Drama: April 11, 2018 Issue [#8846]
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Drama


 This week: Writing When Stressed
  Edited by: NaNoKit Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

It's not always easy to write when you are stressed. But there are ways...

This week's Drama Newsletter is all about stress, its effects, and how to keep on writing.

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Word from our sponsor

ASIN: B01DSJSURY
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Letter from the editor

If you are anything like me, you have had times when you’ve felt rather stressed. Perhaps you are going through one of these times right now. I sympathise. Stress can be highly unpleasant and difficult to deal with.

When I am stressed, I have a whole lot running through my mind. That makes it almost impossible to sleep. I’ll be in my bed, going through all the things I need to do. Despite knowing that I cannot possibly do them all at once, they’re there, nudging me for my attention. I might go through internal lists, emails I need to send, compose entire mental letters if I happen to feel disgruntled with someone (though I’ll never send them in reality). The last time this happened I was still awake five and a half hours after I climbed into bed!

A lack of sleep, in turn, can lead to us feeling as though we have zero energy. That doesn’t help us get done what we need to do (or feel we need to do), which can, in turn, make us feel even more stressed than we were in the first place. That can lead to other physical symptoms – either a lack of appetite (or the opposite), headaches, muscle tension... A couple of years ago I suddenly had a rather irritating eye twitch. That definitely didn’t help my mood.

It can also make us experience something very close to a writer’s block. If you have some or all of the above going on, it’s not easy to sit down and focus on a story or a poem or the next step in a novel. Stressful thoughts keep on intruding. Whatever is causing the stress tends to have an overwhelming grip on my mind, nudging characters and poetic word play to the side. If, then, writing doesn’t happen after a while, or doesn’t happen the way I want it to, I end up putting aside my notebook or closing my blank Word document.

Yet, writing is a wonderful way of getting things out of your system. It can feel like a release. You may not feel capable of writing what you wanted to, but what about writing something completely different?

I love my blog for this. My blog is my personal space. Anything can happen in there. I can vent, rant, write out those lists... whatever I feel like. My blogging doesn’t need to be perfect. I can write as freely as I like. It is also handy that you can set your blog itself, or individual entries, to whatever privacy setting suits you. I have my blog set to registered authors and above as standard, but there have been times when I set an individual entry to for my eyes only as I simply needed to get my feelings out and didn’t necessarily think that others needed to read about them.

I also have poetry in my portfolio that is rather moody. They weren’t what I had planned on writing, but again, getting my feelings out was helpful. And some of them, looking back, aren’t bad! It’s okay to be angry, it’s okay to be hurt, it’s okay to be frustrated. It’s okay to put that into words.

Other times, I have looked around contests, especially those with daily challenges, to see if there was a prompt that inspired me. If anything struck me, I had a go at it. Some items didn’t turn out as I wanted them to, but sometimes that’s okay. And with daily challenges, if you truly feel unhappy about an item it doesn’t have to stay in your portfolio for long. The whole purpose is to write and see what happens, to try take your mind off stressful events for a while. Again, I have found that some items written during those times are actually a lot better than I thought, which is nice.

If you are feeling stressed right now, I hope that it passes soon. I’m coming up to having to write my final assignment for the first year of my Master’s degree, and am beginning to feel the tension. The thing to keep in mind is that it will pass. Until then, let’s try to keep on writing.

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Editor's Picks

Some daily contests to inspire you:

FORUM
The Writer's Cramp Open in new Window. (13+)
Write the best poem or story in 24 hours or less and win 10K GPS!
#333655 by Sophurky Author IconMail Icon


FORUM
The Daily Poem Open in new Window. (13+)
A Week of Poetic Craziness
#2133562 by JayNaNoOhNo Author IconMail Icon


FORUM
SCREAMS!!! Open in new Window. (GC)
A Terrifying Contest Of Horror And Three Time Quill Award Winner!
#2020439 by Lilli 🧿 ☕ Author IconMail Icon


Daily Flash Fiction Challenge Open in new Window. (13+)
Enter your story of 300 words or less.
#896794 by Arakun the twisted raccoon Author IconMail Icon


Other contests you might enjoy:

 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1341392 by Not Available.


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2083535 by Not Available.


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2085951 by Not Available.


FORUM
No Dialogue Contest-CLOSED Open in new Window. (E)
Write a story containing no dialogue, in 700 words or less.
#2079495 by QPdoll is Grateful Author IconMail Icon


And don't forget:

 
SURVEY
Quotation Inspiration: Official Contest Open in new Window. (ASR)
Use the quote provided to write a story and win big prizes!
#1207944 by Writing.Com Support Author IconMail Icon




 
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Ask & Answer

The Drama Newsletter Team welcomes any and all questions, suggestions, thoughts and feedback, so please don't hesitate to write in! *Smile*

Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,

The Drama Newsletter Team


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