In this live monologue, Dr. John A. King (Th.D.) discusses the vital link between creativity and mental health, drawing on his experience as a prolific author of 27 books who is now navigating mainstream publishing. He explains that while writers naturally consider audience and market demands, true creativity serves the soul and acts as a safe haven for those with mental illness. King warns that writing solely for publishers, editors, or algorithmic popularity can stifle authenticity and dilute the writer’s voice. He contrasts genuine, self‑driven writing with content created merely to please algorithms or boost popularity, emphasizing that authentic work benefits both the creator and the audience. He urges listeners to examine their motives—write for themselves first, then the audience will benefit—and invites them to connect with him on Substack and social media.
Chapters
I'm Dr. John King. It's great to connect with you. I just wanted to talk. I'm an author. I deal in mental health, in the mental health space. Love to connect with you on Substack, Dr. John A. King, or on social. But I want to talk a little bit about the creative process because the creative process is very important for mental health. I think all of us have within us the desire to be creative in some way. And it's been found that it's fundamentally important for the overall balance of a person. Now, as a writer, I am always aware that there's an audience at the end of what I do. And being a writer, I always want to wax poetic about anything, but sometimes that doesn't help my audience. Sometimes that's not getting a message across, or I think it's not getting a message across. We're in the process of publishing some books. I've published 27 and I'm wanting to take some mainstream. And this is the first time I've really dealt with writing with a publisher in mind. And I've found that it's threatening to stifle some creativity. So that asks the question, it arises a question for me as an author, as someone who's wanting to create. What is my end goal? I think all of us want an end goal for our work to be read. We want our voice to be heard, but that's really not the reason you create. The reason you create is because it does something for your soul. If you suffer from a mental illness, creativity is often a very safe haven and a safe place to spend time in your head in a positive way. So this dichotomy arises. Am I creating for my voice to be heard? Yes. Am I creating to find a wider audience, say in a publisher? Yes. But fundamentally I'm creating because I have an overwhelming desire to create. I have a need to create. I see the benefit of creating. And I think in that creative process, it's very important to be authentic for that. Because you will lose your voice if you write purely for an audience. If you forget that it's the message you're wanting to get out and not the audience you're wanting to cater to, you will lose your voice if you are writing for a publisher or an editor as the end goal. So I think it's very important that you stay anchored to why you're writing, what it is you're wanting to convey, and then navigate everything else in between in order to get to your audience. Authenticity is very tangible. Have you ever scrolled through Substack or social media and hit a post and thought, man, what the hell? They're just writing because they want to write. They're not writing because they want to write. They're writing because they're wanting to engage me in their algorithm or they're wanting to boost their popularity. They're not connecting with me on a soul and emotional level. That's very transparent. AI can't do that. You can't put in, dear Substack, please show me new authors and somehow think that an author's going to read them and think you sincerely want to connect with them. If you really wanted to connect with them, you would take the time to find them, read them, and engage with them. So I want to encourage you when asking yourself the question or looking at yourself with the material you're writing, Are you writing for you or are you writing for them? If you're writing for you, then they will benefit from it. If you're writing for them, then no one's going to benefit from it. You are not gonna benefit from it and your message will be tinny and they won't. So if part of writing and creativity is part of your process for your mental health, be very, very sure That what you're writing is true to you, because then everyone will get to benefit from it. Anyway, cheers. Great to have a chat again. Connect with me on Substack, Dr. John A. King, or on social media. Have a tremendous day.
