The uncertainty of living with chronic illness makes it inevitable that there will be points in your life where writing simply is not possible. At those times, the most important thing for your writing is that you become well enough for it to be part of your life again. But when you get to that point, returning to your writing routine may not be easy.
—
The health breaks I’ve taken from writing
I live with several long-term health conditions which have required me to shelve my writing for a while (if you would like more specifics, you can find out more on my About page). My longest break from writing lasted a year and a half. This was when my health conditions were getting worse but were undiagnosed and not managed through medication or treatment. It took several attempts to get back into writing regularly and I only did this successfully once I’d had some improvements to my health thanks to medication and therapy.
More recently, I had a routine operation to treat one of my health conditions. I took three weeks off writing completely so that I could rest and heal, then returned to writing gradually and am now back to my usual amount of writing per week. Whilst these situations are not the same and I’m aware that my health could take a turn at any point, I felt I had come a long way in my approach to pacing.
For anyone struggling to get back to the amount of writing they would like to after serious illness, an operation, or treatment, here are a few things you could try. As ever, you get to choose what advice you take. Only try the advice that you think could make a difference to your situation.
—
Tips to help you get back into a sustainable writing rhythm
Get back into writing gradually by setting some creative goals without time limits. In reality, you do not have complete control over how well you’ll be as your body is recovering. Create some clear goals that will give you the satisfaction of seeing progress in your writing whilst not committing to a time frame. This could be an opportunity to do something you’ve been meaning to try for ages. I’d always intended to try my hand at some nature poetry but kept putting it off for other things. It turned out to be a great way of easing myself back into writing and getting the satisfaction of trying something new creatively.
If you have deadlines you need to work to, prioritise these first. Depending on where you are in your writing career, you may have some deadlines that you need to meet. Firstly, establish which of these genuinely need to be done, for example, because they might bring in some money. Narrow down your list to only the most important, then work on these first. Most importantly, as we’ll explore more in the next point, pace yourself – don’t expect to work at the same pace that you were before your health break.
Ease yourself back into your writing routine by building up the pace over a month or more. Writing is a skill that takes energy, and just like an athlete wouldn’t come back from a break and expect to train at peak form, you need to give your body the chance to work back up to your usual pace with writing. If you’ve taken several weeks or months off, it can be so tempting to throw yourself back into your favourite hobby. Perhaps you feel rested or you’ve really missed the outlet of writing your thoughts. Nevertheless, build yourself up week by week until you’re back to your usual writing pace. Expect this to take at least a month if not more.
Challenge yourself to a maximum word limit not a minimum word limit. If pacing yourself with writing doesn’t come naturally, try deciding a maximum word limit based on a writing session that you believe won’t tire you out. Used to doing 500 words at a time? Set yourself a goal of 250 words and then have a good long break. The bonus of trying this is it might help you make your writing more concise and your story faster paced.
Be kind to yourself about your progress – this might take a few attempts. You can have the best intentions to ease yourself back into writing, but health complications may still occur. When this happens, don’t beat yourself up about it. You have enough on your plate. Focus once again on becoming well enough to write. Then, when you can, see this time as another opportunity to try a new and interesting creative goal. Don’t be tempted to try and get back to writing faster, you’ll still need to pace yourself again. Importantly, try to reassure yourself that you will get back to it, even if there are multiple setbacks.
—
A plan for when you’ve tried returning to writing a few times and it hasn’t worked out
I’m aware that some of you may have tried to get back to writing multiple times and struggled with health symptoms, feeling like you’re back at square one. If this resonates with your experience, before trying the next time, I’d urge you to reflect on what’s gone well and what hasn’t when you’ve tried before. Which of the following situations do you think describes yours best?
I keep trying to do too much and then make my health worse. This means I can’t keep up a regular routine with my writing. Write out a plan for how you’d like to get back to your writing. Have this ready before you read the next sentence. Ready? Now take your plan and double the amount of time it will take, spreading the tasks you had written down across those weeks. Don’t be tempted to add anything else in. I’m sure you’re feeling desperate to get back to writing and want to nurture your ambitions. Take a slower approach to your return to writing and you may have some better luck with it. Also try to be accepting of your circumstances if your usual pace has changed. What’s important is getting back to writing regularly – if the specifics of how and when are different now, that’s perfectly fine.
I’m anxious that I don’t make my health worse so am cautious about how much I write. This means I don’t get much writing done or do it consistently. Try writing down several prompts that you could do in one writing session. Do a couple of these, then think of a writing prompt that is going to take two sessions. Gradually build up the size of your projects. When I was trying to get back into writing, I found poetry to be the perfect way to start and finish drafts in a single writing session. I could pick a poem up and put it down easily, sometimes with months between edits. Hopefully trying this will build up your confidence in the kind of writing that you can attempt. Outside of writing, try to gradually build up another activity (it might be walking or stretching exercises or socialising or reading). The aim of this is to increase the level of trust you have with your body so you start believing that it is not going to give up on you as soon as you start writing more.
My health genuinely keeps worsening. I can’t maintain my health at a good enough level to write. Consider this your friendly reminder that your most important job as a writer is to stay safe and well enough that you can write. Writing only comes afterwards in priority. Focus on building yourself up emotionally to pursue other options with your doctor. Your writing will still be there in the future.
I hope this gives you a starting point to get you back to your writing. Whatever your writing goals, I believe in you! Got any other tips for returning to writing after a health break? Leave a comment below. In my view, the more of us who manage to finish our writing projects and get our experiences of living with chronic illness out into the world, the better.
—
You might also be interested in: Why popular writing advice doesn’t work when you have a chronic illness
Tori Pearmain 