Writing Notes & References

Idiophones produce sound when a percussionist strikes them, causing the entire instrument to vibrate. There are many enduring idiophones throughout the world of music, including:

Cymbals: Most cymbals are curved brass discs appearing in a wide array of sizes. Drum kit cymbals include a hi-hat, ride cymbal, crash cymbal, and splash cymbal, each mounted on a cymbal stand and played with beaters. Orchestral and marching band crash cymbals appear in handheld pairs; they produce sound when a player slides one cymbal past the other. Finger cymbals, as their name implies, are small enough to be worn on the player's fingers.

Crotales: Also known as antique cymbals, crotales are made up of a collection of small pitched cymbals and may be found in everything from classical music to 1970s progressive rock.

Claves: Wooden sticks that click together to produce an unpitched sound. They are a mainstay of salsa music.

Temple blocks: A series of pitched woodblocks popular in classical ensembles.

Agogo: An unpitched metal bell (or pair of bells) often featured in samba music.

Ganzá: An unpitched metal rattle developed in Brazil and popular in Brazilian samba.

Headless tambourine: This instrument is a tambourine without a membrane. It produces sound via the vibration of the frame and jingles.

Slit drum: Also known as a log drum, the slit drum is not a membranophone despite its name. Rather, a slit drum is an idiophone made from a hollowed log.

Udu: An untuned idiophone resembling a hollow jug.

Cajón: Originating in Peru, a cajón (or cajón de rumba) is a hollow wooden box that usually features internal snares on one side. A player sits on the cajón and strikes it with their hands (and occasionally beaters).

Gong: A suspended metal disc found in both Western classical and Eastern traditional music. Orchestras particularly favor a type of gong known as a tam-tam.

Maracas: Originating in Venezuela but popular throughout Latin American music, maracas are wooden shakers with handles.

Castanets: Castanets are handheld wood idiophones that come in pairs. They make a clicking sound when the player snaps two of them together.

Güiro: An idiophone made from a dried gourd. Typically, a percussionist plays güiro by rubbing wire brushes against it.

Shekere: A dried gourd covered with a netting of beads. Originally from West Africa and popular in Latin American traditions, it produces sound when shaken.

Tubular bells: These are pitched chimes that a player strikes with beaters.

Mbira: Also known as an African thumb piano, a mbira contains individual keys that a player presses and releases, causing them to vibrate.

Cabasa: A type of African shaker made by wrapping metal chains around a wooden cylinder.

Xylophone: A pitched percussion instrument made from wooden bars laid out like a piano keyboard, which the player strikes with felted mallets.

Marimba: A musical instrument much like a xylophone but with a greater range and resonators beneath its wood bars.

Vibraphone: An adaptation of a xylophone, the vibraphone has metal bars and a built-in electric resonator that projects the instrument's sound. A vibraphone is essentially a plugged-in metal marimba.

Glockenspiel: A smaller member of the xylophone and vibraphone family, containing small metal bars that produce a definite pitch with numerous overtones.

Steel drum: An idiophone made from a concave metal drum. The player can attain different pitches by striking different parts of the drum.

Cowbell: A hollow metal idiophone named for a similar device hung around the necks of some domestic cows.

The Beat poetry movement was relatively brief but culturally potent.

Columbia University: In the early 1940s, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Hal Chase, Lucien Carr, and other writers met at Columbia University. They would go on to be associated with a movement known for rejecting academia in favor of creating American literature that lived closer to the working class.

Greenwich Village: From the early to late 1950s, writers that were or would come to be associated with the Beat movement gathered in Greenwich Village in New York City due to the low cost of living and communal culture.

Gallery Six: In San Francisco, California, the Six Gallery Reading took place on October 7, 1955. It featured Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, and most famously Allen Ginsberg, who gave a poetry reading of the first section of "Howl." Kenneth Rexroth served as the host of the reading. At this time, Lawrence Ferlinghetti of the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco began publishing the City Lights Pocket Poets series. He would publish Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems the following year in 1956.

Rising popularity and resistance: In 1957, “Howl” was subject to a famous obscenity trial that was later dismissed, which further attested to the movement's values and potency in the public consciousness. Other state-led suppression efforts on Beat poets continued, including the FBI arresting Amiri Baraka and Diane Di Prima on grounds of obscenity that similarly resulted in non-indictment. Anti-war was an important theme in the Beat's work and the movement is largely considered America's first Cold War literary scene.

