I write 1000 words a day. This is my daily
writing goal. Usually, it takes me an hour in the morning. So, if for some
reason I don't get back to my writing for the rest of the day, I feel satisfied
that I've accomplished something.
And then I got the flu.
It. Was. Awful.
My entire body ached. I could barely sit on
the sofa. Not to mention the dizziness, the nausea, and all the other
unpleasantness that the flu brings. I couldn't even concentrate on watching mind-numbing
television to ease my woes, so my writing was completely dropped from my daily plans.
All my energy went into sleeping and caring for my 2 children and my husband
who were each afflicted with the same bug. At the same time. Yeah, I told you
it was awful! My only saving grace was my oldest son. By some miracle (or
extremely strong and efficient immune system), he didn't get sick. So while he
was home, he helped tremendously with taking care of us.
It was a 24-hour flu, but we were down for
the count for about 3 days. Later, everybody sprang back to health. For the
next 4 days all was well. I went back to my normal routine of writing as if I
had never stopped. Then one morning I woke up with a sore throat. Later, came
the cough. Soon a similar cough was heard from each of my children and my
husband. Even my son with the miraculous immune system couldn’t fight this one!
It was a virus. A nasty one. One that clung
to your lungs and didn't let go. For weeks! My 6 year-old son barely got any
sleep for days and days because he was up all night coughing. And it was a
horrible sounding cough, too. Then there was my husband. He ended up with pneumonia.
I didn’t sleep much, at all.
After several trips to the doctor, a few
variations of medication, now everyone is on the mend.
So ends February and our entire month of
being sick.
And, I'm sad to say, I barely got any
writing in. At first, I was angry with myself over letting those days pass
without a word count. I didn't like taking so many days off. Of course, my
family comes first and during those many nights of staying up with sick kids, I
was not in any frame of mind to string together a single cohesive sentence.
So I took a break.
Only from writing. That doesn't mean I stopped
creating stories altogether. I did a lot of brainstorming. In fact, I'm
constantly thinking about my stories, so I managed to work out some details to
a few of my WIP's while taking a break from the actual writing process. I also took
advantage of this time to get in some reading. For a writer, reading is
essential. I read several interesting books on writing craft, marketing and history. I
continued reading A Feast for Crows
by George R.R. Martin. I caught up on reading some blogs, as well as some online research for historical details for one of my stories.
And, writers never go without research.
Life is research. The next time I
have a scene that involves a character who has the flu or maybe a nasty virus
that just won't let go, and has to care for her 3 children and husband at the
same time…well, I've experienced that!
I'll be able to describe that scene
perfectly.
So really, a writer never takes a
day off. Even sick days. We’re always working in one way or another.
I'm not the only one. Here's a helpful blog post I've read recently:
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