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Not to cause controversy on this forum, but I have one of my frequent questions about writing: Is writing a form of craziness? I have schizophrenia, which is under control thanks to medication. I love to write and invent new characters to write about, but I worry about myself. Most writers are not insane, but I worry about myself sometimes. I can tell fantasy from reality, but I worry about identifying too much with fictional characters. In other words, I fear that if I make writing fiction a daily habit, I will go off the deep end. Get too wrapped up in fantasy.
I have a life, a job, a social network, but I don't talk to them about writing. This forum is my only outlet for talking about fiction. What do you writers think? Is inventing fictional characters and plotting their lives a form of....something?
I dunno. Any comments are welcome. Thanks!

Wow, you sound like me. (Paranoid schizophrenic here!) But you're functioning better, since you have a job. (I can't handle the workplace at all. That sends me over the deep end!)

I'd say that it's not something I worry about, the concern you mentioned. My characters (and the never-neverland where they reside) are real to me, but not in a way that blurs the lines of reality. What I do, though, is primarily write about happy people who have happy lives. It's a kind of utopia for me, so if it were to enter into my created reality, it would be pleasant.

I'd say to write to the extent that you can, but monitor it. I suppose that schizophrenia strikes everyone differently. You should definitely PM me if you ever want to discuss it privately.

Well, Wanton, we've got to separate two disparate elements here...

First is the legitimate question of genuine mental illness or disability. This is a very serious issue and one that is not best dealt with here. An actual diagnosed mental problem needs to be addressed via proper channels, medical and therapeutic with health care professionals.

Second, for a humorous view of being a "crazy" writer, sure! All writers are a bit off-base. Who would spend hours laboring over a few sentences and whether to insert a chapter break or paragraph here or not. ha ha

But we writers get the last laugh, when we sell our stories or novels or articles and they're published!

Geez, ModernTimes. He is seeing healthcare professionals--he's well medicated and able to function in the workplace.

Likewise, I too see healthcare professionals, but I have to say that they do not solve every issue for me. They can't explain a lot of my symptoms or issues or side-effects. Some of the burden of that falls onto me.

Of course, I cannot offer medical advice, nor can any of us I'd imagine; but I'd like to think that we should feel free to try to fill the gap for each other. I mean, he and I have the exact same illness. What are the odds of that?

Also, <bleep> the stigma! I'm sick of worrying that if I put it out there, people are going to judge me. People! Schizophrenia happens.

I totally understand, Zelda, and in no way was dissing Wanton, but I did want to separate the two situations here, in that our discussing nagging problems with our writing is totally different from over-reaching problems that are best dealt with via medical professionals or, as you said, solved or addressed by the individual.

My meaning was to not imply any harshness but to set out a gentle boundary for this thread, because we don't want anyone to neglect burgeoning problems in lieu of chatting on the writer's forum. We don't want to detract the vital aspects of proper medical attention to a genuine problem.

By the way, I've known several schizophrenics and others with various mental difficulties, and I myself have gone thru stages of monopolar affective disorder in earlier years. So I know full well the circumstances and have no prejudice toward anyone about such things.

Thanks, ModernTimes. I agree, and I would have been concerned if he hadn't mentioned that he's medicated and such. (I could be drawing the wrong conclusion here, but with my meds, I see a doctor every six weeks to keep them even, so I assumed that he's seeing a doctor regularly as well.) I'd be the first to say, "Please see a doctor!" if he was trying to fly solo. With schizophrenia, that's nearly impossible, and not recommended.

But after that point, the doctors can only do so much.

I must've been in a bad mood earlier, but I don't think it was directed at you. Oops.

Monopolar affective disorder? Is that a fancy euphemism for depression? Do ya got one up your sleeve for schizophrenia??

No, not up my sleeve or elsewhere. I do sympathize because that term is so very much misunderstood by many outsiders. They think "psycho" or even the well-meaning think the term means a multiple personality disorder -- totally different. And genuine multiple personality disorder is extremely rare, too.

