Write When You're in it, Publish When You're Out. A Guide to Blogging About Mental and Physical Illness

As someone who blogs about mental health and supportive friendships, I’m often inspired by what my friends are going through, or my experiences as someone who cares about them. Many of my blog posts begin “This piece was inspired by a recent conversation with ...” In most cases, this occurred within a week or so of my sitting down to begin writing. I don’t necessarily publish straight away, however. I might wait because I already have posts lined up, for example, or hold a piece back for an upcoming awareness day or event. Sometimes, though, I wait because the circumstances I’ve described are still ongoing. This is what I want to write about today. It’s an approach I call Write When You’re in it, Publish When You’re Out. I’ll focus on blogging, but the same considerations apply to sharing in other ways, including posting on social media.

Write When You’re in it

I’m a firm believer in capturing how you’re feeling while you’re feeling it, or as shortly afterwards as is practical. I’ve kept a journal for almost fifty years, so the idea of documenting things as they happen comes naturally to me. My diaries are personal, though. I’m talking here about capturing feelings, thoughts, and events with the intention of using them in your writing. You can edit, rephrase, and reframe at leisure, but you can’t go back to that place once you’ve moved on.

• Write about insomnia when you’re unable to sleep.
• Write about fatigue when you’re fatigued.
• Write about pain while you are in the middle of it.
• Write about mania, depression, anxiety, and psychosis while you’re experiencing those states.
• Write about overwhelm while you’re feeling overwhelmed.
• Write about your thoughts and feelings about what your friend or loved one is going through, while you’re experiencing them.

How you capture things is up to you. Use any and all approaches you’re comfortable with. Here are a few which work for me.

Write things down, on paper or electronically. I use Google Keep, with the shortcut on the homescreen of my phone so I can access it easily.

Photos are a quick way to capture what’s hapening.

Record details of your conversations with friends, family, and professionals. If it was a chat conversation, screenshot or copy and paste snippets into your notes. If it was in person, jot down your impressions as soon afterwards as possible.

Date your notes as you go. This makes it easier to organise them and relate them to what was happening around you at the time.

Save links to websites, articles, and social media posts that resonate with how you’re feeling. Don’t rely on your memory. Weeks or even days afterwards, it will be difficult if not impossible to locate that article you read or that meme you saw which expressed just what you were going through.

Don’t worry about the quality of your writing at this stage. You can refine it later.

Short paragraphs or bullet points will be easier to work with later, but use whatever approach works for you. One exception to the “short is good” maxim is if your writing style varies depending on how you’re feeling. As we discuss in our book, Fran’s writing during episodes of mania is very different to how she expresses herself when depressed or stable.

As for actually writing the piece, some situations might allow you the impetus, focus, and energy to get your notes and ideas in order. Mania or other high energy states might facilitate the creative process. Others, including episodes of depression, anxiety, extreme fatigue, or overwhelm might make it difficult to compose your article. In that case, set your notes aside and return to them later.

Publish When You’re Out

Whenever you write your blog post, I recommend leaving the final editing and proofreading until you’re on the other side of what’s been happening. A little space and time can give you a fresh perspective. This applies both to your article itself and your options for publication. You might decide not to publish at all, or that the time’s not right to do so. I’ve done this myself on a few occasions, and for various reasons. I described some of these in When Blogging Is Hard and What to Do About It.

If your writing style is influenced by your emotional state or symptoms, you might want to revise what you’ve written once your situation is more stable. More generally, the piece might benefit from a broader perspective. Take time to do some research, discuss the topic with friends, or invite other people to contribute their ideas and experiences.

Consider the reaction your blog post might attract. Sharing can be powerful and liberating, but it can be scary too. It’s not only negative reactions you need to consider. A highly successful or popular post might generate a flood of comments, messages, or other approaches from your readers. Positive feedback is very welcome, but you might find the clamour overwhelming if you’re still navigating things yourself.

Maybe it’s not your situation you’ve written about, but that of a friend or loved one. Assuming they gave permission at the time, it’s respectful to confirm that’s still the case once they’re on the other side. This has happened to me. After double-checking with the person concerned, it became clear we had a difference in perspective concerning what had happened. I decided not to publish rather than rewrite my account to meet their requirements.

Waiting might not always be realistic, especially if the condition you’re writing about is long-term, or likely to reoccur at any time. I still recommend allowing a little time to elapse before making the post public. This allows you the opportunity to review what you’ve written, how you’ve presented it, and whether it still feels appropriate to publish.

Over to You

In this post I’ve discussed my approach to blogging about mental and physical health. I’ve described techniques for capturing your thoughts, feelings, and experiences while you’re in the middle of whatever you’ve chosen to write about, as well as reasons for waiting until you’re out of that situation before publishing.

To what extent do you agree or disagree? Have you shared your physical or mental health online and regretted doing so? Do you wish you’d waited until you were feeling better before going public? Is there a case for sharing in real time, rather than waiting until later? Fran and I would love to hear from you, either in the comments below or via our contact page.

 

Photo by Timothy L Brock at Unsplash.