of writer-oriented self-care

If you have no idea where to start with self-care for writers, here are some customizable options to lead you in the right direction:

• Ditch the business, write for fun: Whether it’s a dialogue scene, a short story, a poem, or just a few random paragraphs, chase that little loop of writing that’s been spiralling around in the back of your head for the last couple days/weeks/years. It’ll feel so good to get it out on paper, no matter how first-draft-y it is.
• Write some fanfiction: Yes, seriously.  A lot of writers get their start this way, so don’t go getting shifty and saying that you “don’t do” fanfiction.  Get back to your writing roots and remember why you started this crazy profession in the first place!  It’ll help kick-start those creative juices (fanfiction-related or otherwise) before you know it.
• Participate in a critiquing group: Critiquing has a lot of pros (as well as a few cons) to it.  If you’ve lost your mojo as a writer and want to practice some writer’s self-care, go ahead and participate in a critiquing group.  It can help you see that, yes, you are a real writer and that you do, in fact, have something to say about it.

Why self-care matters

You work long days, with rude customers, and you write content about which you aren’t really passionate.  No matter how much you love writing, you need to practice some self-care with that writing skill.  Remind yourself why you love writing and let it run free.  You’ll feel so much better afterward, and your writing muscle will feel stronger than ever.

Good thing, too.  You’ve got deadlines to meet, customers to deal with, and money to make.  Grab that keyboard and get back to work!

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