Writing Through It

Writing Through It
Distractions and Depression is what I told you I would write about this week, and so I shall. Distraction & Depression could also be known as a big part of the suffering that comes from writer’s block. But there are many other things that can cause Writer’s Block (we’ve all been through it so I’m sure you know), so I’ll devote another blog to them later. (Look at that, two “writer’s Block”s that close together, not good for a writer. I HATE it when that happens!!)
My distractions are what I call the dreaded “but first” syndrome. You know, even though you know there’s writing to be done, “But First” you need to do something else. I suffer very badly from the “But First” syndrome. And there seems to be no cure! (That’s why I call it “dreaded.”)
Even though the “But First” syndrome is a distraction in itself, more distractions inevitably follow that thing I MUST get done first and so my writing time suffers! (You know how one thing leads to another?) The one and only way I am able to get past the “But First” syndrome is to make my writing the thing I must get done first! But you see, here I am today writing this blog before I get any writing done because “But First” I needed to get this done for Sunday’s publication. Never let it be said that I don’t make my deadlines. (Well, first blog excepted because the page had only just been deemed “Constructed.”) I just need a deadline on my current Work In Progress! That’s my Achilles Heel. I know I could have a self-imposed deadline, but those are so much easier to neglect than ones that are Imposed on me! I always meet those deadlines.
That said, distractions are much easier to deal with than Depression. Though many (who do not understand the illness, yes, it is a Real illness, though not the same as a Mental Illness) will tell a sufferer to “Just Get over It;” it’s not that easy. True depression is something that needs medical attention and is NOT something the sufferer can “just get over.”
I know because I have suffered from chemical depression since an injury I once received in an auto accident. With counseling and the prayer-felt desire to overcome, I found my way out of the darkness of depression in writing. After my prayers for happiness, I one day started writing “out of the blue” and discovered that when I am creating stories I am Happy! I had never read Romance and had Never had an interest in writing before that, but now I am a Romance author with a bright future in published novels!
I know the ways I battle Distraction and Depression won’t work for all of you, I’m sure. But the advice I’m offering here is that for distraction, to make writing the “But First” thing in your life that must be done daily, and if you have been diagnosed as a sufferer of Depression, to seek counseling and to sincerely ask for release of it from your higher being.
I know that I am not a medical professional, but these things are what have worked for me.
What about you? Do any of you suffer from the dreaded “But First” syndrome or Depression? What works for you?
That’s All She Wrote!