Summary

The article reflects on the emotional rollercoaster of a writer's life, characterized by fluctuating moods and the mental challenges inherent in the profession.

Abstract

The author, P.G. Barnett, candidly discusses the volatile emotional landscape that writers often navigate. From the highs of creative inspiration to the lows of self-doubt and rejection, Barnett describes the typical writer's journey as one filled with extreme highs and lows, akin to the mercurial nature of their moods. Despite these challenges, writers find a way to persevere, often through the love of writing itself. The article emphasizes the importance of mental resilience in the face of constant setbacks and the internal battle to maintain a positive outlook on one's craft.

Opinions

Writers experience a wide range of emotional states, from euphoria to despair, which are intrinsic to their profession.
The journey of writing is as much a mental challenge as it is a creative one, with the former often overshadowing the latter.
The concept of "curation jail" is dismissed as an obstacle that can be overcome by writers who focus on their passion for writing rather than external validation.
The author believes that while the writer's life is fraught with emotional turmoil, there is a sense of normalcy in these fluctuations, and they are to be expected.
Barnett suggests that writers must learn to level-set their emotions and find a "middle ground" to cope with the highs and lows of their profession.
The article conveys that despite the pain of creative blocks and self-criticism, writers are resilient and capable of overcoming periods of "funkification."
The author posits that the profession of writing is primarily a mental game, requiring writers to manage their psychological state to navigate the defeats and rejections that come with the territory.
Barnett encourages writers to remember their past triumphs over adversity, which can serve as a guide for future struggles, even if each battle may not be easier than the last.

A Writer’s Life

Zany Crazy Wild And Wooly Mercurial Moods

Also known as a writer’s normal emotional state

This morning, as I stared at a ton of my drafts, I pondered which one I intended to polish up and set loose upon my unsuspecting reader base. Now, I’m willing to bet I’m a lot like the rest of you reader/writers. Typically I’ll have a title and some isolated ideas for a story jumping into the shallow end of my thoughts and attempting to cross the pool to the deep end.

Most of them go under and drown before they reach the other side. Then sometimes, a title and an idea will doggedly flail around until surprisingly, it not only makes it across but starts doing laps.

I stared at the title of this piece, wondering how much wine I’d had when I came up with it, but somehow it piqued my interest. I mean, come on. Stop to think about it for a second:

Zany Crazy Wild And Wooly Mercurial Moods

Also known as a writer’s normal emotional state

What’s not to love about a title and subtitle like that? I began to think about the message behind the title, and of course, my perspectives on a writer’s emotional state on this journey of ours. And yes, I realize over the years, my emotional state has been quite mercurial, my moods up and down, down further, down about as far as they can go, then up, up, up, up, up…only to come crashing down again.

Whew, how crazy is that? Well, for a writer, it ain’t crazy at all. It’s quite normal.

This morning, I was feeling pretty darned good about myself. Somehow along the way over these last few months or so, I’d found a way to put the F.U.N. back into my writing, and I was having a blast. Over the previous two months, I haven’t one time checked out how much money I was making on the Partner Program.

I’d finally gotten over the curation blues.

I’d finally slapped myself around and figured out curation jail can’t hold a writer down if the writer chooses to completely ignore it and just continues to do what we’re born to do, and that’s, of course, write.

And as I was taking a break with a cup of coffee early this morning, I thought to myself, “damn, this feels good. I’m having a blast.”

The immediately following moment, I told myself, “enjoy this while you can P.G. because you know it’s gonna change, and when you least expect it.”

And it will change. It’s the life of a writer, these ups and downs.

Some of us handle these mercurial shifts in our moods exceptionally well. A lot of us have been there, done that for so long we’ve learned how to level-set our butts and, for the most part, stay in the vaulted positive mental state known as middle ground.

But even a ton of us professionals will sometimes turn that corner and unexpectedly slam headfirst into a terrible state of funkification.

When it happens, we often manage to put that sucker in its place with a swift boot to its tookus. But sometimes we have to go to war with it, bring all of our internal wherewithal to beat it.

And then sometimes we lose and find ourselves in full retreat, curled up on the couch, mentally beating the hell out of ourselves trying to figure out WTF just happened.

These are the days, sometimes weeks, and for a lot of us even longer, where we hammer away at ourselves. We take huge potshots at our psyche, angrily chastising our writing, telling ourselves everything we write is nothing but a big stinking turd.

We silently agree with a complete lack of views, reads, and or creations, thinking, of course nobody’s going to read this shit, because that’s what it is, shit.

It’s a terribly painful experience when our mercurial moods plummet, but I’d be lying if I told you it never happens. Trust me on this folks, it does.

But take heart, there’s a lot to be said about floundering at the bottom of a well, knowing that one day, and it may take a bit of work, but one day we’ll be back at the top of the well. We’ll be back up there and feeling pretty damned good about ourselves and our writing. And we know, we can just feel it, when we do get there, we will write some simply fantastic shit.

Not only that, but we’ll remember what we had to do to get up from the bottom of that well. Doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be able to do it faster the next time it happens.

But we all need to find solace in the fact, we’ll know what to do about it when it does happen.

The life of a writer is tough as hell, but a shit ton of times, it’s not what we do, the physical act of writing that causes us the most grief. It’s how our moods constantly shift as we continuously face all the rejections, all the negativity associated with our profession.

I’m just going to come out here and say it. The profession of writing is specifically a mental game. It’s a mental game as we struggle with our creative processes. It’s a mental game as we strive to handle all the defeats we experience daily. It’s not like we’re breaking our backs digging a trench with shovels.

Maybe a nail or two on a sticking keyboard.

So remember. What we do is mental. No matter how zany, crazy, wild, and wooly our mercurial moods shift, it’s up to us how we control our mental states and deal with each high and low.

It’s the life of a writer, the normal life of a writer.

Thank you so much for reading. You didn’t have to, but I’m certainly glad you did.

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