Category: This Writer’s Life

Writing with Chronic Pain.

Published on by Debbie Johansson2 Comments
Free image courtesy Enrique Meseguer on Pixabay.

When it comes to my writing this year, I began with optimism; I had another novella to write, and I was full of new ideas. Of-course, life doesn’t always go according to plan, and as the year went on, I found myself facing my biggest challenge yet.

The previous year (2021), I had taken a couple of falls, landing on alternate knees, causing injury, but thankfully no broken bones. Normally a healthy person, this was frustrating, but I managed. However, it was not until the end of the year that another health problem arose.

As the months passed, pain in my legs and lower back intensified. I had trouble sleeping and went to ‘bed’ on the lounge. To make matters worse, our family doctor of twenty years eventually retired, leaving me anxious and receiving three different diagnoses from three different doctors. Eventually, when at my lowest ebb, things worked out and in early July, I finally received my diagnosis. Sacroiliac joint pain – inflammation in my lower back, pelvis, and thighs. Yep, when I get sick, I make sure I do it properly!

Although I could go the quicker route to recovery by having a cortisone injection in my back, I’ve decided to go the slower route (an injection some months earlier in my left hip left me with a bad experience and I swore I’d never go through it again). Now, I have the right dosage with my medication, I am regularly seeing a chiropractor, and having regular acupuncture and massage. Some days are better than others, and after sleeping on the lounge for three months, I am now back in my bed again! 🙂

Throughout all of this, I naturally backed away a bit from social media, and as you’d expect, my writing has been seriously impacted. I have always been a slow writer, and living with chronic pain has made me accept that it’s part of my writing process.

I’m normally not one to talk about such personal issues, but I mention it to demonstrate that setbacks do happen; nobody knows what’s going on behind the scenes in a writer’s life. Not everyone can write fast, whether it’s through circumstances and/or their genetic makeup. You shouldn’t have to feel like a ‘failure’ if you don’t (and I’ve been there too many times to count). If you can write fast, that’s great, too! Everyone is different. It’s okay to write at your own pace, you shouldn’t have to feel shame either way.

Right now I’m on the slow road to recovery, and that also means the slow road when it comes to writing. We all have our own paths. Unfortunately, it can sometimes take dramatic changes in our lives to come to terms with it.

Has 2022 turned out differently to what you had planned? Have you come to accept your own writing process? Have you ever felt pressured to write faster?

Have You Ever Felt Cursed?

Published on by Debbie Johansson2 Comments

Have you experienced so much bad luck, you felt that you were cursed?

This is exactly how I felt on my tenth birthday, believing that I must have done something terribly wrong. Okay, so I was prone to having an overactive imagination and seeing the dark side in everything even at a young age. 😉

The day had gone well, despite having to spend it at school, but I guess that was the calm before the storm. I had some friends over to help celebrate in the afternoon, and wanted one of them to stay overnight, but they were not allowed. Despite my disappointment, as it would turn out, that was the best decision.

I was on the bed playing with my new toys, when what sounded like stones were being thrown against the side of the house. I thought it was the kids next door, but thought it strange, as they had never done such a thing before. When I heard the same sound on the roof, I went to ask my dad what was going on.

It was the beginning of a hailstorm, which would go on to cause major damage to our home. Our roof was so bad, you could look up and see the sky from our lounge room. My sisters and I moped the kitchen floor to no avail; the water just kept coming, and the hail was deafening.

My concern was for my guinea pigs. The mother had recently given birth to two little ones. They were outside under an awning, and I had wanted to bring them inside for the night. My mum thought they’d be fine under there.

When the storm was over, we crossed the white, icy road, where the hail was as large as golf balls, to our aunt’s house. We ended up living with my aunt and uncle for some months while our house was being repaired. The following day, I sat in my auntie’s lounge room in front of a heater with the mother guinea pig in my lap, trying to keep her warm. Cold and in shock, she died, joining her two babies that had died during the storm.

It was a night I will never forget.

That day I felt cursed, but at least that was something I eventually grew out of. These days, however, hailstorms are something I have come to dread.

Have you experienced a lot of bad luck? Did it ever make you feel so overwhelmed you thought you were cursed?

Creating Your own Writing Retreat.

Published on by Debbie Johansson7 Comments
Free image courtesy KatjaFiona on Pixabay.

Recently, I spent several days in the Blue Mountains, a location that inspires some of my stories. Rather than splash out at attending writing retreats specifically tailored for writers, I create my own.

I’ve been doing this for some years now, which initially started with me going it alone, but these days, now that the kids are older, it’s whenever my husband and I go away. I’m now in the habit of packing my laptop and writing notes with me, so I can continue writing and gaze out the window admiring the different scenery.

The past three trips away, I’ve worked on the first two novellas in my Marsden Hall series in their various incarnations. I’ve thought about plot outlines while soaking in an outdoors hot tub, edited by the beach, as well as editing while being snowed in in a log cabin.

This is not to say that I won’t knock back the opportunity to go on a writing retreat to meet other writers if ever I get the chance (I was lucky to have been chosen to participate in one back in 2009), but it’s having that control of where and when I choose to write. Being alone or with one other person, also allows me to focus and not be too distracted by others.

New places and experiences are always great fodder for stories. We may look forward to a bit of R&R, but then, a writer never truly switches off! 😉

*And the good news is, the first draft of Marsden Hall 3 is done!! Watch this space!*

Do you create your own writing retreats, or have you ever been on a professional one? Have you found them beneficial? What’s your idea of an ideal writing retreat?