Writers First Aid

Writerly Lessons Learned

February 25, 2011

sick Being sick for ten days recently taught me some lessons.

1) I’m too busy. It’s no wonder I have trouble getting any writing done, much less enjoying it. I’ve noticed for months that I was having a lot of trouble settling down and actually doing my daily writing. I was great at telling other people how to do it, but not good at it myself. So when I was extremely ill–but still getting more writing done than usual–it got my attention. Why was that?

It was because I was running a fever and couldn’t see people or I would spread the plague. Each morning I’d stand in the bathroom, shivering, and take my temperature. If it was over 101, the solution was simple: cancel all meetings I had that day. Most days I cancelled more than one meeting or appointment. In ten days, I cancelled ten things. Two things I really minded (babysitting my grandkids). Eight things I didn’t mind much at all. (And truthfully, five of the things I was thrilled to get out of.)

After being home a week, I realized how lovely it was to be home. I didn’t enjoy being sick, but I loved being able to stay put. And just from being home more, I wrote more. Usually just fifteen or twenty minutes at a time out of sheer boredom, but it all added up. And a lot faster than my “well” days when I pushed myself to write.

The result? I resigned from an office that requires about six or seven hours per month and two meetings per month. I plan to back out of a few more things when my terms are up.

2) The second lesson I learned when sick was that I’m online too much. I had sort of realized this for a long time, and had a goal of not getting online until noon because email and Facebook and surfing ate up too much time. But when sick, I just wanted to be curled up on the couch with the heating pad, blankets, cough drops, and a book. (I don’t have a wireless laptop, thank goodness, so that wasn’t an option.)

After ten days of only being online maybe an hour every other day to attend to editor email and post a blog, I realized how much more I was enjoying my days–even sick! I’m not even sure why, but I find being online too much quite agitating. I don’t read or watch things that are disturbing, so it’s rather a mystery to me, but I definitely notice it.

I’m feeling much better now, but yesterday I deliberately stayed offline because I didn’t need to blog, and I wrote and read and took my book outside and sat in the swing (which I hadn’t done in months) and noticed things (cardinals, daffodils coming up, lawn furniture needing scrubbing). I got the reading done that I needed to do for a class, but it was calming.

3) The third lesson I learned while sick is that I don’t read enough good books. I read a lot of articles online, or books that don’t challenge me but are entertaining before I drop off to sleep. But good books? Challenging books? They’re hard to find.

When my fever dropped after a week or so, I headed to the library for some new books. I had been re-reading classics on my shelf which I loved, but I was ready to concentrate on something new. I brought home six brand new books–I was the first to check them out.

I only ended up reading one of them all the way through, and it was only so-so. The others-many by bestselling authors–I only made it through about fifteen pages. Apparently the trend now in adult books is to switch viewpoints every two or three pages (one book had seven viewpoints in fifteen pages), and it was like being jerked around on a badly edited movie screen. I couldn’t keep track of the characters, so when they got murdered or whatever, who cared?

Leave a Suggestion

If you’ve read a fiction book for adults in recent years that really grabbed you, leave a comment, okay? I love recommendations. In recent years I’ve enjoyed books like The Help, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Folly Beach, and The Secret Life of Bees. Good gripping character stories-do you know any like that? Part of the life of a writer is feeding your mind with good writing.

Post tags: emotional balance, focus, focusing, habits, reading, recovery, schedules, strategy, time management, writing habits

Posted in: habits,pace,reading,schedules,writing habits,writing output | | Comments (17)

17 Comments »

Hi Kristi,

I LOVED The Help and The Secret Life of Bees as well. I also enjoyed The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, The Mermaid Chair and all of Mitch Albom’s if you haven’t tried those. Eat, Pray, Love was also fun, some parts more than others, but worth a read. I’m told the Steig Larsson series is really good though they are still in my to read pile.

Glad you are feeling better. I need to take a lesson in the stay home and be productive way of life! I’ll give it a try without the fever however:-) Take Care!

Karin Larson

Comment by Karin Larson — February 25, 2011 @ 8:53 am
Karin, THANK YOU for the author recommendations. Mitch is a new name to me, and I haven’t tried the Larsson series yet either. To the library!

Comment by Kristi Holl — February 25, 2011 @ 9:30 am
Hi, Kristi. Being an anglophile, you might enjoy Susan Wittig Albert’s Beatrix Potter series. Also, Helene Hanff’s 84 Charing Cross Road and the sequel The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. Glad you’re feeling better!

