Wellbeing for Writers

By Jennifer Barraclough

A short practical guide about how to enjoy the journey to becoming a (self)published author, and how to cope with challenges such as lack of time for writing, lack of inspiration, negative criticism, and aversion to marketing. Jennifer's experience as an author of both fiction and non-fiction books, combined with many years of working with clients in various therapeutic settings, has given her a wide personal understanding of the psychology of writing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Overcliff Books
• Release date: Jun 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227253774

Jennifer Barraclough

Jennifer Barraclough was born and brought up in England, and practised as a medical doctor there for many years before moving to New Zealand with her husband. She has published both fiction and non-fiction books. Besides writing, her interests include animal welfare, choral singing and holistic health care. 

Book preview

Also by Jennifer Barraclough

NOVELS

You Yet Shall Die: a psychological mystery about family secrets and a long-ago crime

Three Novellas: Carmen’s Roses, Blue Moon for Bombers, The Windflower Vibration

Overdose

Fatal Feverfew

Unfaithful unto Death

NON-FICTION

Migraine and Me: A doctor’s experience of understanding and coping with migraine (coming in 2024)

Beautiful Vibrations: living through medical illness with Bach Flower remedies

Persons not Diseases

Focus on Healing

Enhancing Cancer Care

Cancer and Emotion

Across a Sea of Troubles

Geoffrey Guy’s War (edited, with David Guy)

Hughes Outline of Modern Psychiatry (later editions by David Gill)

INTRODUCTION

How can aspiring authors find fulfillment through their writing, and cope with challenges such as lack of time, lack of inspiration, rejection from publishers, negative reviews, and aversion to marketing?

This short guide will probably be most useful for people who are just beginning to write in their spare time, whether as an absorbing leisure interest or with the aim of becoming a professional author. Given talent, skill, patience and persistence, some will succeed in completing books of good quality and having them published. With appropriate marketing combined with luck, they will be rewarded with good sales. But others come to feel that they have set out on a long and lonely road, fall by the wayside or reach a dead end.

I have enjoyed writing since early childhood. During the course of my previous careers in psychological medicine, life coaching and Bach flower therapy I wrote and edited both non-fiction books and novels, some traditionally published and others self-published. I also worked with a number of other writers as patients and clients. So, over the years I learned a lot about how to maximize the satisfactions of writing and minimize the frustrations.

This book focuses on psychological aspects of authorship. It also includes some basic information about practical topics such as writing techniques, publishing options, and methods of marketing, but I am not an expert on these and have made no attempt to cover them in detail.  

Writers are individualists. The views expressed here have grown out of my personal experience and will not resonate with everyone, but I hope you find some of them helpful.

1. WHY WRITE?

Leaving aside the hope of becoming a rich and famous author, there are two broad motives for writing: gaining satisfaction from the process itself, and wanting to influence readers. Ideally, these two aspects will be fairly equally balanced and well aligned with each other, though depending on your personality and attitudes you may consider one or the other more important. Writers with an introverted nature tend to value the personal rewards of the writing process, while more extravert types want to get their message out to the world and gain outside acknowledgement and approval.

Writing for yourself

The most fundamental and compelling motive for writing is for the sheer love of it. Some people feel they were born to write, in the same way that others know from early childhood that they were born to climb mountains, heal the sick, do scientific research or make music. Writing is their vocation, destiny or soul's purpose; the activity which brings them into the flow and if they are prevented from writing they will feel frustrated