Megan Higginson
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How to write when you are sick or your brain is in a fog.

25/6/2016

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You are plunging into a pit of despair. You are sick, your brain is in a fog. Thoughts seem to flick like wraiths, just out of reach. You can’t think but you have writing deadlines: a blog post; a story for a competition; a manuscript that you have ideas for and you want to write but you just want to crawl back to bed, curl up and sleep until you are well.


Oh am I hearing you! The last few weeks have been one thing after another. Which, as my daughter and close friends pointed out to me, is not unusual. If there is a strange virus to get; weird allergic reactions to odd things (i.e. anaphylactic to Strepsils); infections that don’t respond to antibiotics; then I will get it/have it.


Chuck into the mix living with Fibromyalgia, commonly known as a muscle disorder, but it can affect every part of your body and nearly every system (which is probably why the above things happen to me), then I really know how you are feeling. Winter is never a good season for me. My legs feel like lead and it is exhausting having to drag them around. And my muscles and tendons tear just because they can. And I work part time as well.


And over the last two weeks I’ve had double ear infections. One ear has cleared up the other has not. Then I blacked out Friday night and I am going through tests to find out why.
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So how do I manage to get a blog post up nearly every week? How do I continue to write stories and enter them into competitions and submit to publishers? How am I able to be active on social media? How do I manage one critique a week for my online critique group? And how do I all these things, have a have friends visit, go to my monthly writer’s group, enjoy my life, as well as live with Fibro? (Notice I said ‘live with’ and not ‘suffer from’)

​
​Here is my secret. Are you ready?
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I just do it!
Ahhh! I hear you screaming at me! Noooo! It can’t be that simple. Well...it isn’t. I do have strategies in place to help me through.

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Strategies that work:
  1. I pray for strength (emotional) each day.
  2. I mentally kick my butt out of bed and remind myself why I do what I do.
  3. Then, the second the fog clears, I write.
  4. I have a list of priorities – what is important to me – to write that week.
  5. I do not beat myself up if I don’t achieve everything.
  6. I get excited for what I do get done. (Even if it is 500 words on my current Work In Progress, or editing, or a new blog post)
  7. I treat myself to something relaxing when I finish a task. (Ahhh. Bring on another episode of Star Trek - it doesn't matter what series, or a good book, or watching anime with my daughter)
  8. Then on to the next task.
  9. I have a very supportive daughter and friends. And the BIG ONE… drum roll please....
  10. I write in moments – the moment the fog clears, I write. Whether it is five minutes or two hours, I take it. (I’ve heard of authors working on the writing of a novel in the twenty minute commute to and from work. Not ideal but do-able). And even if the fog hasn't entirely cleared and I can grab a word or a sentence, I write it down. It may be just an idea, but it is something.


Underpinning all this is the answers to some questions that I asked myself at the beginning of my writing journey – when I decided two years ago to start writing seriously. So I put them to you.

Serious questions to ask yourself:
  1. What is my motivation to write?
  2. Why do I want to write for children (or whoever you are writing for)?
  3. What impact (on this world, on children's lives, teens, adults) do I want to have?
  4. How will I achieve this?


It was only after I had taken the time to ask myself these soul-searching questions, come up with the answers, and write them down, as well as being able to articulate it concisely in a few short sentences, that I began to be able to write whenever.


Yes there are times that I feel so sick that I don’t want to move. I rest when I need to. I take time out when I need to. How I manage my illness alongside my writing is the main hurdle that I have had to overcome. I don’t use excuses. I do what I do because I love it and my motivation comes from deep within me. Nothing is going to hold me back from doing what I am doing.


Have a quick look around my website. It won’t take you long to find out what keeps me motivated on my brain fog and unwell days.


But…yes, there is a but…what works for me may not work for you. You just have to try different strategies starting somewhere. Anywhere is better than no-where.


So I hope that this post has helped in some way so that the next time you feel unwell or your brain is in a fog, you'll know what to do. Happy writing!
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What works for you?         
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    On my blog you will find:

    I'm passionate about helping people overcome their fears and live courageously. 

    I love to share as I learn.

    I have dyslexia.

    I share what it is like living with a chronic illness, Fibromyalgia, and learning to live in the moment and enjoy my life.

    There are writing tips from my Writers' Group, Dribbles and Scribbles,  as well as short stories that my friends and I have written.

    I am a qualified Youth Worker and Education Support Worker. I am a  Member of the Australian Society of Authors.

    The content  on this blog is information  only and the author is not liable for what you, the reader, do (or not do) with that information. 

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