Writing is a lonely profession. Not to say that all writers are alone, many of them have families and friends and social lives, but the act of writing is generally done by oneself.

Things can get difficult when it's just you against life, with nobody there to lean on or, you know, push you to do things like eat or stretch your back or whatever. And even if you have a big circle of support, it's often difficult to connect over things that matter most to you if none of them are also writers.

Thankfully much of my writing is broken up by my toddler so I take lots of breaks, but I have been known to hermit myself on the couch at 2am eating nothing but chocolate and drinking coffee and not only is that terrible for my posture but I just feel like shit if I do it too many nights in a row.

Physical self care is huge for any job or hobby or lifestyle that requires a lot of sitting or being stationary. I've done a lot of research on proper sitting, wrist position, how often to get up and stretch and walk around and whatnot. But of course sometimes I'm in the middle of a 5000 word sex scene and time slips away and before I know it I'm a slouched-to-shit pretzel in my chair.

So, the best thing a writer can do is to take breaks often to get up and move around. I've found a few yoga poses that are touted for strengthening posture and I like them for just stretching my back at the end of the day. Locust pose is when you lay in your stomach and lift everything off the ground except your pelvis. It's hard as fuck but it definitely works on the muscles that I find sore at the end of the day.

My favourite is the cobra pose. I don't know how to explain it, so here's a picture:

It feels SO fucking good on my back mmm. I am legitimately not a yoga person, I find it really difficult, but some of these stretches are just heavenly at the end of the day. And I know I should be more active. ^_^' As I'm sure every writer has had that thought at least once. You're not alone!

Back when my toddler was first walking she always wanted to stroll up and down the apartment hallway in our building so I'd follow her up and down the hall while writing on my phone. Logged lots of steps (and words) with that!

What do you do to try to stay active around writing time?

In addition to making sure we're moving around enough, food is important too. Eating enough of it, and eating the right kinds of it. It's important anyway, but when a person is stationary and needs their brain to be on all the time, eating like shit can really drag down both your body and your creative juices. And not in the good way.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about a Bailey's mocha and chocolate fudge to get in the mood for a sexy scene. But I can't do it on the reg, and I find that I get a crash later that definitely isn't productive. Greens, berries, avocados and fish are all really good brain food, and double a high energy boosters along with nuts and seeds. If you're a snacker like me, having these things on hand can be the difference between productive work time and procrastinating due to feeling like shit.

What are your favourite productivity-boosting snacks?

Burnout and mental exhaustion can play a huge part in getting anything done too. Even if you're not physically tired, sometimes stress can just tire out your creative brain and make for very unproductive writing time. This is very prevalent with people that have mentally taxing day jobs. My last office job was extremely mentally and emotionally demanding, and I barely got any writing done at all.

Stress relieving activities can be helpful for this, to try to aid in leaving work at work. Things that make you feel good, like spending time with family or pets, reading a book, drawing, meditation, crafting, working out, or anything that helps you deal with stress.

If you don't have something or feel like you're at a loss as to how to deal with you stress, maybe try a new hobby! Chat with other writers about what they do to decompress at the end of the day and maybe you'll get some ideas. I personally like crochet and picross. Those are my go-to zen activities when I need to give my brain a rest.

Have you ever felt writer burnout? How did you overcome it?

What do you do to try to manage your stress?

A more serious part of stress and writer burnout is mental health. Now full disclosure, you're aware I'm not a doctor. I also have never been diagnosed with a mental illness (with the exception of some issues during my pregnancy but that's not relevant here as it was gestational). But mental illness is an issue that affects many, many that I know and guaranteed many of you.

I talked above about how writing can be lonely. Communities like Wattpad and the #WriterCommunity on Twitter are excellent because it provides us with like-minded people to talk to, all over the world. I am so so grateful for all of the friends that I've made in the writer community, as there are some things that only writing and editing friends will understand about our work and our lives.

So, if you suffer from mental illness, be it depression or anxiety or anything on any spectrum, I'm not going to give you medical advice. I won't judge you based on what medications you do or do not take. I won't tell you how to fix your brain, or to just suck it up. All I'll tell you is that it's so so important to talk to people about how you're feeling, and communicate your needs.

The people that matter most will understand these things. And a support system is the most important thing you can build for yourself. And the more you are open about your feelings and thoughts the more you will raise awareness. And who knows? Maybe you'll inadvertently help someone that felt alone in feeling the same way.

I find writing to be extremely therapeutic for a lot of different things, and I know many writers that agree. But sometimes the anxieties are the roadblocks to the therapeutic thing and then it's hard to help without access to a favourite outlet.

This is where a buddy system is so so important. This could be as in depth as someone to coach you through an entire WIP, or just someone that pops in once a week to say hi and ask how you're doing.

In any case, I'll say it again: please reach out to people. Don't have anybody to talk to? PM me. Please just talk to someone about how you're feeling. <3 Don't let the negativity fester. And that's an order!

Do you have a writing buddy, or someone who checks in on you from time to time?

If not, are you looking for one? Post here, maybe you'll meet your match. :)

Your mission today, should you choose to accept it (and you'd better!) is to reach out to a Wattpad author that you've never interacted with before and say hello. You can post it on their wall, comment on a story of theirs, or send a DM. But just find a new person and say hello. Sometimes that small thing can make all the difference, for them and for you.