Multi-faceted influence: As the popularity of the Beat writers rose, artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and the Beatles were influenced by their work and values. Following the murder of Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka advanced his organizing and activism. Diane Di Prima also helped to organize the Diggers as community activists in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Between the late ’50s and early ’60s, Paris became a hotspot for members of the Beats to be inspired by French avant-garde art and political history. The Beats were a major influence on the Black Mountain Poets, another literary movement that adopted similar core values and often featured work by Beat poets in the Black Mountain Review literary magazine.

Media mischaracterization: Popular media circulated an understanding of the Beats that was more informed by a perceived bohemian hedonism gleaned from cursory readings of Ginsberg's "Howl," Kerouac's On the Road, and Burroughs's Naked Lunch. A columnist coined the term "beatnik" as a pejorative term referring to the Beats in 1958, and in 1960, J. Edgar Hoover declared that "communists, eggheads, and beatniks" were the primary enemies of the United States. Ironically, by that time the popular conception of Beat poets had strayed from the lives of the original Beats. The public viewed the movement as a frivolous fad and cultural commodity, complete with themed kitsch aesthetic media, services, and coffee shops based on hippie or hipster imagery with an over-emphasis on psychedelic and drug addict associations.

Tips for How to Not Be Toxic

Devoting yourself to positivity rather than toxicity can prove a boon for both you and all your loved ones. Learn how to stop being toxic with these 7 steps:

Apologize when necessary. Everyone exhibits bad behavior from time to time. Apologize when you act out of line so you can get back to spending time creating positive memories with friends and family.

Assess yourself regularly. Toxic traits often emanate from low self-esteem and unaddressed trauma. Work on bettering your mental health and wellness. Journal out your thoughts to improve your sense of self-awareness.

Be open to feedback. Free and open communication is one key hallmark of healthy relationships. Listen more than you speak. Ask people what you can do so you both can have a good relationship with each other.

Deal with past trauma. There’s an old saying: “Hurt people hurt people.” In other words, people who’ve gone through hard times and are in a painful situation are likely to create hard times and painful situations for others. Seek out help to deal with these very real wounds. No one deserves to suffer, and the sooner you heal, the sooner you can help others heal, too.

Practice mindfulness. Very few people actively set out to be a toxic person, they just fall into toxic habits. Practicing mindfulness meditation gives you the tool kit to break up negative thought patterns and assess why you might behave in a toxic way.

Respect boundaries. Individual toxicity often leads to toxic relationships with others characterized by codependency. Respect people when they set boundaries with you, then pay attention to whether you’re crossing them.

Seek opportunities for compassion. Rather than looking for opportunities to criticize, seek out the ability to be compassionate. Give yourself grace as a form of self-care—remind yourself you’re not a bad person, just someone trying to get through the difficulties of life like anyone else. Forgive others who frustrate or wrong you. Focus on spreading a sense of well-being and you’ll be well on your way to ensuring each day is a positive rather than toxic one.

How to Stop Being Self-Conscious

Even if you’re self-conscious now, you can take steps to build your confidence and become more comfortable in social situations. Here are a few tips you can incorporate into your life:

Be kind to yourself. To overcome self-consciousness, turn your feelings of self-loathing into self-love. Rather than engage in self-criticism, work on reciting positive affirmations to yourself. Focus on your strengths and what you have to offer the world. Realize that even perceived weaknesses can become strengths when you utilize them well. It might feel unnatural at first, but self-acceptance can prove to be just as much of a learned behavior as self-consciousness.

Get outside your comfort zone. In the course of your daily life, try to put yourself in situations that make you uncomfortable. Start small and work your way up from there as you begin to step out of your comfort zone. Remind yourself there’s a first time for everything. As you experience self-conscious emotions in these scenarios, you’ll slowly begin to realize they aren’t as bad as you worried they’d be.

Meet with a therapist. Reach out to a licensed therapist to work through how your feelings of self-consciousness developed in the first place. These trained professionals can help you unpack why you feel anxiety in social situations or why your own thoughts can often work against you. They’ll also help you build up your sense of self-worth, leading to an improved state of well-being.

