One thing that I struggle with as a writer living with limitations is writing regularly. I don’t kid myself that I have to, or can write, every day, but it’s frustrating to me that my days are so unpredictable. I have a book on deadline right now, and the irregular nature of my writing practice is tough going.
I keep a journal of almost daily struggles with pain and multiple medical problems, along with spiritual inspirational quotes, and notes from books I am reading and studying. When I have very little energy (sometimes the fatigue is worse than the pain) only notes from books go in. If I have too strong of a brain fog, I meditate. Then I most often have a clear enough mind to write for a few minutes. That said, I have yet to learn how to index my journal so I can cherry pick themes and write coherent essays. I am so afraid I will fail.
I’m in awe of how much that you do, given chronic fatigue (which I understand well)! I’m sorry to do a little sales pitch, but—it sounds like with your notebooks and wealth of notes, my Indexing as Creative Discovery class, which is in the Academy (http://www.unexpectedshapeacademy.com), is perfect for you—it’s the step-by-step method that I use, using index cards, to get the material from my notebooks and research to write essays and books. Just a gentle suggestion; no pressure. Regardless of whether you decide to try it, I want to cheer you on for all that you ARE doing. I know it might not feel like enough, but it is A LOT.
I am so excited to find you on Substack. Reading “The Collected Schizophrenias” was enlightening and reaffirming with my struggle with Schizoaffective Disorder. I lost a husband to colon cancer in 2005. It was a rough marriage. He was a narcissist. I will be eagerly following you.
I recently decided to share my first speculative fiction work through substack instead of submitting to agents for a third round. (Gothic horror - man accidentally sells soul to Devil for YouTube subscribers). I've got more speculative fiction novels half done, but I'm finding that the idea that I have to either submit these or try self-publishing is preventing me from finishing them. I just got off a call the other day with some dear friends in a writing group and all of their agents are ... underwhelming, let's say that. So it feels like you jump through a gauntlet to get an agent and then there's still.... more rings of fire to jump through? Or a great pit of nothing? Ugh, I just woke up, sorry to dump my morning pages on you. I love and appreciate your newsletter!
That sounds so tough; I'm sorry it's been such a difficult timefor you. But I am really glad that you have a writing group—I think that can be so useful, especially if you're struggling in the writing industry. It's good to have a support group that can understand what you're going through!
I do. It’s a really great group—I love them and admire them so much. But we don’t exchange work much anymore, I think because we’re pretty confident about our writing and how to revise it at this point. It’s mostly a text and in-person support group.
One thing that I struggle with as a writer living with limitations is writing regularly. I don’t kid myself that I have to, or can write, every day, but it’s frustrating to me that my days are so unpredictable. I have a book on deadline right now, and the irregular nature of my writing practice is tough going.
I keep a journal of almost daily struggles with pain and multiple medical problems, along with spiritual inspirational quotes, and notes from books I am reading and studying. When I have very little energy (sometimes the fatigue is worse than the pain) only notes from books go in. If I have too strong of a brain fog, I meditate. Then I most often have a clear enough mind to write for a few minutes. That said, I have yet to learn how to index my journal so I can cherry pick themes and write coherent essays. I am so afraid I will fail.
I’m in awe of how much that you do, given chronic fatigue (which I understand well)! I’m sorry to do a little sales pitch, but—it sounds like with your notebooks and wealth of notes, my Indexing as Creative Discovery class, which is in the Academy (http://www.unexpectedshapeacademy.com), is perfect for you—it’s the step-by-step method that I use, using index cards, to get the material from my notebooks and research to write essays and books. Just a gentle suggestion; no pressure. Regardless of whether you decide to try it, I want to cheer you on for all that you ARE doing. I know it might not feel like enough, but it is A LOT.
Thank you for the acknowledgment, Esmέ! I will email you separately.
I’ll keep an eye out!
I am so excited to find you on Substack. Reading “The Collected Schizophrenias” was enlightening and reaffirming with my struggle with Schizoaffective Disorder. I lost a husband to colon cancer in 2005. It was a rough marriage. He was a narcissist. I will be eagerly following you.
So glad I found this!! Also we have matching blond pixies hehehehe :D
I find submitting and marketing my work an emotional and logistical nightmare.
It is really really rough. What kind of work are you trying to market?
I recently decided to share my first speculative fiction work through substack instead of submitting to agents for a third round. (Gothic horror - man accidentally sells soul to Devil for YouTube subscribers). I've got more speculative fiction novels half done, but I'm finding that the idea that I have to either submit these or try self-publishing is preventing me from finishing them. I just got off a call the other day with some dear friends in a writing group and all of their agents are ... underwhelming, let's say that. So it feels like you jump through a gauntlet to get an agent and then there's still.... more rings of fire to jump through? Or a great pit of nothing? Ugh, I just woke up, sorry to dump my morning pages on you. I love and appreciate your newsletter!
That sounds so tough; I'm sorry it's been such a difficult timefor you. But I am really glad that you have a writing group—I think that can be so useful, especially if you're struggling in the writing industry. It's good to have a support group that can understand what you're going through!
It's kept me going, that's for sure. How have you kept going- do you have a group?
I do. It’s a really great group—I love them and admire them so much. But we don’t exchange work much anymore, I think because we’re pretty confident about our writing and how to revise it at this point. It’s mostly a text and in-person support group.
Good. I just now emailed you.
This is a really good question, and I’d like to address it in a future Substack. I’ll keep thinking about it!