How to Nurture Your Mental Health as a Writer

by Ben Grant

Mental health is a state of psychological and social well-being in which a person realizes his abilities, effectively resists life's difficulties and stress, carries out productive conscious activities, and contributes to the development of society.

First of all, this is realized due to the stable, adequate functioning of the psyche, as well as the basic mental cognitive processes: memory, attention, thinking. 

How to raise and maintain your mental health?

Proper nutrition

I need to eat as needed. Our body receives the necessary nutrients and energy from food. The need for them depends on age, gender, lifestyle, health status, and many other factors.

The formula is simple: you need to eat as much as the body requires and expends.

Energy is spent on basic activity (breathing, digesting food, thinking, heart function, etc.). The average daily energy requirement is 2,000 kcal for women and 2,600 kcal for men.

Eat balanced. In nutrition, it is important not only the energy received but also that it comes from different nutrients and the proportion of these substances is balanced. Each nutrient plays an important role in the body, and different product groups contain different basic substances, vitamins, and minerals.

Today, many are trying, for example, to reduce the number of carbohydrates consumed, which can cause a deficiency of some important nutrients. 

Eat varied. A varied and balanced menu should include products from different groups, but you need to vary products within groups. For example, different vegetables and fruits contain different and different quantities of vitamins and minerals. If you eat varied, you can get the necessary nutrients, the body will be more healthy and will work better.

Very often routine and habits become the cause of a uniform diet. The diet needs to be reviewed from time to time so that it is not the same all the time. Nutrition can turn out to be monotonous because a person consciously decided not to eat certain foods or he doesn’t like them. In this case, you need to carefully monitor that the necessary nutrients still come from other sources. 

Physical activity

In order for you to go write every day and not lose your skills, you need moderate to high-intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes a day; Physical activity lasting more than 60 minutes a day will bring additional benefits to their health.

Manage your emotions

Remember all your successes. In fact, I think this method is the most effective. Retrieve at least three examples of your personal success. Remember something related to the current task and work.

Example: Instead of being nervous about your poorly written text, better remember that you have achieved success in the past, and how the publication liked your article, book, etc.

Interestingly, according to research, this strategy works especially well in women. The next time you feel that you are losing control of your emotions, remind yourself of the things that you are proud of in your life.

Know your weaknesses

Each of us has our own emotional weaknesses, our own “vulnerabilities”. Some react violently even to light criticism or become furious when they think that they are laughing at them. Others cannot stand it when they reject their ideas. Still, others are inferior, driven by guilt, desire to please, or fear of scandal.

Knowing your weaknesses makes it easier for you to recognize when the other side is aiming at them. This, in turn, allows you to control your natural response. If you do not like being reproached for being disorganized, and you are aware of this, then you can prepare in advance for a meeting with such accusations. If someone claims that you are scattering, just brush aside his words.

If you have been verbally attacked because of poorly written text, try to look at your opponent as a person who simply does not know how to behave. Believe me, it will be easier.

Learn to smile

Be grateful for everything that is in your life It is simply amazing what a positive effect we get when we start saying "Thank you!" for everything that is in our life. Thanks for the gift of life. Thanks for the delicious food. Thanks for the smiles of relatives. It is in your power to make a supernatural and very powerful change in your life for the better, and I urge you to do it right now: Be grateful even for the most seemingly negative situations that arise in your life. Sickness, pain, and loss are some of the most powerful teachers we have at our disposal. They point us to our mistakes and wrong choices. They show in which direction we should grow and work on ourselves. They show the power that is within us. And besides, such negative things remind us how incredibly expensive and valuable our life is.

Change the mindset

●      Learn how to engage in internal dialogue

Tell yourself, “I can do better,” or “Next time I will do better,” or something like that. According to a recent study, this is an effective way to increase productivity and begin to make more efforts to solve the problem.

The main thing is to believe what you say. After all, this is not magic, but hard work on oneself

●      Turn negative thoughts into neutral ones

Do not torture yourself in trying to make bad good in a second. Go towards it gradually. 

