Hi friends. Remember when I wrote that post about when real life feels too hard to write? It was about exactly a year ago, and wow! The advice aged well, but boy do I feel like I was gloriously naive about how bad things would get!

I stand by everything I said there. But as things have gotten even more chaotic, I think we need even more precise advice. Think of this as a sort of triage for your creative process so you can keep from getting paralyzed.

Get enough magnesium.

I know. You’re looking at me like, “wtf? What does that have to do with writing?”

A lot, actually.

It’s estimated that up to 75% of Americans aren’t getting enough magnesium because, unlike some other minerals, most foods are not fortified with it. But magnesium is a huge deal for your body; it plays a role in over 300 biochemical functions.

Most importantly for writers, it is crucial for brain function, including working memory, neuroplasticity, and mood. You simply cannot think when you don’t have enough magnesium, and you’ll be cranky all the time.

I take a sleep supplement that has about 25% of my daily magnesium needs and spray my feet with magnesium spray every evening. I also really like the Trip drinks; one dose has about 66% of your daily value.

If you’re like, “Oh no, that’s too much,” don’t worry; it’s very hard to overdose on magnesium. You’ll pee the excess out unless if you have low kidney function. But if you’re worried about it, don’t hesitate to ask your doctor.

I also ensure I get plenty of protein through shakes and diet because protein is essential for brain function. You really have no idea how much better you can think when you’re getting enough protein.

Commit to one writing-related thing per day, with no set time limits.

One thing. Just one single thing. It could be brainstorming, plotting, outlining, active writing; wherever you are in your stages of writing. If you’re feeling very low, then make sure it’s something small: one paragraph, even.

The goal is to maintain forward momentum, even it’s nowhere near as much as you could do when you’re feeling steadier. You’ll often find that by telling yourself you only have to do one thing, you’ll get motivated and want to do a bit more.

For example, I needed to update the files for 9 Years Yearning and Pride Before a Fall so they could be released on Bookshop.org and Apple. I did that in about an hour, then pecked at my revisions for Poesy, then did a bit of outlining for Shadow and Sword.

I’m sure you’re claiming I am a hypocrite because I am working on multiple WIPs at a time. However, I’m not bouncing from world to world as many writers do when they’re juggling different stories. These have a continuous overarching plot, so knowing what happens next can improve my foreshadowing on my current project.

I needed a better roadmap for Shadow and Sword so that I could wrap up the final fixes for Poesy. Getting a tiny smidgeon of that done helped me formulate my battle plan for the rest of Poesy revisions.

Build predictability into your environment.

Humans crave predictability; we want to be able to guess what’s going to happen next in our environment. This frees up a lot of mental space for creative work because we’re not constantly scanning our space for cues. Instead, we can focus as much of our attention as possible on what we actually want to do, which is write.

Whether this is going to bed at a certain time, keeping everything in the same place, or throwing away trash so you have less things to look at, make it so that you don’t have to keep track of too many items around you.

My mental health improved a lot when I started going to regularly scheduled events, like horseback riding lessons and barn chores. These are things I can look forward to; I know what will happen every time I arrive and what I need to do when I get there. Over time, this has helped me feel steadier when weird things happen elsewhere.

Limit your choices to reduce mental clutter.

We like to tell ourselves that we love having choices upon choices. As someone who just had to sign up for new health insurance (ugh, America), I can tell you that is not true. Choice paralysis is very real.

Scrolling through dozens of plans made me panic. I had no idea which ones would be best for me and was overwhelmed by the different premiums, copays, etc.

So instead of trying to look at all the options, I looked at one singular thing: how much will my mental health services cost me per session? That’s the service I use most and that will have the largest impact on my expenditures.

I picked the one with consistent copay: no bullshit like “this much after hitting premium” or “30% coinsurance after premium limits” blah blah. Don’t care. No. Give me something consistent, something I can budget for, even if it’s a little more expensive.

I’m not saying to eliminate all choices from your life, but instead of scrolling through dozens of options for everything, limit yourself to just a handful. Narrow it down by eliminating all the ones you know you won’t want and focusing on the top three options.

