Natalie
asked
Francesca Zappia:
Hi Francesca, I just finished Eliza and Her Monsters and adored it. You have gained another fan and I cannot wait to read more by you. I was wondering does writing help your anxiety? I feel like when Eliza's art became something she felt she had to do to please other people her art started to feel like a burden. Can you give advice on how you manage to let writing be a joy for you instead of a job? Thank you!
Francesca Zappia
This is a really good question! It's a thing I've been struggling a lot with lately.
The main thing I try to do when I'm drafting a story is stay in my own head. I find a place to work that lets me focus, which for me is a quiet corner of an upstairs room by a small window, in a chair that lets me shift position every fifteen minutes. For you, it might be a coffee shop with headphones, or a spot outside, or your own bedroom. This is a place that makes it easy for me to get in the proper headspace, where I'm thinking, "I'm making this for me right now, I'm the only one reading it, this is safe."
As soon as I can get to that spot, where I don't feel like anyone is watching me or even thinking about me, I can fully jump into a story. When I'm in that spot, I don't care if the plot is too thin or the character arcs aren't quite right or the world building isn't fleshed out enough.
The reason I've been struggling lately is because it seems like it's been harder and harder to get to that space. My anxiety makes me worry about a lot of things outside myself and outside my control a lot of the time, and anyone who's ever had anxiety knows it's not super easy to just forget or relax. (Especially when you're on a deadline for a book, and a publisher is expecting it!)
But I have noticed that when I find my place, allow myself that safe space, and start to write, the writing itself does alleviate my anxiety a lot. Art is very therapeutic for me. It helps me forget about all those things I normally worry about, because when I'm writing (or drawing), what's going on in my life takes a backseat to what's going on in the story.
I hope this helps!
The main thing I try to do when I'm drafting a story is stay in my own head. I find a place to work that lets me focus, which for me is a quiet corner of an upstairs room by a small window, in a chair that lets me shift position every fifteen minutes. For you, it might be a coffee shop with headphones, or a spot outside, or your own bedroom. This is a place that makes it easy for me to get in the proper headspace, where I'm thinking, "I'm making this for me right now, I'm the only one reading it, this is safe."
As soon as I can get to that spot, where I don't feel like anyone is watching me or even thinking about me, I can fully jump into a story. When I'm in that spot, I don't care if the plot is too thin or the character arcs aren't quite right or the world building isn't fleshed out enough.
The reason I've been struggling lately is because it seems like it's been harder and harder to get to that space. My anxiety makes me worry about a lot of things outside myself and outside my control a lot of the time, and anyone who's ever had anxiety knows it's not super easy to just forget or relax. (Especially when you're on a deadline for a book, and a publisher is expecting it!)
But I have noticed that when I find my place, allow myself that safe space, and start to write, the writing itself does alleviate my anxiety a lot. Art is very therapeutic for me. It helps me forget about all those things I normally worry about, because when I'm writing (or drawing), what's going on in my life takes a backseat to what's going on in the story.
I hope this helps!
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