Practice mindfulness. If self-consciousness is a fixation on negative thoughts, mindfulness is the process of letting these thoughts go. When you practice mindfulness meditation in your everyday life, you start to realize your self-conscious thoughts are like storm clouds passing through the sky. The same goes for your emotions. If you let these thoughts and feelings pass through you rather than latch on to them, you’ll begin to view yourself with more objectivity, equanimity, and compassion.

Reframe your thoughts. Your inner critic will make you believe everyone thinks you’re awful and knows every bad thing you’ve ever done. This is an example of the spotlight effect—the belief everyone in a room focuses on you. In reality, many people are probably just as self-conscious as you and are worrying over what you think about them. As you reframe your negative thoughts in a positive way, you’ll bolster your sense of self-worth.

Causes of Self-Consciousness

Self-consciousness arises in people for all sorts of different reasons.

Mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, or OCD might put you at higher risk for developing these feelings about yourself.

Childhood experiences of abandonment, bullying, and rejection can also have a major impact on a person’s self-image or propensity for negative self-talk.

Even into adulthood, negative experiences with others can lead you to develop a poor self-image and an increased sense of self-consciousness.

Example: “As red as a rose” —a universal descriptor for the color red that is now commonplace and unoriginal.

Other examples of clichés include demarcations of time, such as “in the nick of time” and “at the speed of light.”

Clichés also include expressions about emotions, such as “head over heels” to describe love, and the phrase “every cloud has a silver lining” to express hope in difficult situations.

The word “cliché” comes from French.

It was first used to describe a stereotype: a metal plate used for printing an image.

Both the words “cliché” and “stereotype” derive from printing jargon but now have negative connotations.

Why You Should Avoid Clichés in Writing

Overused clichés can show a lack of original thought, and can make a writer appear unimaginative and lazy.

Clichés are often specific to language and cultures and may be a communication barrier to international readers.

Some old clichés have been repeated for so many years that the original reference is archaic and irrelevant.

When it’s OK to Use Clichés in Writing

There are a few instances in which the use of a cliché as a literary device is acceptable, but clichés should always be chosen wisely. Here are some examples of admissible usage:

To sync with a readership. Clichés of idiomatic phrases and slang words can work for specific audiences. If you’re writing for a baby boomer audience, the cliché “back in the day” would make sense. By contrast, millennial readers would be familiar with the cliché “the struggle is real.”

To simplify. Clichés can be used to explain beginning level concepts. For example, a how-to guide for expectant mothers might use the phrase “Remember, you’re eating for two!”

For characterization. Writers might have a character use clichés to demonstrate that they are not an original thinker.

A thought-terminating cliché is a phrase that offers a reductive answer to a complex idea.

The term was popularized in the 1961 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of ‘Brainwashing’ in China by physiatrist Robert Jay Lifton.

They are also known as semantic stop signs or thought-stoppers.

Here are some examples of thought-terminating clichés:

“To each his own.”

“You win some, you lose some.”

“I’ll cross the bridge when I get there.”

“Take it or leave it.”

The research process can apply to everything from a scientific research paper to a personal question; each type of research has different expectations and processes. In general, here’s a step-by-step tutorial:

Start with a question. The first step of the research process is to have a question. In the case of academic research, your research question might be on a broad conversation in your field. For example, in humanities, a research question might be: “How did feminism affect American literature in the 1970s?” In the case of personal research, your question might be smaller and more specific: “How do I wake up feeling more rested?” If your research is for a high school or college paper, you might need to brainstorm to come up with a question or move on to the research phase to see what kinds of questions and broad topics interest you.

Search broadly. Your preliminary research on a topic is likely to be general—this search strategy enables you to gather as much general information surrounding the topic as possible. This helps you develop a clearer sense of the scope of your question. In the case of academic research, you might read widely (in topics like feminism, the 1970s, and American literature). In the case of personal research, you might conduct general internet searches for secondary sources that discuss related topics (like alarm clocks, pillows, and meditation techniques).

Narrow your focus. As you conduct research, pay attention to the moments that pique your interest—use them to determine where to conduct more in-depth research. Perhaps a specific novelist seems especially interesting, or you find yourself more drawn to alarm clocks than memory-foam pillows. It is at this stage you should also take time to evaluate the information sources you’ve found to make sure they’re reliable and unbiased.