The goal here is to reduce the brainpower you have to spend on choices throughout the day so that you can conserve what you do have for your writing.

Do this in your writing as well. Instead of speculating on dozens of plot options, go with the first or second one you consider. You can always change things later if you have to.

Safeguard your sleep.

There is nothing more important for your writing than to get high-quality sleep every night. I am an extremely light sleeper, and when I don’t get enough sleep, I can’t do anything at all. I’m useless – and mean.

So, over my years, I have developed a highly specific sleep routine that knocks me out every night. I’ll share it with you here, and you better not laugh.

• Brush my teeth and wash my face.
• Take a sleep multivitamin (I like this one; no this isn’t a paid promotion).
• Spray magnesium spray on the bottom of my feet.
• Turn on my box fan.
• Turn on my white noise machine (I have a looping one that stays on all night).
• Put on my weighted eye mask and silk night wrap for my hair.
• Cover up with two weighted blankets.
• Lie my head down on a cervical neck pillow.
• Picture scenes from my next books.

One important thing is that when I start worrying about something, I say something like this to myself:

Can you do anything about this right now? No. You’re in bed. The house isn’t on fire and there’s no emergency. You can deal with it tomorrow. Go to sleep.

I also remind myself that I really shouldn’t trust anything I worry about after 9 pm because the brain stops making good decisions around then.

Read for entertainment rather than edification.

Reading is, of course, very important for our continued growth as writers, but that doesn’t mean we need to make it feel like pulling our fingernails out (if you know you know) when we’re already having a hard time.

The goal here is forward momentum, not leaps and bounds progress. Maintaining a reading habit, even if it’s far less than we can achieve during less stressful periods of life.

I really like danmei novels. Are they teaching me much? Not really. The plots are ridiculous, the characters overwrought, the prose basic and repetitive. But I enjoy them, and it keeps my reading brain active.

Additionally, I make it a habit to read at least one full article a day that I find rather than just skimming the headline and scrolling past. It’s not a lot, but by maintaining that habit, I make it easier to push myself into full-length novels when I’m depressed and overwhelmed.

Ask yourself, “Is this actionable?”

“Is this actionable?” is one of the most important questions I have learned to ask myself, especially now that the Epstein files have become such a global discussion. I am a sexual assault survivor and simply can’t stomach the graphic details in the files without melting down.

I often delude myself into thinking that I need to know everything that’s going on in the world. And yes, I think it’s incredibly important to be politically informed because we all have a role to play in democracy.

But, there are things I cannot do anything about. I can’t force governments to take action on the Epstein files. I can’t stop a global market crash.

So when I see information, I ask myself what I, personally, can do with this information:

• Can I physically act on this, such as by calling my representatives, protesting, voting, boycotting?
• Can I protect myself through proactive means, like saving more money, building community, learning first aid, or practicing self-defense?
• Can I develop strong coping skills by processing this information?
• Can I share the information so others are aware?
• Can I contextualize it through political analysis or posts?
• Can I change someone’s mind by talking to them?
• Can I donate and encourage others to do so?
• Can I perform mutual aid?

And if I can’t do any of those, then it’s not actionable. I can disregard it. There’s only so much information I can hold in my brain and only so much I can do in the world. I don’t have to be the universal receptable of knowledge.

It’s okay not to know things and not to have an opinion on something I don’t know about. This isn’t a personal failure; it’s the practical limits of human memory and time.

Humans are not machines. There will be times when writing will be more difficult than others because of all sorts of things: life changes, political situations, health issues, seasonal stresses.

Much as capitalism will tell us otherwise, we cannot maintain the same pace 24/7 or 365 days a year. So the goal isn’t to force ourselves into perfect consistency, but to keep momentum toward our dreams. Sometimes that looks like writing a single paragraph. Sometimes it’s a whole chapter. And sometimes it’s just jotting down a single idea we have.

Life is brutal for most of us right now, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean we are any less passionate about our work. It means society is making it damn hard for us to keep going, which isn’t our fault.

Still, I think you’ll find that prioritizing your writing in whatever way you can will help keep you sane when the world seems to be falling apart at the seams.