Where In The World Is My Writing Desk??
- Daniel Beals
- Apr 17
- 6 min read
It's been a few weeks since my last blog post. I've been traveling through Portugal and just haven't been able to sit down and put my brain into words. I hadn't intended to write a new one yet, but this past week gave rise to an epiphany I needed to share.
To make up for my absence — to the few wonderful people who are reading this — here are some pics from my time in Lisbon, Faro, and Porto.
Is Anyone Else Terrible at Vacations?
To say I haven't been able to write much since getting to Portugal would be an understatement. That's kind of the point of traveling, right? Put the work away and relax. Except I tend to be bad at relaxing when there's stuff I want to do. I don't really think of writing and creating as a job. It's just the thing I'm passionate about. Getting away for me means getting away from distraction forged by capitalism and digging into the work that I love!
On a particularly cloudy day with not much on the itinerary, the impossible became possible. I cracked open my laptop and started breaking down a brand new story that I needed to write. I was starting from zero. And since I'm on vacation with limited downtime, I knew I had to make any session afforded to me really count.
So, how do you do that? Isn't that some intense pressure to be perfect right out of the gate? That's how I used to think. But if you do anything long enough, you develop tools and methods.
Your writing time is limited — so how do you get to the root of your story as quickly as possible?
Easy: start with the characters.
I had a rough concept and a brief outline ready to go, but an outline doesn't tell you who your people are. So I pulled out a pad of paper, grabbed a pencil, and wrote down the name of every character I knew mattered to the story. I went through each one — who they were, what their internal want was, what their external need was — and BOOM, I had an arc for each of them across the entire story. But even better than that: as soon as I knew who these people were and what they wanted, the story changed in significant ways. Suddenly, the story I thought I was writing wasn't the story at all.
Give your story its characters first, and your characters will reciprocate with the story you're actually telling. They're the most important collaborators you'll have throughout the entire process.
If you're struggling to start, or you're a little lost in the woods, clear your mind and find out who your story people are. Tell yourself their names, figure out who they were when the story began, then figure out what they want — and I guarantee you'll be off to the races.
I'm off to try some incredible Porto food. Can't say enough about this place. I guess that's the other step to creating: travel as much as you can. The world will fill you up in ways you didn't even know you needed. Traveling and reading are the two greatest empathy machines in existence.
Television That Wrecks You
Even in a city as beautiful as Porto, you can't go out every single night. The body must rest. The feet, especially, must rest.
As a result, I've been catching up on some of my media viewing. (Which isn't always a given — you're at the mercy of whatever TV setup your Airbnb has. If it has one.)
Is everyone watching The Pitt??? Damn, what a show.
At the time of this posting, I haven't yet seen the season two finale (I see and quickly skim past all of your social posts before getting spoiled!), but I recently watched the penultimate episode and — gang — the reveal of what's been going on with Dr. Robby hit me hard.
When Dr. Robby said what he said to his buddy, I sank inside myself.
Without getting into the specifics: I have felt exactly like that — exactly like that — very often in my life. I'm sharing this because I know there are people out there, in my life directly or beyond it, who feel this way too. I want you to know it's okay. You're not alone. And it's more normal than you think.
I have personally never felt suicidal. I'm so grateful for that. The concept of self-harm never entered my world. But there have been times when, like Dr. Robby, I just didn't want to be here anymore. That's a tough thing for the people who love you to hear. It makes everyone around you — people who can't fully understand it — feel helpless. And honestly, they are. Finding empathy, understanding, and especially patience when you're in that kind of pain is genuinely hard, most of all from the people closest to you.
The best analogy I can find for this feeling is that I wanted to be Thanos-snapped. Just... gone. Call it exhaustion, call it depression, I don't really know the root of it. I only know that it's a strange thing to feel. Stranger still to say out loud — because I love life. I love my life. I love the people in it. But powerful forces are affecting this world in extreme and negative ways right now. Everything is hard. So if you're feeling like that, if you've been lost or isolated or buried under imposter syndrome or whatever it is that's weighing you down — just know it's okay. You're not alone. You're not crazy. And most importantly, everything you want to do and be and love? It's valid. It's needed.
So why am I putting this in a writing blog, beyond wanting to create a safe space for people going through these same emotions?
Because what helped me most was finding — somehow, somewhere — the will to ignore the voice in my head that told me I wasn't good enough, that I shouldn't even try. I used to call it my chaos monster. Now I know what it really is: undiagnosed ADHD, probably with a few other things folded in. And definitely a lot of depression. But I found the power within myself to ignore that voice and start creating. You'll find that's a recurring theme in everything I write here. The hardest part of writing isn't the writing itself — it's simply starting. Once I understood that, I made it a point to sit down whenever I'm feeling low, quiet the noise as best I can, and painfully start typing. Even if it's nonsense, it doesn't matter. It's not going to stay nonsense. Honestly, no matter how prepared you think you are, when you sit down to write your story, it's always going to be nonsense. But then you start rewriting, and it suddenly isn’t nonsense anymore. That's how it goes.
So start. That'll always be lesson number one.
The isolation, the imposter syndrome, the depression — none of it can handle momentum.
You're valuable. Trust the voice that tells you that.
And the answer to this blog's title? Everywhere. Wherever you are, that's where you write.
If you or someone you love is struggling with their mental health, consider one of these resources:
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Call or text 988. This is the primary mental health crisis line in the US. Available 24/7, connects you to trained counselors. There's also a chat option at 988lifeline.org. Specialized lines exist within 988 for veterans, LGBTQ+ individuals, and Spanish speakers.
• Crisis Text Line — Text HOME to 741741. Good option if someone isn't able to or doesn't want to talk out loud.
• NAMI Helpline — 1-800-950-6264 (NAMI). Not a crisis line, but excellent for guidance, resources, and support for both people experiencing mental health challenges and their loved ones.
Now Breathe. Take The Pressure off Yourself.
You've got this. Find your rhythm and start writing when you're ready. But start with your characters. They'll always show you the way.
Starting is the hardest part — which is exactly why I created a new e-book that pulls back the curtain on my process. I genuinely believe it can help you find yours. Check it out.
Your Turn: Progress report!
What're you working on and what're you loving about it?
I've rejoined Twitter. (It'll always be Kinko's to me.) Turns out all of social media is a dumpster fire engineered to generate dumpster fire takes — but Twitter always had the strongest root network of writers and creatives, and I miss that community. So: one more trip around the sun. Come say hi.
Find me there or...
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