How to stop being afraid of failure

●      Remember: failure means you do not standstill

Mistakes are not made by one who does nothing. If you fail, this is a sure sign of movement toward the goal.

●      Think of failure as an experience that helps you become better

Most likely, you will not make the mistake again. You will find your weaknesses and the next time you will do it differently. What if it fails again? So, you will gain experience again. And so on until you reach what you are going to.

Adhering to all of the above tips, you can succeed not only in writing books as an author but also in life.

Ben Grant finished his study last year but is already a true expert when it comes to presenting a text in a creative and understandable manner. Now he’s a writer for TropicHealthClub. Ben is thirsty for knowledge and is always on the lookout for tips to share with his readers.

Swati Teerdhala On Finding Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

Today’s guest for the WHAT is Swati Teerdhala. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BS in finance and BA in history, she tumbled into the marketing side of the technology industry. She’s passionate about many things, including how to make a proper cup of tea, the right ratio of curd to crust in a lemon tart, and diverse representation in the stories we tell. The Tiger at Midnight, her debut novel is now out in paperback. The sequel in The Tiger At Midnight series, The Archer At Dawn will be published in May 2020. She currently lives in New York City. You can visit her online at www.swatiteerdhala.com.

 Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

The first spark of inspiration for THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT trilogy came from a visit to an ancient fort on a vacation I took a number of years ago. I was wandering the Fort, imagining the lives of the people who lived there, when I came to an open window. I looked down and I thought to myself, “what sight would make a hardened soldier absolutely stop in their tracks?”  Immediately the answer came to me. A girl. And that was the inspiration for my trilogy–and the first scene in the first book. 

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it? 

I built the plot slowly after figuring out the kind of story I wanted to tell and the characters. Character was more important than anything and it informed the entire plot. Once I had Kunal and Esha, two people on opposite sides of a war-torn land and conflict, the rest of the plot fell into place fairly organically. 

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to pap 

Yes! All the time. I think there is this nebulous, unformed space between the plot in your mind and the plot on the page where things can shift drastically. Sometimes you might have an idea that seems utterly brilliant in your mind but the minute you write it down all you can see are its glaring problems. There is something about seeing ideas on paper that changes how you receive them. So, I’ve definitely thought through an incredible twist or scene only to have it completely transform as I get it on paper and see that it needs something else or something more to truly be brought to life.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by? 

It’s a mix for me. In the beginning of my writing, ideas flew at me like a hail storm. As I’ve gotten deeper into my writing career and have more deadlines, it can be harder. But it’s funny how inspiration can come from the smallest thing. I heard just a snippet of music the other day that invoked an entire scene in my head. It wasn’t a story idea, but it was enough of a wisp of one that I could grasp it and hold onto it. One day, that wisp will become something bigger. And that’s become more of my process nowadays. Layering and layering until I have the right story.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

This is something I’m still trying to figure out! Usually, it’s whichever story is grabbing me at the moment. There’s always one idea or concept that refuses to let go and demands to be heard. And it works. I try to typically have a few stories simmering on different temperatures at all times. Some take shorter, some take longer, but all of them will eventually come out fully cooked.

 I have 5 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. I recently added two Dalmatian puppies to the mix. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

I don’t have a writing buddy other than my tea mug, which I use faithfully every day. I do love to write in tandem with a friend as an accountability buddy. On days when writing is hard, it can be really encouraging to have a buddy to “sprint” with and to talk to about your work.

Top 5 Apps for Writers That Help You Increase Your Productivity

by Tiffany Porter

The life of a writer is complex and exciting at the same time. On the one hand, you get paid for what you love to do more than anything, but on the other hand, being a creative creature, you never know when inspiration will evaporate. When writing is work, downtime is unacceptable. And downtime occurs when we feel insufficiently productive, inspired, and motivated because we did not properly plan the process of the project as a whole, this day or this week.

In this article, we propose fixing this situation with apps for productivity. We have compiled a list of the top five solutions that will help you always stay in the working rhythm with a huge supply of inspiration inside.

