I was talking to a fellow author on Twitter, and I mentioned I’d go insane if I could not write, but then I added sanity kills creativity.  So what do I mean?

My nursing career has always involved me using my outgoing personality to engage otherwise hard to work with people; people with learning disabilities, mental health issues, or young offenders. I had to put myself ‘out there’ to encourage confidence in others to disclose their emotions and feel comfortable in my company. I obviously made an impression, as a young offender always referred to me as “Fu****g Mary Poppins”. You can take that how you will, but it makes me smile, especially as it’s demonstrating how others perceive me.

Often those that know me and read my novels, say they see bits of me in my writing.  The quirks that some characters demonstrate, may as well be me in some incidences; but not where a murderer is concerned, fear not.

If I didn’t have a little insanity burgeoning within me, I believe my novels would be less twisted, with characters themselves verging on the brink of madness themselves.

I think it helps to be a little insane to be a writer in the first place. Let’s face it, we write stories from in our imagination, sometimes quite dark and twisted ones, and lay them bare for others to judge. We spend hours writing, re-writing, editing, and editing some more, for very little in return financially. We also spend money on attending author book signing events, paying for the table, and swag, to mention just a few expenditures.

We leave ourselves open to judgement from others, both positive and negative. I hold my breath every time I see a new review has been published on one of my novels. We have to cope with the highs and lows of the writing world; the constant whirl of forums, book sites, social media, plus trying to fit in some reading for leisure – a must!

All in all, I think it helps to be on the brink of insanity at times, just to deal with all there is involved in being an author, such as getting an author platform off the ground, and meeting readers and other authors at book events.

Happy Word Flow One & All