jpagaduan.com

Tag: mental health

  • New Essay Published!

    September was Suicide Prevention Month, and this piece is important enough to warrant being late. The one on suicide prevention is the story of my two attempts in a nutshell. I shared this story because it’s integral to who I am and because I know there are people out there struggling like I was. Maybe…

  • Happy New Year! 2024 Edition

     Happy 2024 everyone! So much has happened in the last year that it’s hard to quantify everything I’ve done as well as everything I survived. But survive I did. It certainly wasn’t easy, mind you, but while things are still difficult, I started this year off on a better trajectory. For a lot of reasons.…

  • The Paths We Take

    It’s the uncertainty that gets to me. I’m the kind of person who likes to have a backup plan for a backup plan because nothing ever seems to go right. Backup plans fail often too but they bring a sense of security, of having a way out that might save me this time.   But plans…

  • Book Writing Hangovers

    Apparently book writing hangovers are a real thing. And apparently that’s what I’ve been experiencing since putting Savior of the Damned up for pre-order.  It was no small feat to get here. I have devoted so much of the last two years to this it’s still a bit unreal I got here at all. I…

  • When You’re Finished

    There is a lot that goes into finishing a manuscript. But what does that look like?  After the drafting process, after you’ve either secured an agent or editor, and after the edits have been made, it’ll be time for formatting, book covers, marketing, and release with more marketing. But that’s not what I’m here to…

  • Medication and Creativity

    I take medication for bipolar disorder, among other things. I take medication, as well as go to therapy, to help manage my moods and make my life easier. But there is stigma against it, especially among creators, because of the mistaken belief that medication kills creativity. And I’m here to address that.   There is a pervasive…

  • Setbacks

    You’re going to encounter setbacks, and that’s okay. It’s normal for things to not go as planned in every aspect of life, but especially when it comes to storytelling. They come in all shapes and sizes, some bigger than others. And it’s going to be upsetting. That is absolutely part of the process and it’s…

  • Anxiety

    Each new hurdle I cross when it comes to publishing brings its own special brand of anxiety. It’s a mixture of imposter syndrome and cognitive dissonance, because all I heard growing up was what a failure I was. That I’d never amount to anything. And every time I meet a new goal, it comes with…

  • Switching Gears

    Sometimes it’s not that you burned out on writing. Sometimes it’s that you burned out on writing a specific project. I know I’ve been there before, and I’m there right now. I powered through most of three novels, a novella, and outlines for five more novellas, and I suspect that it’s time to switch gears.  …

  • Sometimes It’s Not Burnout. Sometimes You Just Need to Rest

    Some days the words will flow like water. Sometimes they won’t flow at all. You can have the best routine, the most solid ideas, and know where you want to go as well as how to get there, but sometimes the words just don’t come no matter what you do.  It happens to us all.…