Trello

Trello is one of the leading applications in the project and workflow management market. Your success also largely depends on the organization of the workflow, so try this app. You can list all your current projects, set tasks, and write notes in one panel.  What is significant is that you can take notes for co-authors if you work in a team. Most likely your clients are also working with this application, so think about learning this tool.

Prompt! This app is also great for managing your personal tasks, and increase productivity in personal matters too. No one obliges you to use Trello only as a working tool. Plan all aspects of your life with this application and you will feel the clarity in your head. And clarity in the head means more inspiration and creative ideas for work!

FreshBooks

If you are a beginner freelancer, you have only one customer and you work through UpWork, for example, you don’t need any accounting software for now. Firstly, it’s quite realistic to keep in mind your mutual settlements with one customer, and secondly, UpWork already has a built-in billing function.

However, if you are a bird of free flight, you have ten customers, for each of whom you discussed individual conditions for cooperation, then congratulations, now you are not only a writer but also an accountant. Fortunately, Fresh Books will help our creative and humanitarian brains cope with numbers and not make mistakes.

This accounting program will help you bill your customers simply and correctly. Most freelancers use this accounting software, as it is easy to use and effective in terms of accounting. Sooner or later you will have to deal with accounting, but it is better to start preparing for this in time. By the way, all packages have an affordable price, which makes the application so attractive.

WordCounter

This is a must-have app for all newbies! Everyone who works with text often encounters the involuntary repetition of words. This online writing tools for authors will help you quickly identify words that are repeated and make your text diverse. You just need to insert your text in a special block and the app will show all the words that are most often used in the text. Accordingly, you need to replace them.

By the way, this application can also successfully work as a determinant of keyword density. If you work with texts in order to increase the position of pages in search results, it is necessary to understand which word or phrases are most often used in your text.

In addition, excessive use of a particular phrase can be rated as spam by search engines. Therefore, the golden mean between the readability and beauty of your text, SEO fullness, usefulness, and sense is important here. This application helps to balance and improve your intuitive skills in using the right linguistic constructs in the right places.

Calming Soft Music

Do you know this feeling when you know what you are going to write about, but you just can’t catch the necessary wave and get to work? This is especially true for those who voluntarily (or involuntarily, as the last few months) work from home, surrounded by family, children, pets, and pots rattling in the kitchen. At such moments, the ability to concentrate and gather all your thoughts (and strength) into a fist is critical.

We recommend using the Calming Soft Music application to disconnect from external noise, calm down, feel for a foothold, focus on the task, and feel how thoughts begin to fill your head.

You can ask a reasonable question - why not use iTunes or YouTube in the background? Well, of course, the choice is yours. Calming Soft Music has already collected melodies that will help you concentrate and start writing.

Prompt! Use these melodies for yoga, Pilates, and spiritual practices. This is the perfect two-in-one app for anyone looking for writer's inspiration within themselves

The Brainstormer

All that we see around us is an endless space for generating new ideas for your books and articles. All you need to do is just grab one of them by the tail. The Brainstormer article writer tool invites you to generate an idea for your new story with a single click.

This app will let you come up with anything. For example, you can work out ideas for a character, choose the most suitable genre, and even generate unrealistic ideas for a science fiction story. The application is available for iOS and Android, and the prices are just ridiculous - about one or two dollars.

Important note! This is certainly a useful application, but do not let it make too many decisions in your place. Remember that this is just an algorithm that combines data in a random order, and you are a creative person who is able to come up with a lot of original things with your own mind. Use this application if you feel the creative block and you need the first push, and start creating yourself further.

Conclusion

Of course, it is possible to continue the list of useful online writing tools for a very long time. We tried to collect the most useful solutions in the modern technology market. Each of the applications that we have listed is designed to solve your specific problem, but in combination, they can make you a much more successful, organized, and inspired writer. Try it all at once and see for yourself!

Tiffany Porter has been working as a Chief Writer at Online Writers Rating reviewing variety of writing services websites. She is a professional writing expert on such topics as digital marketing, blogging, design.  She also likes traveling and speaks German and French.