Put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around. ~On Writing, by Stephen King
These lines appear at the end of a chapter in King's book in which he discusses a difficult time in his writing life, a time when he was drinking a lot - a habit that was wreaking havoc on his family life. In King's mind "creative endeavor and mind altering substances" were entwined, and he feared that without drinking, he wouldn't be able to write. Alcohol had become a flawed support system for his writing life.
As writers, we seek support for our creative endeavors, hopefully in more positive sources than alcohol or drugs. Sometimes it comes from a trusted friend or spouse, or from a set of rituals that surround our writing habits. But at the end of the day we must be self-supporting, must look within for the confidence to sit at the desk in the corner of the room and meet our ideas head on, mold and shape them into something worthy of putting on a page.
How about you? Are you a self-supporting writer? Do you have healthy support systems in place to sustain your creative endeavors?