Three Things I Learned while Being a Sick Writer

Note: This post originally appeared on MetaStellar’s Writing Advice of the Week column

There I was, standing outside in the snow, in Amsterdam, with nothing but a light jacket. As I boarded the plane to return to the UK for my PhD, I had the feeling that I was going to get sick. A few days later, after returning home, I did just that.

However, becoming ill taught me a number of things about writing. This is less about powering through when sick and meeting deadlines regardless and more about what it means to make the most out of being sick as a writer. Because sickness absolutely derails one’s writing plans. So what did I learn about writing while being sick? Let me explain below.

You Don’t Always Need to be Writing to Work on Your Writing

First of all, I was reminded that there is more to writing than writing itself. You can be invested in the other aspects of the writing process outside of putting words down on paper. And when you’re ill, doing what little you can while dealing with sickness is more than enough. Sometimes, taking a break from the computer is the only thing you can do when you’re sick.

I decided to be proactive with my writing process. A couple of things that I worked on were:

Worldbuilding. I’ve written a couple posts about how to build your world, but a key factor in effective worldbuilding is working on specific aspects of your world a little at a time and not all at once. Building a world deeply and not broadly means thinking about worldbuilding over a period of time. While being sick, I realized this was the perfect time to build my world some more since I wasn’t writing. I focused on aspects of my world that I needed to build on as I continued writing at a later date. So in a sense, I used the time I originally wanted for writing to world-build instead.
Editing. I also used this time to look back on what I had written to edit. I don’t mean this in a very deep sense. More like going back and noting some things I could do to better my manuscript, rather than nitpicking any details. After all, editing is part of the writing process. While I was sick, this gave me the chance to look back on what I had written so far since I didn’t have the energy to write at the time. So in the end, I made the most of my writing process.

Taking a Break from Writing Made Me Enjoy My Writing More

Another thing that I realized once I got over my illness was that I enjoyed getting back into writing regularly. I found the old enjoyment that I used to have when I first started writing, way back when I was a kid. And this all came after taking an unwilling break! So I curated the following tips when it comes to taking a break from writing:

Schedule breaks from your writing when you are overwhelmed. In my case, I was overwhelmed by a lack of energy and my body fighting off an infection. I didn’t have the strength to write, so I scheduled a break. The important thing was that I made sure to schedule a time when I would get back to writing (when I was feeling better). But if you’re feeling overwhelmed for any other reason, schedule a reasonable time off and take the time to decompress.
Take some time off from writing when you’re stuck with your project. This could be because you ran into a plot hole or you don’t know where to take your writing next. In these cases, don’t just power through. Take the time to take a step back and understand how you got yourself into this situation. This allows you the chance to work on your project through editing to undo the plot hole or planning to move forward with your story. This goes back to what I said about the writing process. Sometimes you aren’t actually writing. Instead, you’re planning, editing, or building your world.

No matter what I was doing, I was making the most of my writing process while also finding the joy that comes with writing after taking a break. The anticipation of getting to write again also lent to this excitement, and it made things easier when I got back into my routine.

Sickness Won’t Get Me Down

Lastly, I learned that illness isn’t going to keep me from getting back into writing and enjoying my writing process. In fact, it only made me enjoy my overall writing process more. I took the time to reexamine what I was doing and recognize what was working and what wasn’t working for me, and once I got my energy back, I went back into my updated process with full force.

I also remembered the following about dealing with sickness as a writer: I am not a failure if I can’t follow my routine. Sometimes you need to abandon your routine for reasons you can’t control. Even if you don’t mean to come back to it later, that doesn’t make you a failure. You’re simply evolving as a writer. I may not have been able to follow my routine for a few days, but I recognized that my worth isn’t measured in how much writing I put out.

So as you can see, sickness taught me a lot of things about writing and how to be a better writer. I hope it does the same for you. When you’re derailed by sickness or anything else life-changing, remember to make the most of it and don’t count yourself as a failure if you need to take a step back. Happy writing!

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