Everything Is Awful and I’m Not Okay: questions to ask before giving up
Are you hydrated? If not, have a glass of water.
Have you eaten in the past three hours? If not, get some food — something with protein, not just simple carbs. Perhaps some nuts or hummus?
Have you showered in the past day? If not, take a shower right now.
If daytime: are you dressed? If not, put on clean clothes that aren’t pajamas. Give yourself permission to wear something special, whether it’s a funny t-shirt or a pretty dress.
If nighttime: are you sleepy and fatigued but resisting going to sleep? Put on pajamas, make yourself cozy in bed with a teddy bear and the sound of falling rain, and close your eyes for fifteen minutes — no electronic screens allowed. If you’re still awake after that, you can get up again; no pressure.
Have you stretched your legs in the past day? If not, do so right now. If you don’t have the spoons for a run or trip to the gym, just walk around the block, then keep walking as long as you please. If the weather’s crap, drive to a big box store (e.g. Target) and go on a brisk walk through the aisles you normally skip.
Have you said something nice to someone in the past day? Do so, whether online or in person. Make it genuine; wait until you see something really wonderful about someone, and tell them about it.
Have you moved your body to music in the past day? If not, do so — jog for the length of an EDM song at your favorite BPM, or just dance around the room for the length of an upbeat song.
Have you cuddled a living being in the past two days? If not, do so. Don’t be afraid to ask for hugs from friends or friends’ pets. Most of them will enjoy the cuddles too; you’re not imposing on them.
Do you feel ineffective? Pause right now and get something small completed, whether it’s responding to an e-mail, loading up the dishwasher, or packing your gym bag for your next trip. Good job!
Do you feel unattractive? Take a goddamn selfie. Your friends will remind you how great you look, and you’ll fight society’s restrictions on what beauty can look like.
Do you feel paralyzed by indecision? Give yourself ten minutes to sit back and figure out a game plan for the day. If a particular decision or problem is still being a roadblock, simply set it aside for now, and pick something else that seems doable. Right now, the important part is to break through that stasis, even if it means doing something trivial.
Have you seen a therapist in the past few days? If not, hang on until your next therapy visit and talk through things then.
Have you been over-exerting yourself lately — physically, emotionally, socially, or intellectually? That can take a toll that lingers for days. Give yourself a break in that area, whether it’s physical rest, taking time alone, or relaxing with some silly entertainment.
Have you changed any of your medications in the past couple of weeks, including skipped doses or a change in generic prescription brand? That may be screwing with your head. Give things a few days, then talk to your doctor if it doesn’t settle down.
Have you waited a week? Sometimes our perception of life is skewed, and we can’t even tell that we’re not thinking clearly, and there’s no obvious external cause. It happens. Keep yourself going for a full week, whatever it takes, and see if you still feel the same way then.
You’ve made it this far, and you will make it through. You are stronger than you think.
This post is available as a downloadable one-page PDF here.
Some people have asked about making this into a poster or redistributing it. This post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: alteration and redistribution are welcome as long as you attribute my tumblr. For some background and FAQ about the post, see my follow-up post.
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Creative Writing Resources (Under Construction)
Writing Tools:
🐝 ✎ OneLook: Thesaurus
Use: Enter a word, phrase, description, or pattern above to find synonyms, related words, and more.
Good For: Can't think of a word but can describe what you want it to mean, enter that description and it will give you words associated. Enter: "strong wind" -> gale, storm, tempest, tornado, etc
Cost: Free
✎ Writing Realistic Injuries
Use: Seems kinda obvious, learning how to write proper and realistic injuries.
Good For: ...writing realistic injuries I guess? It's really helpful: minor injuries like emotional reactions, fainting, shock, broken bones, dislocated joints, burns, hostile environments, includes some normal ranges for things like blood pressure, pulse rate, body temperature. Also has accurate blood loss amounts and what is considered normal, severe and maximum and from what body part.
Cost: Free
✎ Charlotte Dillon: Information Links for Writers
Use: Information on everything!