Conduct specific research. Once your question begins to narrow, you might need to do additional research to hone in on your particular topic. Look around to see if other researchers have had similar questions and published or posted their findings. Alternatively, you might do some primary research and begin testing particular hypotheses. For an academic research paper, it is at this stage you likely have enough information to begin crafting your thesis statement or central claim.

Complete the project. The final stage of the research process is to complete your research project—this might mean writing a final paper, forming a particular opinion, or purchasing a specific solution for your problem. For research that involves writing and publishing a paper, the researcher must also abide by rules of plagiarism, citation information and formats—such as the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago, and so forth. Even though this is the final step of the research process, it doesn’t mean the project is closed forever—you might find later you need or want to do follow-up research as the topic or your interests change.

Research is a vital process that increases your knowledge and understanding around a topic, rather than forcing you to rely on simply your own background information. Good research allows you to become more informed before you answer a question, to consider all angles before you form an opinion, and to use the experience of others before you make a decision.

It caused concern that viewers at home wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the relationships they had with a television personality and ones they had with “real” people— “victim[s] of the 'magic mirror'” as Richard Horton and Donald Wohl described in the 1956 paper.

The term parasocial interaction first appeared in the writings of American sociologists Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl in the 1956 article “Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance.” The article describes how PSIs may gradually lead to the formation of a parasocial relationship.

Most theoretical work attempting to define and differentiate PSIs and parasocial relationships was published in the latter half of the 20th century.

Generally, modern sociologists and media theorists agree that the concepts are distinct but deeply related.

The Parasocial Interaction Scale, devised in the 1980s in order to better quantify PSIs and parasocial relationships, asks subjects to answer questions about both phenomena.

PSIs occur when audience members feel that they are actively interacting with a mass media personality.

Human brains appear to process PSIs in much the same way as real-life interpersonal interactions because of the novelty of technologically mediated encounters.

While people do recognize the artificiality of the media apparatus, their perception of PSIs causes a real psychological reaction.

PSIs are strongest when a media personality cultivates the illusion of interpersonal intimacy.

Certain genres, programs, and celebrities have purposely fostered such a sense of intimacy in their tone and setting.

For example, TV talk shows have their hosts directly address the camera as if in conversation with each viewer, creating the illusion of face-to-face closeness.

Situation comedies manufacture familial settings that viewers grow more and more accustomed to.

Certain podcasts and radio shows—especially those crafted around one or more hosts—adopt an informal tone resembling that of a gathering of friends.

As PSIs become increasingly frequent, many audience members enter into a parasocial relationship built on comfort, satisfaction, and commitment.

In contrast, Horton and Wohl posited, people whose encounters with mass media figures are infrequent may feel detached and even cynical when they do encounter those figures.

Indeed, the researchers suggested, audience members must tune in regularly and of their own volition for the relationship to become parasocial.

Such relationships bridge genre and style. In one key study, researchers found that commitment levels (measured on a scale used for interpersonal relationships) for viewers of both fictional and nonfictional television programs were predicted by how invested the viewers were.

Consequently, when a program went off the air, committed viewers experienced higher levels of distress, dubbed a “parasocial breakup,” than uncommitted viewers.

Audience members often have a parasocial relationship with the same celebrity without feeling jealous of one another; in fact, in many cases, sharing their dedication to a mass media persona brings people closer together.

While parasocial relationships can enrich your life, these one-sided affairs can also hurt you.

They won't love you back. "They're like fake food. They taste good, but they have no nutritional content and won't meet your needs. You need to love and be loved in return to thrive," social scientist and professor Arthur C. Brooks says.

They might contribute to loneliness and isolation if you rely on them too much. Loneliness and isolation are linked to increased risks of many chronic health problems such as depression, anxiety, dementia, and heart disease, and even premature death.

They might have a negative influence on you. Are you picking up unhealthy ideas from the people you follow? Brooks says this should be a special concern for parents whose kids have parasocial relationships: The messages kids glean might be at odds with your values — perhaps because they are controversial political or adult themes.

Two red alerts:

Ask yourself if you're too attached. For example, are you skipping dinner with friends because you prefer watching a TV show with a character you care about and want to connect with?

Be wary. "If someone is trying to brainwash you, saying, 'I'm your friend, you can trust me,' that person is using a personal social bond to get you to do something — like vote a certain way," Brooks says. He points out that social media stars try to establish parasocial relationships with followers to get more clicks and make money. "That's what the new economy is all about — monetizing parasocial relationships on a mass scale," Brooks says.

