A Dose of Hopeful Honesty

Full transparency: I have been really struggling this week ...

Mental health has been a part of my life for almost 20 years now and, although it has gotten easier to manage, it still makes some days, weeks, or even months harder than others. 

I am still in therapy, which has been helping a lot. I've been making breakthroughs - the kind that should feel purely positive because they allow change to happen and healing to move forward.

But, ironically, they don't always feel that way.

They often come with a wave of less comfortable emotions too - anything from feeling low to full-blown anger. All of these reactions are valid, but they can feel bigger and heavier than the celebratory moments. You just have to let yourself feel (and process) them.

That's what I have been doing ... but it isn't easy.

These low feelings tend to seep into other aspects of my life, making everything feel heavier than it actually is. Over time, that builds into a sense of overwhelm and burn out.

In my experience, these emotions move in cycles. I feel like my current cycle is starting to come to an end, which means I'm beginning to gain a sense of hope again.

That shift, combined with a conversation I had with an editing client recently about how overwhelmed we both felt when working on our own novels, got me thinking about developmental editing.

Because, whenever I sit down to edit my own story, I often feel frustrated and overwhelmed almost immediately - even when I follow all the usual advice:

• Set up a routine or habit
• Know what you're going to work on
• Break tasks into smaller pieces
• Switch format (paper vs screen)
• Change your environment
• Set at timer
• etc.

And, when I spoke to other clients, I realised they were experiencing the same thing.

Then, something clicked: many of us who felt this way were neurodivergent in some way. This may not be a correlation but was an interesting insight. 

So, I spent some time lookin into positive psychology to explore other approached that might help reduce that immediate sense of resistance. 

And out of that came something new.

Today, I'm creating a workbook designed to help writers - neurodivergent or not - work through developmental editing overwhelm, reconnect with their stories, and star making the progress they've been struggling to find.

If you are a writer sho finds developmental editing overwhelming, or know someone who does, it might be worth taking a look when its ready this weekend 🙂

Keep your eyes peeled for more news on my writing here and on my Instagram!