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I’m sitting here typing this post on a typewriter-key keyboard with a bowl of Chinese food perched rather precariously in front of it. Normally, I take a proper lunch break by sitting somewhere more disability-friendly than my desk and read (or listen) to a book, but today my self-appointed manager is in the shower and I can get away with working through lunch. Chekov, my service dog, is lying on the floor behind my chair curled up on the oversized pillow bed that was originally purchased for Boo (my now-retired service dog). He doesn’t much care for my office, he much prefers when I take my normal lunch break elsewhere.
Then again, ‘normal’ is a dangerous word when trying to apply it to a disabled life.
There are many blogs that talk about how to set yourself up for success as a writer. I listened to much of that advice...
Set up a schedule and stick to it no matter what
Don’t buy into writer’s block, there is no such thing. Just motivate yourself better!
Write your first draft and then cut it down, and down, and down, and down until you’ve got your book.
Don’t write something more than 80 000 words long for your first novel. No one will buy it.
...and discarded those tidbits. It might work for some authors, and it might work for some new writers, but each of those pieces of advice were completely incompatible with the realities of working while disabled.
Scheduling
Ideally, my work runs from 9:00am-6:00pm, with maybe a few inspired evening writing sprints, Monday through Friday. That schedule never happens. There are numerous interruptions to that schedule and most of them are disability-related. In the morning it can take me a couple of hours to really sort out how I’m feeling that day. Usually, that means I have coffee around 8:30am and read until 9:00am-ish. I write from whenever that ish is until lunch. Sometime during that block, I work out (my physical therapy exercises). After lunch, I write through my ‘afternoon lull’ when brain fog is worst. Coffee does wonders for a pick me up, and then I write until my body refuses to let me sit at my desk--there is a near-constant war between what my mind says we can do (“just one more sentence”) and my body (“you said that three hours ago”).
Writer’s Block
Writer’s block is absolutely real, and it happens for a reason. I’m presently working on The Pantheon Prophet, and one extremely important scene was simply refusing to be written. I left it alone, worked on literally everything else I possibly could, then came back to it.
The block was not magically gone. I poked at it, prodded, wanted to scream, and my fidget cube put in overtime, but alas it wasn’t fixed. Why not? I had to take a step back and reevaluate the scene. It wasn’t working because I was trying to force characters into doing actions that weren’t organic. I was attempting to make two characters push when they both wanted to pull. I let them pull. Now I have 1571 words instead of 0. Writer’s block is a tool, and an underappreciated one at that.
I also believe that writing when you’re inspired produces the best writing but inspiration should never be used as a procrastination tool. If you write best when inspired, find ways to be inspired. I dedicate time during the day and especially during the weekend to recharge my inspiration batteries. I consume all the media I can that relates to my story (books, music, TV, movies, and videogames) and that allows me to both learn from other excellent writers what to do and what not to do.
Cut, Cut, Cut
The last two pieces of advice I threw out the window entirely. Writing a novel is an intensely personal experience, no two writers are going to approach it the same way. Some writers create these massive, bloated manuscripts that can be cut into sleek, excellent books. The idea behind this being that if you add in as much as you can, you have plenty to work with during the editing process. For some, that is excellent advice. For me, it is awful.
I build a skeleton, then add in the rest of the meat. It’s what works best for me. Especially considering my brain fog. Knowing that I can always add more to a chapter later is hugely freeing. There are many chapters that had [INSERT SOMETHING HERE] which then gave me the freedom to work on the next chapter. Sometimes it’s brain fog, sometimes it’s writer’s block. But sticking with this method has worked best for me.
As far as word length at the end of your story: I tried to keep things short because I didn’t believe anyone would buy a long book written by a nobody. There are general guidelines for each genre, but those are pretty loose guides. When it comes to practical application, the best advice I can give is this:
Write your story to its fullest. Don’t count the words.
L.J.
P.S.
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