Guest post: Blogging for Happiness

My book, Blogging For Happiness: A Guide To Improving Positive Mental Health (And Wealth) From your Blog to give it its Sunday name, was published last month.

Blogging For Happiness began when I realised that writing my blog regularly was having a real positive effect on my mood and how I felt about my kids.  I had been struggling with a miscarriage, difficult pregnancy, PND and then bereavement. I was so wrapped up in the mess in my own head I knew I couldn’t give my kids the care and attention they deserved. So I started writing one single positive thing about each of the three of them every day. And a bit like a huge liner turning around in the ocean, these posts started to help me look at the kids afresh – wanting to find joyful things about them. I was also happier to spend time with them.

Then I realised that I wasn’t alone in using a blog for therapy and, before long, I was lucky enough to be able to persuade a publisher that there was a market for a book on the subject.

I’m fairly confident most Britmums bloggers are already convinced of the benefits of blogging, so rather than preaching to the choir I thought I’d bring you some of the things I learned from actually writing a book rather than talking about it.

Writing a book is a bit like having a baby. It took me around nine months and caused mood swings, food cravings, snapping at my husband, sleepless nights, tears and intense joy.

Like a baby, producing the thing is only the start. When I typed “the end” after some 50,000 words way back in June, I fondly imagined that was me done. It was not, there were a couple of revisions, proofs to read, covers to choose and an index to compile.

There isn’t any magic process. You just have to break it down into bite-size chunks and write the flipping thing. I aimed for 3,000 words a day.

Getting it down on screen was crucial. It sounds obvious but I learned I had to write a section quite quickly and then go back and fix, edit and generally fiddle with it.

Indexing is very satisfying. Who knew?

Amazon is amazing. Well the buzz of entering your name in the search on the site and finding your own book is.

Having real people reading your real book is scarier than you’d think. Certainly more scary than having people read other stuff I’ve written, which they do quite a lot of the time.

The internet is not your friend. It’s much easier to get your target met if you don’t get distracted by emails, Twitter and Facebook. Use a tool like Freedom.com to turn it off.

Be sure you like your subject. Because you are going to have to spend more time in its company than you could possibly have imagined, like any relationship, if you are in the least bit unhappy with any of it, you will hate it by the end.

Faith in human nature will be restored. If it were needing. People have been unfailingly kind and generous throughout the process.

Like a baby, you will never stop caring about your book. You would defend your kids to the death if necessary, although mostly you don’t need to. The feelings about your book are similar. Hard as you try, you know criticism is going to hurt.

Like childbirth the pain vanishes fast and you get broody again. I know there were evenings when I was deep into the second packet of Pringles when I vowed never, ever again. But now, when there’s a shiny new volume in front of me I’m at it again. I’m plotting the next one. This news makes my husband go pale and my children droop. I know they’re very proud really.

I owe a huge thank you to everyone who helped me with comments, advice and encouragement. I really couldn’t have done it without the Britmums community.

Blogging for Happiness is available through Amazon. All you have to do is put my name in the search box!

Ellen Arnison — In a bun dance

 Following years of tabloid journalism and a bit of PR, Ellen now stays at home most of the time and writes for people who pay her. She also messes about on the internet. Finally, Ellen has found the work-life balance within reach.

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