health

Everyone undergoes periods of stress, but when you’re dealing with writer stress while running your own business, it can be more powerful and come from unexpected directions.

Recently, we’ve been dealing with the health of my wife’s father. Anyone with aging relatives will recognize the slow decline followed by sudden shocks, leading to the end, the funeral, the paperwork to go through and, after a long time, a sense of reaching an equilibrium.

On top of that, after I published “The Complete, Annotated Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” Amazon blocked it, claiming that my book didn’t qualify. I pointed out the 30,000 words of footnotes and essays, and that they had published my six previous books.

They rejected it. Then they blocked the print version of “The Complete, Annotated Murder on the Links.” I appealed, pointing out that not only did it have the same amount of footnotes and material, but it had been copyrighted by the United States government. I sent them a photo of the copyright certificate.

They rejected that.

Then It Got Worse

Then they banned me from KDP and said they’ll take down all the books and keep all the royalties.

That was a bad day to get out of bed.

Worse, I had to tell my wife that our business was kaput.

Now, to give Amazon some credit, they sent an email two hours later (which I would have seen if Google Gmail hadn’t seen fit to send that one to my Promotional list. Thanks, guys! The guy who killed my account apologized, and said the account was restored (which it was).

But I still can’t publish “The Complete, Annotated Murder of Roger Ackroyd” — the capstone to the whole series of Agatha Christie annotations on Amazon. Plus, I can’t sell the print version of “The Complete, Annotated Murder on the Links.”

Despite the fact that Amazon is still selling the Kindle version of “Links” — not to mention all of the other books in the Complete, Annotated series. Which shows that depending on who you get there, they may or may not understand Amazon’s policies.

So, what do you do when you’re dealing with writer stress? I have seven suggestions, many of which I used during this crisis:

Dealing With Writer Stress

1. Scenario it out

Come to grips with the problem. Before you act, mindmap the possibilities. List the options without judging whether or not you think it works. The idea is to get all the possibilities on the table before you so an inspired answer can come.

2. Will you care about this a year from now?

Another way to gain perspective about your problem is to ask the above question. Chances are, you might not even remember it.

3. Exercise it out

It doesn’t solve your problem, but it’ll make you feel better. Focusing on your body and the way it moves can focus your mind on a problem that won’t leave you enervated.

4. Walk it out

Another form of exercise, but this has the added benefit of getting you in the sun (valuable Vitamin D), enjoying the sights, and giving you space to think, dream, and plan for the future.

5. Start a new project

If you don’t have anything to work on, start something new. It can be a short story, outlining a novel, or a job that needs to be done around the house.

6. Learn to meditate

Another way to ease stress is to set a timer, sit quietly, focus on your breathing, and let time pass.

7. Just grind it out

If you can’t figure out a solution just yet, do anything. Don’t think about it, if it’s productive, do it anyway. At the end of the day, you’ll be glad you’ve accomplished something. This is also the difference between a hobbyist and a professional.