A PSR that starts with healthy boundaries, can turn sour when a mob mentality forms, resulting in harassment.

PSRs are natural and not inherently unhealthy.

But, as Stever says, “Anything that can be true about a regular social relationship can be true about a parasocial relationship. Are they positive? Can they be good for us? Absolutely. Can they be negative? Can they be toxic for us? We all know examples of that.”

If Shakespeare had begun Romeo and Juliet somewhere in the midst of the young lovers’ courtship, the story might have been entertaining, but it would have lacked the emotional stakes created when the two protagonists first lay eyes on each other in the play’s inciting incident.

It inspires the protagonist’s central motivations throughout the story.

In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the protagonist Charles Marlow finds his motivation when he learns about a Mr. Kurtz, in the story’s inciting incident.

The story goes on to detail Marlow’s obsessive quest to find Kurtz, and the horror he encounters when he finally finds him.

Every event that follows within the timeline of the story achieves its significance insofar as it relates to Marlow’s inciting action.

Types of Inciting Actions in Literature

As a general rule, inciting actions fall into one of 3 categories.

Causal inciting actions. Inciting actions involving a deliberate choice made either by the protagonist or about the protagonist. This deliberate choice informs all story elements to come. An example of this is Luke Skywalker’s recruitment in the original Star Wars film from 1977. The inciting action is the first step in Luke taking the archetypal “hero’s journey,” as famously described by Joseph Campbell.

Coincidental inciting actions. Inciting actions stemming from random chance, coincidence, or a protagonist “being in the right place at the right time.” In C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series, the children inadvertently stumble upon a magical land through a portal in the back of a wardrobe. This chance discovery leads to all subsequent actions in the story.

Ambiguous inciting actions. Inciting actions that occur under circumstances that are not fully explained. The audience is left to guess whether the protagonist is placed in her situation by choice or by chance. Such inciting actions are common in thrillers and mysteries like The Sixth Sense, and the true story is rarely revealed until the very end of the film.

In modern vampire literature, the shift from the vampire’s legendary Gothic characteristics to a more romanticized heroism becomes apparent.

The 20th and 21st centuries brought about a new version of the classic vampire.

This creature distances itself from the dark, horrifying being and grows into a more desirable partner (both romantically and socially) than its predecessors.

As was seen in the vampire literature of earlier centuries, the vampire was always the one who attacked because of repressed sexual desires.

Instead, now the human poses the larger threat for the modern vampire to have the ability to control his blood lust because the human now seemingly has control over the vampire’s sexual agency.

The female characters have been refashioned from being threatened to posing more of a (sexual) threat. Examples:

Isabella Swan from The Twilight Series and Gabrielle Maxwell from the Midnight Breed novels actively seek a sexual relationship with their vampire counterparts and are even willing to abandon their identities and constantly risk their lives for a chance to become part of the vampire world.

This contrasting presentation of the vampire’s romantic characteristics could be associated with the time period’s viewpoint of sexuality.

Instead of the repressed sexuality that were apparent in 18th and 19th century works, the modern Byronic vampire is not the main villain who presents danger to those around him.

The vampires are the now the victims who are tasked with repressing their desires, while humans seek to fulfill their desires in becoming a part of the vampire world.

Some Vampire Tropes

Animorphism: Vampires commonly turn into bats (or other nocturnal animals, such as wolves).

Chinese Vampire: An undead being from Chinese Mythology called the jiang shi, depicted as a hopping vampire/zombie that feeds on chi.

Cross-Melting Aura: Some vampires are powerful and evil enough to repel or destroy holy weapons.

Daywalking Vampire: Contrary to most depictions, some vampires may actually be immune to sunlight.

Horror Hunger: A person starts to feel intense cravings for blood after being turned into a vampire. How well they're able to resist these urges can vary.

Missing Reflection: Vampires often do not reflect any image in mirrors. Sometimes extends to not appearing in photos, films or videos as well.

Turning Back Human: A common goal for people who've been involuntarily vampirized and don't want to stay this way.

Undeath Always Ends: When even undead vampires can still die.

Voluntary Vampire Victim: Someone willingly lets a vampire feed on them.

