Mental Wellness for Writers

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EFFECTIVELY HANDLE THE CHALLENGES THAT WRITERS FACE

Join master coach, mental wellness expert, and the author of more than 50 books, Eric Maisel, for a five-part online writing workshop. 

Eric paints a picture of what mental wellness really means for writers with tools and techniques that will last a lifetime. You will:

• Untangle what mental wellness really means when it comes to living the writer’s life.  
• Learn the risks of the "writing blues" and what you can do meet the challenges they create.
• Gain a better understanding of how to effectively handle the challenges presented by your creative personality.
• Identify the additional risk factors that writers face and how to create a recovery program.
• Learn to love the nature of the work you do, and the shape of the world. 

This series is suitable for all writers, from beginners to advanced.

Recommended reading Eric Maisel, The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person's Path Through Depression; Mastering Creative Anxiety: 24 Lessons for Writers, Painters, Musicians, and Actors from America's Foremost Creativity Coach; Redesign Your Mind: The Breakthrough Program for Real Cognitive Change; Why Smart People Hurt: A Guide for the Bright, the Sensitive, and the Creative; and Choose Your Life Purposes: A Step by Step Guide to Self Awareness, Empowerment, and Success

NOTE You will have access to the video recording(s) for 30 days after the program ends. All recordings will be available within 72 hours of the end of each session. 

Preview the Sessions 

Monday, April 7 I  Picturing Mental Wellness  
Mental wellness is a tangled concept. Does any writer want to be normal? They might have a desire to be less anxious, less despairing, less self-sabotaging, better at handling distractibility, and better at preserving the belief that writing matters—but normal? In our first night together, we untangle what mental wellness really means when it comes to living the writer’s life.  

Tuesday, April 8  I  Beating the Writing Blues  
Like all human beings, writers despair sometimes. In addition to all of the usual reasons for despairing, some special poignant reasons make the writing life a high-risk occupation for the blues. Learn what these additional risks are, and what you can do to meet the challenges they create. If you regularly get low, this evening is for you.

Wednesday, April 9  I  Mastering Creative Anxiety  
Performance anxiety and public speaking anxiety are among the world’s top phobias and writers experience their special versions of these widespread challenges. In addition, a score of other sources of anxiety can pester writers, regularly preventing them from approaching their work or causing them to leave their work too soon. Learn how anxiety gets in the way and what you can do to handle it.  

Thursday, April 10  I  Recovery for Writers  
Writers, like all creatives, are at special risk for addiction. They also require a special recovery program, one that takes into account the contours of the creative personality and the nature of the work they do. Learn how to identify the additional risk factors that writers face and how to create a recovery program that takes the writer’s personality and the writer’s life into account.  

Friday, April 11  I  Your Write Mind  
What you think determines whether or not you will write. Writers regularly derail themselves and sabotage themselves by engaging in unhelpful, self-pestering self-talk. Learn how to change this dynamic at the source by redesigning your mind so that the thoughts you think support, rather than sabotage, your writing life. In addition, learn the art of serene readiness—a way of being that helps you create and maintain the flow state that writers seek.