By: Artie Carden
I’m Artie, a disabled and chronically ill writer. I used my time at university to relearn what worked for me as I had a rough time in school due to my dyslexia. I came out the other end with a 2:1 in Creative and Professional Writing and had some work published within the following year. Then I became sick with Crohn’s disease, a new chronic illness I had to adjust my life to, along with my writing and creative needs. This is what I have learned.
Fight the fatigue!
Fatigue is a hard one to work around as it hits whenever it fancies. Find your best working time. It may vary. Some days I’m best at midday, others it’s the evening, sometimes even at night. Etch in an hour or so, every day or every other day, during your best times. If you can do this semi-regularly, your body and brain will start getting used to being active during this period. If you’re exhausted, take a nap, don’t try to keep yourself up if you’re really struggling to stay awake. It’s all about working with your body, not against it.
Working through the pain
Make sure you stretch. I know I get a lot of tension in my neck shoulders and upper back, mostly from bad posture. And my chronic pain means I can’t sit in the same position for too long and will shuffle about a lot. Stretching really helps to prevent further pain later on as well as alleviate current discomfort. Needless to say, try to sit somewhere relatively comfortable with a back to it. I hate chairs with no backs as I slump. Bring your supplies: pain killers, sunglasses if you are prone to migraines (I find I can still work if I have them on), biofreeze, etc. to help you get through a writing session.
When the brain fog gets to be too much…
Brain just won’t do the do? The right words just won’t come to you? Keep writing and leave little descriptions or the closest word you can think of in [ ] or even ??? for you to come back to another time. You can highlight them if you fancy. On a better brain day, you’ll be more on it with editing and clearer in mind to fix your writing issues. Remember, you can still bash out some words on your WIP to help reach your word count when your brain is feeling floppy. We edit our work enough. It won’t make much difference in the end.
A change of scenery
Get out the house if you can. Pop to a local café or library. The change in location can stimulate your brain. Start a ritual for working, both in and out of the house. Need a certain drink to get through working? Some rewards? Have it all ready and set up.
The same goes for people who are housebound. I find myself often in my bedroom and even changing to a different part of the house can help a lot, I’ve noticed that sitting at a table (kitchen table) can help put my brain into work mode after three years of university, working at tables in the library or refectory became second nature.
For people who are bedbound, it’s a little more complex. I’d say the working ritual will help you a lot. Go into active mode, use a certain light, light a candle or use a particular scent, open the window and get a little fresh air. Use the bedtime sleep routine tips for inspiration.
Noise is just too much!
Can’t work in silence? Or you’re working in a busy place because you HAVE TO? Or there’s that one noise or person you can’t block out? Find a playlist that works for you. Some people work well with a playlist they made inspired by their story. Some people cannot work with lyrics and are better with instrumentals. And some people absolutely CANNOT COPE with any of that so try some background noise/white noise.
I really enjoy the sound of rain, and the weather has been so bad where I live, I don’t even need a playlist. There are the occasional people who work better with heavier music, like metal or dystopian film soundtracks. Find what suits you and your brain. I switch between them depending on the mood of the piece.
The annoying schedule of being disabled…
Lots of us will be working writing around medical appointments and will run out of energy by the time you get home again. If you can, bring your laptop or notebook with you, also acceptable is using your phone for notes, (I do this a lot) and do this during the waiting periods. Sometimes we can be sat in a waiting room for an hour or more, might as well make that time useful!
Also, for my fellows who are often sat on the toilet for long periods of time, same goes there. I have had moments where I needed to do something but kept needing the toilet. So I brought my laptop with me. I use Google docs for a lot of WIP coz I can use it on my laptop and phone. It doesn’t matter which I use. It will stay updated on both.
Overall, don’t forget, you are allowed to take breaks to recharge your brain! Take care of your needs first and your writing will flourish.
About Artie Carden
Artie is a 25-year-old writer with hyper mobility syndrome and Crohn’s disease. They are non-binary and use they/them pronouns only. Artie’s first diagnosis was originally finally diagnosed in 2013 but only really taken seriously in 2018. During this time, they also developed symptoms of an inflammatory bowel disease and were diagnosed with Crohn’s in June 2019. They want to do everything in their power to help others like them and also teach able-bodied people what it is like to be disabled in 2020.
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THis article resonated with me so much – fight the fatigue, brain fog… All those are issues that I battle with my chronic illness as well and when I am trying to write. I’m glad it hasn’t stopped you because clearly you have talent!
So true. It’s hard enough trying to squeeze in the time and energy to write when you’re well. Adding an illness to that makes it twice as hard. But a good and dedicated writer can push through any obstacles. That’s proven in this post.
Thank you that’s very kind of you to say! I just want to try and help level the playing field! Disabled and chronically ill people are often forgotten but we deserve better and I wanna help everyone share their story coz I know mine is only one particular story among many! 💞
Your spirit is amazing. I am astounded in tb4 day you hold yourself accountable and have an established plan for all the excuses that come along with writing. Your tips on how to handle brain fogs will be useful to me moving forward as I typically would just stop writing if I was feeling that way before. Now, I can keep writing using your tips.
That’s awesome. Writing is such a singular activity that it helps to know that others are in the same boat and have ways of coping with distractions.
Thank you! I try to do what I can to make myself feel more human and be able to work during times I actually have work haha I’m glad that my tips have been helpful! I was always taught writing something is better than writing nothing! As I said in the piece, you’ll edit it anyway!
Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s inspiring as I have a chronic illness too that isn’t going away! I often tell myself to push through the pain and fatigue but I also try to give myself some rest because burning out stops everything!
I know how you feel I’m glad you liked my piece! I was told once that sometimes you have to push through because it isn’t living to stay in a permanent state of ‘moderate’ and it’s worth pushing through and feeling payback sometime. But we also have to learn to be kind to ourselves. Our bodies are doing what they can and the things they can do it crazy!
I’m blown away by this. Some of this is what I’m already doing, but the specifics are great insights on more authentic choices and solutions out there. Well done.
Thank you I’m glad you liked it. It’s based mostly on my own experience but I did want to offer other suggestions to help inspire creativity in other disabled/chronically ill writers who deal with different issues than myself.
i get a lot of brain fog sometimes
There’s a lot going on in life that can lead to brain fog. So, don’t be too hard on yourself.
Me too don’t worry! Been having it quite badly today 🙂
Gosh she makes all my excuses for procrastinating sound LAME!!! Wonderful and inspiring post.