Wooden Stake: Stabbing or impaling vampires through their heart with a sharp, pointy wooden stick is the classic method for killing them.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs On Vampires (Part 1) ⚜ (Part 2)

Sex - a physical bonding activity that can be an important part of many types of relationships—including monogamous, polyamorous, and open partnerships—because it can offer increased emotional intimacy, a stronger self-image for each partner, and stress relief.

Avoid looking for a one-size-fits-all solution to sex in a relationship; you can have a strong, healthy relationship regardless of the amount of sexual activity.

While many people require frequent sexual activity for a strong romantic relationship, many others—including asexual individuals and those with low libidos—enjoy deep and meaningful partnerships without using sex as a key component.

Benefits of Sex for a Relationship

In relationships in which each partner feels sexual desire and wants to be sexually active, a healthy sex life can offer significant benefits, including:

A stronger self-image: Sexual activity is a physical act that emphasizes the pleasure your body can give and receive; mindful, regular sex can increase confidence, self-esteem, and body positivity for each partner, allowing you to carry these feelings into other areas of your life.

Increased intimacy: Sexual activity is a type of physical intimacy that releases the hormone oxytocin, which produces feelings of emotional connection and intimacy. Therefore, sex can deepen the bonds between partners and foster feelings of closeness, emotional well-being, and relationship satisfaction.

Stress relief: Good sex is a stress-relieving activity that releases endorphins, producing feelings of relaxation and satisfaction that can help melt away the stresses of a difficult day. In the same way, sexual satisfaction and orgasm can help foster better sleep.

Talking About Sex With Your Partner (or Partners)

Communication about sexual intimacy is vital in any healthy sexual relationship because it allows each participant to build a connection that is more in tune with each partner’s desires and comfort zones. Here are a few tips to help you talk to your partners about sex:

Avoid critical statements. It’s normal for sexual partners to be sensitive when talking about intimacy (especially if it’s your first time communicating like this), so be as kind and positive as possible. Rather than saying, “I wish we had more oral sex,” try a more encouraging phrasing like “I love it when you go down on me—it would turn me on a lot if you did it even more.” Avoid phrasing that could sound accusatory; where possible, frame your comments as “I-statements” or “we-statements.” For example, try “I would love it if we tried…” or “Would it be fun if we tried…” rather than “you-statements” like “You should…” or “What if you tried…” to shift the focus and tone.

Avoid focusing on sexual frequency. You can have a good sex life regardless of the amount of sex you engage in; it’s about staying in tune with each partner’s interests and sexual desires. This may mean less sex but higher-quality sex, or it may mean planning masturbation sessions when one partner isn’t feeling in the mood. When you talk about sex with your partner or partners, keep in mind that the goal is mutual wellness rather than more sex.

Be open and honest. Talking openly and truthfully is essential for a healthy sexual conversation. The information you share helps your partner or partners improve their understanding of your sexual preferences and encourages them to share their desires honestly. Being up-front and honest about your feelings around sex will create a safe space for you to develop your sexual relationship together; the best sex is sex that is collaborative and trusting.

Choose a calm and comforting moment. Sex can be a difficult and sensitive subject for many people, so ensure conversations about sex happen in spaces that feel safe and relaxed. Avoid initiating the conversation during or immediately after a difficult moment; instead, try talking during a relaxed cuddling session or in a room other than the bedroom. This creates a safer, less charged space for open discussion.

Discuss libido and interest. Sex is only a beneficial part of a relationship if each partner wants it. If you find that your partner seems less interested in sex than you are, sit down and have an honest conversation with them. Ask if there are things in their life that seem to get in the way of their sex drive, if there is a type of sex they’re interested in that you haven’t explored together yet, or if they have a major sexual turnoff they haven’t shared yet. Investigate the other areas of the relationship you could improve together to work toward a healthier sex life.

Involve a sex therapist. If you or your partner or partners struggle to communicate about your sexual relationship or insecurities, consider consulting a sexual health professional to help facilitate the conversation and help you work toward a healthier bond and better sex.

The following are definitions of some of the most common mental health disorders. For more complete descriptions, consult Understanding Mental Disorders: Your Guide to DSM-5 or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Addiction - a chronic brain disease that causes compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences.

Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders - the overuse of alcohol or drugs leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual’s physical and mental health, or the welfare of others.

