Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Writing With a Chronic Illness



Periodically, I like to turn Suspense Novelist over to another author who is seeking more exposure for themselves and their writing.

I'm pleased to welcome KJ Roberts as my guest blogger today. If you'd like to get to know her a little better, or read an excerpt from her book, please visit her blog.






I’m not a doctor. Nor do I play one on TV. So anything I say here is just from my experiences.

I’m an author. An author who has fibromyalgia. While the term is spreading, some people still ask what that is. Truly, I don’t know. No one knows what that is. But people who have it know their bodies, and their bodies are telling them something isn’t right. They are in constant pain, tired all the time and have no energy. Now, there are plenty of other symptoms that go along with this, but neither you, nor I have the time to be bored with it. And all Fibromites are different in terms of what symptoms they have. Just know it is a chronic illness with no known cause or cure.

So what does this mean? For me and my attitude, it means I have a chronic illness that makes me feel sick. I suffer from this daily. I remember the last day that I felt really good. I mean really good. It was last year in the summer. I got up and felt like doing something. I grabbed my husband and said lets go golfing. Hubby jumped at this as he’s an avid golfer. Plus, I’d gotten him a new set of clubs for his birthday last year. I played five holes and was done. I was tired and in pain. I don’t regret playing that day as it was great to spend time with him.

How does this relate to writing? I have to takes things slow. This can really frustrate me if I’m on a roll. The juices may be flowing and the scene hopping in my head, but if I overdo it, I will pay for it. I might not be able to write for days or weeks if I push too hard.

Schedules are impossible. I can’t stick to one, because life has a way of changing things. If I have something planned like washing the laundry, one kid will be sick and have to go to the doctor. Super mom would get the kid to the doctor and wash the clothes. Me…I have to choose. My life has come down to choosing how I use my energy on small things. Shower and let my hair go wet, or no shower and style my hair so it looks nice. (Terrible, but no lie.)

Because I can’t push myself, I don’t usually get in a deadline situation. I don’t submit a quarry and three chapters knowing the story isn’t finished or pose an idea. I make sure everything I submit is complete. I know a lot of authors do, but I have to manage my writing and my illness. I write the story in my head and then look for a home.

I see many authors crank out books and have a huge backlist. I have the ideas for the books, but not the energy. So I don’t compare myself to other writers. I set reasonable goals and work towards them. With my last WIP, I set a goal of three hundred words a day. I worked on that for about a week. I saw that I had ranged from four to six hundred words. After two weeks, I raised my goal to six hundred. I knew it wasn’t pushing too hard after keeping to it for two weeks.

The best thing I could recommend to other authors with chronic illnesses is to measure your writing against yourself, be truthful with how you feel and forget how much others produce. If you don’t feel well, don’t push it. It’s better to take it slow and produce a little work at a steady pace than to produce a lot on a good day and not produce for days later. One good day at two thousand words don’t compare to seven days of six hundred words. Especially when you add it up for a year.


Thanks KJ, for letting us see what a little determination and bichoking can do. You're an inspiration!




CR: Heartsick by Chelsea Cain.

It's all better with friends.

9 comments:

  1. Good morning everyone, and thank you Peg for letting me stop by.

    I'd love to hear from you out there reading this. Shoot me a comment, ask a question or tell me what inspires you. I'll be checking in all day.

    Let's have a good day.

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  2. Sounds like you manage things extraordinarily well, KJ, especially given the overload of chronic pain. Have you found any help from holistic angles? I'm going to look up your book now...thanks for sharing your story (both of them)!

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  3. Wow....wow. Thank you SO much for posting this.

    When I was only 10 years old I fell off a 10 foot wall and it caused trauma to my hips and spine that I literally ONLY found out MONTHS ago was (is!) spinal arthritis. I have been in horrible pain from the age of 10 and sitting still is a big culprit for making it worse, leaving me stiff and pained. I remember being in my young teens (I already wanted to be a writer) and reading STEPPENWOLF and reading how Harry Haller suffered constant pain: in his case, gout, but in my case constant joint pain nonetheless.

    I never realized there was "actually" something wrong with me till now--I am almost 40. (Oops, I mean the big "something-oh.") It sounds like your situation is even worse than mine! I don't get exhausted quite like you do, but I do soak my bones in hot water TWICE a day, and remain very aware of my "peak hours" and I try to take advantage of them. I am very glad you posted this!

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  4. Congratulations for not giving up. It would have been easy, I'm sure, to decide it was too much effort to keep going. I'm also sure your life is richer for doing it anyway.

    Thank you for reminding us all we are not the same, and to work within our own limitations, but to keep on working.

    Pat

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  5. This comment came in earlier, and I've been trying to allow it, without success for some reason. It's beautiful and poignant. And it's important to share:

    SapphireSavvy had this to say:

    Wow....wow. Thank you SO much for posting this.

    When I was only 10 years old I fell off a 10 foot wall and it caused trauma to my hips and spine that I literally ONLY found out MONTHS ago was (is!) spinal arthritis. I have been in horrible pain from the age of 10 and sitting still is a big culprit for making it worse, leaving me stiff and pained. I remember being in my young teens (I already wanted to be a writer) and reading STEPPENWOLF and reading how Harry Haller suffered constant pain: in his case, gout, but in my case constant joint pain nonetheless.

    I never realized there was "actually" something wrong with me till now--I am almost 40. (Oops, I mean the big "something-oh.") It sounds like your situation is even worse than mine! I don't get exhausted quite like you do, but I do soak my bones in hot water TWICE a day, and remain very aware of my "peak hours" and I try to take advantage of them. I am very glad you posted this!

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  6. Not to minimize anyone's life-issues (we all have them), it's an exhortation for those of us who don't suffer from chronic pain to simply get our butts in our chairs and work.

    The dream and the desire won't happen for any of us without the dedication and the discipline.

    To see someone who has a bad day every day, and still manages to fulfill her dream, well . . . if she can do it, I can do it.

    Bless you Kim and SapphireSavvy. You are both lights to the rest of us.

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  7. I've lived with Fibromyalgia for 18 years. I feel tremendous strength in what you wrote and I know you will find a successful path to coping. For us, maintaining a quality life is very important. Take it a day at a time Kim. My very best to you my friend.

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  8. I liked reading your post; I'm sorry for your illness, but I truly admire your courage and determination. I suffer from some chronic diseases, and I know that some times, a good day is when I've accomplished half of what I planned. I will seek out your book, and good days to you.

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  9. Sorry I haven't responded to anyone on here. I have tried, but blogger has been acting up for days now.

    I thank everyone who has responded. You all have given me encouragement that I do have a voice.

    I'm sorry to hear of everyone's pain. Even without an illness, we all have stress and life issues that tend to hold us back from our dreams. But if we never go after them, we have 0% chance of making them happen. If your dream is writing, and you never send out that query, afraid of rejection, then you have rejected your manuscript for every editor out there.

    It's not easy, and I have wanted to give up, but I've found surrounding myself with people who support me is the best thing. This even means I have stopped seeing doctors who make me feel worse after a visit because they don't believe me. I have a wonderful husband who believes in me and he does his best, but he doesn't understand writing like other writers. I don't hold that against him, he's a wonderful man. What I did was seek support in the writing community, formed a great critique group and we have grown together.

    Follow your dreams, because no one else is going to do it for you.

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