Day 612: Writing through chronic illness
I don’t know if I can say that my IBS is a chronic illness, because the pain and discomfort can be controlled and maybe even eliminated with a very strict diet. It’s not like other illnesses where there isn’t a lot you can do to prevent pain.
But I had to take a break from writing today because I had a sudden bout of pain, and I wondered how writers with real chronic illnesses get work done. I suppose they pushed themselves to work through the pain when it wasn’t too bad.
It reminded me of one of my writer friends who does have a chronic illness, and she once told me that she often writes on her phone. I think what she does is at moments throughout the day when her pain is lessened, she gets some writing done no matter where she is or what she’s doing. She doesn’t have to sit at her desk or get out her computer. She just writes until she can’t anymore.
When I thought about it, that’s rather freeing, too. She doesn’t have to feel guilty about not writing a lot in each session because she knows she’ll just write more in the next session, whether that’s in a few hours or the next day. It also enables her to keep working when she’s having a bad day.
For my IBS, there are times during the day when the pain isn’t quite as bad, and I could probably get a few words done during those times. In fact, once or twice I tried to time it so that I did my bare minimum writing for the day during the hour when I wasn’t feeling too bad.
I starting thinking that this might be how writers with chronic illness get their work done, in small chunks during the day when they’re feeling better. It’s similar to how other writers who have kids will take a few minutes to write during the times they have the chance to be alone.
My IBS is feeling better now, but if it does flare up again, I want to remember this and try to get a little bit of writing done in short bursts during the day when the symptoms aren’t so bad. Even on particularly bad days, there are always a few moments here and there where the pain is uncomfortable, but low enough that I could push myself to work through the pain, if only for a few minutes.
Also, now that I’m doing the majority of my writing on 4thewords.com, it’s easy to write on my phone if I have to, because I only have to pull up the browser and my work has been saved online. I still do my editing in Scrivener, but I can certainly do my rough draft and even my blocking on 4thewords on my phone if I don’t want to sit down at my desk.
I kind of wish I’d thought of this last month when I had those flare-ups—I might have gotten a little more work done on my book if I could have done a little bit at several points during the day.
Editing: Time spent: 11 minutes
Writing: Time spent: 36 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 540 words
Writing streak: 91 days
Blocking: time spent: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Blocking streak: 85 days
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 35 minutes
My takeaway for today: (I hope I remember this) When I’m having a bad IBS day, do a bit of writing in short bursts when the pain isn’t so bad.
But I had to take a break from writing today because I had a sudden bout of pain, and I wondered how writers with real chronic illnesses get work done. I suppose they pushed themselves to work through the pain when it wasn’t too bad.
It reminded me of one of my writer friends who does have a chronic illness, and she once told me that she often writes on her phone. I think what she does is at moments throughout the day when her pain is lessened, she gets some writing done no matter where she is or what she’s doing. She doesn’t have to sit at her desk or get out her computer. She just writes until she can’t anymore.
When I thought about it, that’s rather freeing, too. She doesn’t have to feel guilty about not writing a lot in each session because she knows she’ll just write more in the next session, whether that’s in a few hours or the next day. It also enables her to keep working when she’s having a bad day.
For my IBS, there are times during the day when the pain isn’t quite as bad, and I could probably get a few words done during those times. In fact, once or twice I tried to time it so that I did my bare minimum writing for the day during the hour when I wasn’t feeling too bad.
I starting thinking that this might be how writers with chronic illness get their work done, in small chunks during the day when they’re feeling better. It’s similar to how other writers who have kids will take a few minutes to write during the times they have the chance to be alone.
My IBS is feeling better now, but if it does flare up again, I want to remember this and try to get a little bit of writing done in short bursts during the day when the symptoms aren’t so bad. Even on particularly bad days, there are always a few moments here and there where the pain is uncomfortable, but low enough that I could push myself to work through the pain, if only for a few minutes.
Also, now that I’m doing the majority of my writing on 4thewords.com, it’s easy to write on my phone if I have to, because I only have to pull up the browser and my work has been saved online. I still do my editing in Scrivener, but I can certainly do my rough draft and even my blocking on 4thewords on my phone if I don’t want to sit down at my desk.
I kind of wish I’d thought of this last month when I had those flare-ups—I might have gotten a little more work done on my book if I could have done a little bit at several points during the day.
Editing: Time spent: 11 minutes
Writing: Time spent: 36 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 540 words
Writing streak: 91 days
Blocking: time spent: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Blocking streak: 85 days
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 35 minutes
My takeaway for today: (I hope I remember this) When I’m having a bad IBS day, do a bit of writing in short bursts when the pain isn’t so bad.
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