Autism Spectrum Disorders - a range of complex developmental disorders that can cause problems with thinking, feeling, language and the ability to relate to others.

Bipolar Disorder - (also commonly known as manic depression) is a brain disorder that causes shifts in a person’s mood, energy and ability to function.

Depression - a common and serious medical illness that causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed; it can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.

Eating Disorders - illnesses in which people experience severe disturbances in their eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions; anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder are the three main types.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - an anxiety disorder in which people have recurring, unwanted thoughts, ideas or sensations (obsessions) that make them feel driven to do something repetitively (compulsions).

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault.

Schizophrenia - a chronic brain disorder with symptoms that can include delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration, and lack of motivation.

Facts about Mental Illness

Misconceptions and myths about mental health are unfortunately common. The following are a few facts about mental illness in the United States, as well as key resources for the latest statistics on mental health:

In any given year, more than 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. has a diagnosable mental disorder.

One in 20 adults has a serious mental illness.

One in 6 adults has a substance use disorder (including alcohol use disorder).

Half of all chronic mental illness begins by age 14.

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death for all ages and the second leading for people ages 10 to 34. It is more common than homicide.

Most people with mental illnesses are no more likely to be violent than those without a mental health disorder. In fact, people with a mental health disorder are at significantly higher risk of becoming victims of violence compared to the general population

Excerpted from The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH):

Write often about mental health challenges—the greater awareness generated about mental health, the more chance there is of helping people who have problems associated with these illnesses.

Let us know if you are looking for story ideas—we have lots of them and would be more than happy to share these ideas with you (you can find their contact details here).

We are asking for your help in reducing the stigma around mental illness including addiction because stigma is a huge problem for people living with mental illness.

We can accomplish this by dispelling some of the negative stereotypes that follow people who have mental illness such as: people with mental illness including addictions are all potentially violent and dangerous; are somehow responsible for their condition; and have nothing positive to contribute.

Labels matter. Don’t describe a person with a substance use disorder as a “heroin addict,” “drug user,” or “alcoholic.” Defining a person by their disorder makes the disorder become that person’s “master status”—the reader or viewer will only see the person as defined by the illness not by who they really are as an individual.

Help reduce stigma by not leaving the person out when describing an individual. When a person is called a schizophrenic, the reader will only see the disorder and conjure up mental images that are likely negative and stereotypical. The same can be said for a person who is called a “manic-depressive or a "depressed person.” Chances are they could be receiving treatment for these symptoms and are in fact not feeling depressed at all.

Exploring Mental Health in Fiction

As fiction writers, we take normal, everyday conflict and crank it up to a 10 to make our stories compelling.

In a mental health focused novel, it’s the absence of and quest for mental health that’s the meat of the story, the source of the conflict at its heart.

What drives the plot is not what happens in the story, but the interplay between external factors and the hero’s response to them.

There are dos and don’ts to writing about neurodivergence or mental illness that will make your characters and their struggles ring true—not flat and stereotypical.

Origin of Your Character’s Mental Health Issue. This can be rich in terms of your story creation. Even if you only hint at it in the narrative, as an author, you need to understand the root cause of your character’s struggle before you decide what the manifestation will be. Family quirks, trauma, relocation, immigration—all of these can impact mental health.

Your Own Past and Life and Family. The old write-what-you-know adage can prove fertile ground for character development.

Understand the Role Mental Health Will Play in Your Story. Is the story about mental illness? Based on something very familiar that you know well? Is the book set in a psychiatric hospital? Is the condition a side issue, a challenge that makes your protagonist’s life a little more complicated?

Be Accurate and Avoid Stereotypes. If you are not writing something autobiographical, drawing on your own personal experiences, make sure to do your research. Interview people, read articles by and about those with the psychological challenges you intend to feature. Make sure to keep it three-dimensional, even if your book is about being mentally ill. No one is just depressed or just anxious. No character is the sum of their quirks and ticks. Make sure any character with a mental health issue is well-rounded and interesting in other ways.