Good For: Research for medicine during the Middle ages or learning about what phrases were used in the Old West. Castle terms, rigor mortis information, viking foodstuffs, supernatural lore, regency facts, Irish sayings, and even ancient gynecology facts (why? no idea but it must be useful for someone). This place has everything.
Cost: Free
✎ Color Names and Descriptions
Use: Self explanatory.
Good For: Find some nice names for black or orange without saying black or orange. Get my drift?
Cost: Free
✎ Writers Write: Traits
Use: Find traits for your characters
Good For: Negative, positive, ambivalent traits, you get the picture.
Cost: Free
✎ Writers Write: Body Language
Use: Body language descriptions
Good For: Micro-expressions, hand gestures, and posture.
Cost: Free
🐝 ✎ Describing Words
Use: Find words to describe things.
Good For: Want to describe a tree? Enter tree and the site will generate descriptive phrases of a tree.
Cost: Free
🐝 ✎ Descriptionari
Use: Finding examples for creative inspiration.
Good For: writing prompts, descriptions of scenes, and help with describing a scene such a kiss or fight scene.
Cost: Free
Naming Generators:
🐝 ✎ Fantasy Name Generator
Use: Generating names, generating appearances, generating maps.
Good For: Generating names for people, places, things, planets, diseases, etc. Has a wide selection of name generators for all different ethnicities from African (varied by location) to Asia and Historic. Also includes fantasy and folklore name generators. It's my go to name generator for everything. You can also generate a description of a character or design your own map.
Cost: Free
✎ The Story Shack
Use: Generating names, creating your own generator, writing exercises.
Good For: Generating names, obviously. But also practicing writing through offered exercises.
Cost: Free
✎ RanGen
Use: Generating plots, appearances, archetypes, love interests, cities, worlds, items, and more.
Good For: What I just said previously. Very helpful.
Cost: Free
Images:
✎ Free Images for Commercial Use
Use: Pictures!
Good For: Whatever you want!
Cost: Free
Story Development & Plot:
$✎ E.A. Deverell Workshop & Worksheet Index
Use: Learn how to plot your stories and build your world.
Good For: Character building, world building, narration, plot formula, prompts, ideas, genres, development. You name it, Eva has it.
Cost: Paid Courses, Free Worksheets & Tips.
$✎ Story Planner
Use: Planning your story. Obvs.
Good For: People who need a little guidance with outlining and implementing before they jump into their story. Takes yous sentence by sentence building summaries and such.
Cost: Paid & Free Planners
Search Engines:
✎ Hiveword
Use: Search Engine!
Good For: Researching topics for your writing! This website has many links to articles that can expand your knowledge on writing. Also has name and location generator!
Cost: Free
Writing Software:
✎ Pages (iOS)
Use: Mobile Word Processor
Good For: Tagging folder system for organization, export documents, good for apple pencil, multiple formats & templates. Sync's w/ iCloud.
Cost: Free
$✎ Liquid Story Binder XE by Black Obelisk Software (Windows)
Use: Liquid Story Binder XE is a uniquely designed word processor for professional and aspiring authors, poets, and novelists. Writing software for those who require the editing ability of a commercial text editor as well as a document tracking system. It is for those who want the freedom to create, outline and revise but are tired of losing track of their work.
Good For: Keeping your writing in one place, organization, compiling into one document, no internet connection required.
Perks: Drop Box Compatible
Cost: $45.95 US, free trial, one payment.
🐝$✎ Scrivener (Mac, Windows, iOS)
Use: Scrivener is a word-processing program and outliner designed for authors. Scrivener provides a management system for documents, notes and metadata. This allows the user to organize notes, concepts, research, and whole documents for easy access and reference.
Good For: Keeping your writing in one place, organization, compiling into one document, no internet connection required.
Perks: Drop Box Compatible
Cost: $59.99 US (50.99 students & academics), $23.99 US for iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch, free trial, one payment
Creative Sources the 🐝 Uses:
Canva (I have pro)
Pinterest
Last Edit: 4/29/23
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