Maybe all emotional and mental disorders should be arbitrarily labeled with a number. Like "I've got fourteen." and "I've been taking meds for ninety-two."? Best that can be done is to redefine schizophrenia as "disassociate syndrome" but that sounds awful, too.

No bad mood and no problem, my friend.

And yeah, depression. Which is also misunderstood. Problem there is that the common and very everyday "feeling depressed" today because I dented my car is intermixed with genuine clinical depression. Which is totally different. Clinical depression comes on without any external cause at times, or sometimes yes, crunching your car can bring it on, too. But the feeling is also totally different from "being depressed" in the common sense of the word. Of course you know this.

Yeah, I hear ya. I love your numbers concept! Why has no one ever thought of that?? Actually, mental illnesses do have diagnosis code numbers, but no one ever knows what they are. When I'm filling out disability paperwork, I always have to call the office and ask what my code number is again!

You're right--depression is multi-layered. One might become depressed due to a fender bender (who wouldn't?) and then it sticks around like a funk, and then you're completely under it. Or it could attack seemindly at random, or it could be seasonal (although probably not in July!). Yeah, I get ya. Thanks for posting! We need more awareness, 'cause you're right--people think "psycho." And that's so outdated, because many of us take our meds religiously and try as hard as we can. And the whole "violence" thing is completely, shamelessly perpetuated by the media. Could a schizophrenic be violent? Sure, but so could anyone, unfortunately.

I'm excited about your books!

Golly! Thanks for commenting, Zelda and Modern Times! I'm so grateful that you both took the time to answer my stupid questions.
Actually, I guess that having a private fantasy world through writing, and not sharing it with a writer's group or people online would be crazy. And you two are sharing what you wrote, so you two are better off than me. Thanks for sharing!

Any time! Keep us posted. You make an interesting point that I didn't even think of. Maybe you can find someone in person to share your writing with? Family, friends, etc.?

No question is stupid, okay? And that's why this forum exists, for us writers to share things and learn from each other.

By the way, we all insert a part of ourselves in our writing, so that's perfectly normal. And don't be afraid to share your writing, either. We HAVE to share our writing or try to get it published, otherwise we'd never be able to improve our skills. Keep plugging away, okay?

Thank you, Modern. I will plug away. I may not be a good writer, but I win the Pultzer in lame excuses.

Excuses are common to all writers, so don't feel that you're an exception.

What must be done, I think, is to approach a certain part of writing just like you approach any task that requires grunt work, like mopping the kitchen floor. It's got to be done and we writers have to simply knuckle down.

For example, all this peaceful Sunday evening I've been re-editing one of my novels so that the typography was compliant with my publisher's stylesheet. Not a pleasant job but no shoemaker elves volunteered for the job. Going laboriously through 75000 words and fixing punctuation is easier with Word search and replace, but you still have to ensure that each change is correct. So it took me about 4 hours of steady non-creative, non-fun, and non-clever work. But I "mopped the damn floor" and now I can email the book to the publisher.

Although I WILL take just one more look thru the text tomorrow morning when I'm fresh.

All I can recommend is to fix yourself into harness and get plugging away, a little at time, and persevere. There's no secret solution -- you just have to get it done.

Incidentally, you might check out my new thread in the Writer's section "To do list" and see the jobs that I've got to do for effecting the submission of my 3 novels to the publisher. No fun, I can guarantee. But hey, make yourself a "to do" list and chew away at it, bit by bit.

Eventually you'll get into the habit and it will then seem a much easier enterprise.

I think people who aren't writers view writers as a little crazy. I just believe that we are highly imaginative and creative beings. Whenever I write a character, I become that character. For example, if I write a story in first person, I don't view it as me writing it as if the character is the narrator of the story. I've become one with the character and I'm the narrator. I don't know if that makes any sense but that's how my brain works when I'm writing. I don't view myself as crazy, I'm just a really creative being

It is nowhere said that writers are crazy. But in the history of literature we have seen some successful authors who had mental disorders and that disorder has actually helped them to succeed. Lewis Carroll who wrote Alice in Wonderland is a good example