Don’t Be Afraid to Lean Into the Humor. Par for the course with mental health issues are misadventures, foibles, and overcorrects that can end in comically disastrous results. As long as readers can laugh with rather than at the mix-ups, it’s all good. In fact, if everything we wrote about mental health were tragic, if everything we wrote about trauma were traumatic, the work would be pretty hard to stick with as a reader or as a writer. Whatever story structure you employ—classic three-act, spiral, or what have you—a well-drawn main character is essential. The interplay between the self (Passenger B for example), her circumstances (air turbulence), and others in her life (the frightened son and the maddeningly calm Passenger A) creates conflict, obstacles to resolution. Your hero’s place on the mental health continuum gives her texture and relatability. Her mess-ups, embarrassments, and misunderstandings are what resonate for readers and make your work thrilling, agonizing, and yes—satisfyingly fun!

Characters with Mental Illness. The megalomaniacal CEO. The sociopathic killer. The suicidal teen. The anxious woman self-medicating with booze and pills while caring for her demented mother. As writers, we invite these characters into our stories because they are true-to-life and because their psychological problems invite curiosity and compassion.

To avoid stereotyping and caricature—and to keep your story believable—try these 5 strategies and tips:

Make the character relatable. Although common, mental illness is not the norm, so characters with such disorders, especially psychoses, are imbued with “otherness.” The writer must provide a way for the reader to relate to the character despite the illness and because of it. 

Keep the narrative front and center. Stories work best when they are spun around a person and a set of relationships, not an illness. Even “issues books” are successful only when the story focuses on what happens to a particular cast of characters. Mental illness can be debilitating and all-consuming, but it does not define a person. That job still rests with the writer.

Balance internal and overt symptoms and behavior. The internal world of a mentally ill person is fascinating but can readily overwhelm the reader. It doesn’t take pages of suicidal ideation, obsessive thoughts or internal word salad to deliver the message of an altered mental state. Go easy on the subjective "craziness" and opt instead to show how others are reacting (or not) to what is going on inside the ill person’s head. Also, not all mentally ill people have insight; they don’t necessarily know that their behavior and thoughts are abnormal. Obviously, if the person doesn’t realize they are ill, or if they become confused about it, then they might be an unreliable narrator. This can be a powerful tool but it is important to know upfront what relationship your character has with his or her illness, how that affects the interplay of external and internal worlds and the access others have to the character’s problems. It can be as complicated as you wish, but don’t leave the reader behind.

Specify the disorder, at least in your head. Generalized “craziness” does not exist. A mental illness can elude diagnosis, or have a complicated diagnosis, but as a writer, you should try to pinpoint the disorder, even if your character is never properly diagnosed. Why? Disorders are defined by specific behaviors and cognitive flaws, so the more you narrow down the diagnosis, the more you know about how your character might behave, feel and think. For example, mania is evidenced in several disorders, including bipolar disorder, drug-related disorders, and some sub-types of schizophrenia. Knowing the underlying problem has ramifications for your character’s other behavior, their prognosis, treatment, and whether the problem might have a genetic component.

Get the details right. For instance, relief via medication, if it comes, can begin after 2 weeks but the maximum effect can take 8 weeks. Details like this matter not just because they satisfy knowledgeable readers but also because spreading misinformation about mental illness does everyone a disservice. Mental health is a rapidly changing field, so ensure your information is correct for your time period. Terminology, diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis can be vastly different from one decade to the next.

Fortunately, there are resources at your disposal:

Consult the relevant version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), the official guide to mental disorders. The American Psychological Association updates it periodically, so use the one corresponding to your setting.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is also an excellent resource;

Seek out mental health professionals and those who have first-hand experience with the disorder (patients and/or loved ones) to lend authentic details;

Visit online forums, but be discreet, respectful, and appropriately cautious.

As with all research, don’t rely on a single source.

The credibility of your story is worth the extra time it takes to gain a deeper understanding of your mentally ill characters.

Knowledge, profound knowledge, engenders respect and compassion, two traits we all could use more of, both as writers and as people.

Writing about Your Own Mental Health

Writing about mental health is one thing, but making yourself vulnerable and disclosing your own illness, especially a serious one, is another.

First-hand accounts, though, are essential in making this national discourse authentic and true to life.

Writing to explain your experience to someone else can help you understand it better as well, leading to additional closure.

Writing fosters personal sense-making, especially when you learn how to reframe your experience more positively.

Exploring meaning in your traumatic experience through writing can mark a turning point in your recovery.

Your increased awareness and articulation of feelings and thoughts can be beneficial to others who may be going through a similar experience.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs