August Writing Challenges: Day 24 - Depression & Doppelgänger

August. The summer is nearly over. Kids are going back to school. You now have some time on your hands.  Okay, you still have a list of chores a mile long, but let's put writing at the top of the priority list, okay?

I am going to challenge you with a writing prompt every day this month. Are you up for it? I hope so.

The writing challenges will be about a variety of topics and hopefully cause you to dig into your writing toolbox to complete with emotional skill.

Watch out, I just might throw in a fun one, well, just for fun!

For the twenty-fourth challenge we're going to discuss your goals to success.

Here is your challenge:
You are a depressed person. You are tired with life, you are tired of the disappointment and loneliness. One night, you contemplate suicide. Before you can pull the trigger of your firearm, you are confronted by your doppelganger. The doppelganger says, “We need to talk. It is urgent.”


This is a very interesting prompt. For those who have ever been this depressed, they will understand the emotional and mental effects on their mind and be able to write a thoroughly expressive piece.

For others, you may have to do some research about depression and suicide to get the right attitudes and background to help you write.

I hope that if anyone has ever been this depressed, they seek help immediately. Go to your nearest ER and let them know what you are feeling.

If this prompt is too much and you experience triggers that cause anxiety, depressive, or panic episodes, please do not complete this writing exercise.

Proceed slowly.













Wright, Jonathan (2015-06-17). 510 Creative Writing Prompts: For Aspiring and Experienced Writers (Bundle) (p. 49).  . Kindle Edition. 

August Writing Challenges: Day 23 - Embarrassing Secret

August. The summer is nearly over. Kids are going back to school. You now have some time on your hands.  Okay, you still have a list of chores a mile long, but let's put writing at the top of the priority list, okay?

I am going to challenge you with a writing prompt every day this month. Are you up for it? I hope so.

The writing challenges will be about a variety of topics and hopefully cause you to dig into your writing toolbox to complete with emotional skill.

Watch out, I just might throw in a fun one, well, just for fun!

For the twenty-third challenge we're going to discuss your goals to success.

Here is your challenge:
You have an embarrassing secret: you can't swallow pills. Therefore, you prefer a liquid medicine. When you visit the doctor due to illness, he hands you a cup full of pills. You asks if he has it in liquid form and he sternly says, “No. Swallow the pills.” Sweat starts spurting from your face like a garden sprinkler, especially when the cute nurse enters the room... What do you do?

This is not an uncommon issue. Many people cannot swallow pills at all, while others can take a handful and toss them in their mouth, drink a swallow of water, and easy peasy, done.

My husband used to be unable to swallow pills. At all. We got liquid medicines when we could. However, I resorted to purchasing a throat spray that helped the pills slide down. My husband even found that a problem.

So, we talked about the mental and emotional issues tied to the inability to swallow pills. Once he opened up, eventually, with some guidance, he can now take pills, even more than one at a time, by tossing them to the back of his throat and drink a good amount of water.

So, if this is an embarrassing secret you've been hiding, or you know someone who is, know that it can be overcome.

Let's get writing.









Wright, Jonathan (2015-06-17). 510 Creative Writing Prompts: For Aspiring and Experienced Writers (Bundle) (p. 21).  . Kindle Edition.

Do You Think You're the Only Scared Writer Out There?

Twenty-Five Years Ago:

I was the scared writer who didn't know if I had enough talent in my little finger to try and write a book.

• I have been there with a book, not knowing if it's good enough to catch a publisher's eye.
• I've been there with a publishing contract in my hand not knowing if I should sign or what?
• I've been there when that first book was printed and I held it in my hands for the first time. Like holding your baby for the first time.
• I've been there in critique classes when another writer would tell me I "wrote it wrong" or "used wrong tense" or something else equally as humiliating. How could I be writing it wrong? Then the flood of "am I not good enough" comes again.
• I've been there during book signings when no one shows up. Once again, it hits, "Am I not good enough?"
• The marketing is scary. It means I have to talk about myself in a positive way.
• The selling is hard. How do I tell people about my book and hope they'll buy it? I'm not a salesperson.
• I've been the writer who sits in a room of other writers thinking I'm the only one who is scared.

Does this sound like you?

Raise your hands. Too scared to raise your hand? I totally understand. I've been there.

I have BEEN there.

Not anymore.

That was twenty-five years ago. I am no longer that scared little writer thinking I'm the only one in the world who feels like that.

I've written books. I've had books published. Yes, with real publishers!! Publishers who I had to submit to and wait anxiously for acceptance or rejection.

I've got a rejection pile so large you can sit on it.

Yes, I've kept every single rejection letter. 

Why? Because it means I'm working my butt off trying to get my work published. It means I'm working.

I got past the "what if I'm not good enough" and I'm writing, but I think my dialogue is flat or I can't tell which Point of View I'm in. I did research. I learned. I asked other writers. 

I wanted to join a writers' group. There wasn't a writers' association  in Florida. So, what did I do? I co-founded the Florida Writers Association. I worked hard with other people to make it the best organization in Florida. It is, too. Just ask anyone.

I created writers' groups. I created critique groups. I helped other writers. The FWA motto is "Writers Helping Writers". 

Like it?

It's my mission to help other writers. I want to provide aspiring fiction writers with the tools they can use to be the best writers than they can. I know I can do it. 

Why?

Because I've been there.

And, I did it all the while fighting a debilitating disease. Bipolar Disorder. I fought against 

• social anxiety disorder, 
• generalized anxiety disorder, 
• panic attacks, 
• PTSD, 
• and OCD. 

It never stopped me from writing. It never stopped me from succeeding. 

I did it. 

You can too.

I know, deep down in my heart, you have what it takes to be a great writer. If I can do it, anyone can. 

I wrote through hospitalizations. 

I wrote through suicide attempts. 

I wrote through depression. 

I had great writing moments during manic episodes.

I learned ways to manage the Bipolar Disorder so that I could be the best writer I knew I could. I knew it was inside. I knew I had to be the one to break out of my barriers and fight the obstacles. 

I did.

If you are a true writer, you won't let any obstacle, big or small, get in the way of writing.

I didn't. 

I can help provide you with the tools you need to be the best writer you can. 

Just write to coach@vickimtaylor.com and tell me you're ready to be the best writer you can be. We'll take it from there.

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