Comment by Vicki Spivey — February 25, 2011 @ 9:51 am
Kristi, I am in the middle of coming down with something, so I will use your wisdom to make the most of my sick days!

As for books, I also loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Help, and Redeeming Love. In kids’ books, some of my favorites include A Single Shard, A Year Down Yonder, and Savvy. In memoirs, Haven Kimmel makes me belly-laugh out loud in A Girl Named Zippy. Love it!!

Comment by Heather — February 25, 2011 @ 10:36 am
If you like romance, I’ve always loved Danielle Steel and Nicholas Sparks. I’m glad you’re starting to feel better. Take care.

Andrea

Comment by Andrea B. — February 25, 2011 @ 12:34 pm
Sorry you were sick, but I’m so glad that it was a benefit in the long run. Great points to help out the rest of us, too!

: ) Beth

Comment by Beth Mac — February 25, 2011 @ 12:57 pm
I have been feeling the same on all three counts, even without being sick. Being online is a huge temptation because there are many worthwhile things to read and research, but it can get in the way of real life.

Glad you are feeling better. As for books, if you haven’t read The Book Thief or Peace Like a River, those are two great ones.

Comment by Julie Hedlund — February 25, 2011 @ 1:18 pm
A thought about “being online too much…it’s a mystery to me….” Maybe the problem is not what you do online, but what you DON’T do in your life while you are online. Your next paragraph has the clue: “I wrote and read and took my book outside and sat in the swing (which I hadn’t done in months) and noticed things (cardinals, daffodils coming up, lawn furniture needing scrubbing).” Well, maybe not the lawn furniture… but… When I spend an entire day online, I too feel stressed, but I believe it’s because on those days I don’t experience nature, exercise, let my mind drift, focus on my close relationships, focus on my needs. In the summertime I sometimes take my laptop out to the patio to work or do email or surf the web, and that helps. But it’s not the same as just sitting on the patio, alone or with a book or with a friend.

About books: The ones you named I also loved (except Folly Beach is new to me), so our tastes are similar. I echo the recommendation of “The Mermaid Chair” and “Divine Secrets…” but I find Albom and Eat, Pray, Love too lightweight. (Sorry, Karin!) Try Barbara Kingsolver’s books. Some are nonfiction essays, others are fiction. Try Guterson (Snow
Falling on Cedars, Our Lady of the Forest, East of the Mountains.) Try “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (Chevalier), “A Thousand Acres” (Smiley). And as I review my list of books read (I always jot down the name and authors — should put a comment) I realize how many of my books are for children and YA. Some of the best books I’ve ever read are those. Have you read all the Newbery and Printz award and honor winners?

Comment by Nancy — February 25, 2011 @ 2:26 pm
Adult fiction I’ve enjoyed in the past year:

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (this one I re-read immediately after finishing it)

The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey N (can’t spell)

The Atonement by Ian McEwan (and others by him)

I’m glad you’re feeling better and cutting back on things so you can be home more. I totally get that. During sports season, I find myself away from home too much and it tires me too much to write in the evenings. Happy reading.

Comment by Vijaya — February 25, 2011 @ 2:58 pm
I also loved The Secret Life of Bees. My recommendation is How to Be Lost: A Novel by Amanda Eyre Ward. I had never heard of the book and found it by chance. I’m glad I did.

Comment by Barb Kramer — February 25, 2011 @ 4:40 pm
I am dying of curiosity to know what books you checked out of the library! LOL. I love being the first one to check out a book, though… I always get a secret thrill from that.

I read more YA fiction, any more, as I just find the writing to be that much better, almost — the plots aren’t all the same, and I happen to like the angst and such that come with YA fiction, too. So, I don’t have a lot to recommend to you… BUT, I have to say that you should try Sara Gruen’s “Water for Elephants“. My f2f book group chose it for this past November, and I wouldnt’ have picked it up if it weren’t for them. I ended up totally LOVING it, though, and it went on my top 10 list for the year! So, I definitely recommend it! Plus, the movie (based on the book) comes out right shortly!

Other books I’d recommend:
* “Your Roots Are Showing” by Elise Chidley (about an English-woman who sends an accidental email that changes her whole life!)

* “Fatal Loyalty” by Sue Duffy
(a suspense thriller about a girl, her dad, and the “mafia” types that are targetting them)

And, nonfiction:

* “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin
* “Switch” by Chip & Dan Heath

~MizB

Comment by MizB — February 26, 2011 @ 12:59 pm
Oh, one more recommendation… if you don’t mind a bit of fantasy/sci-fi (not my usual genre of choice, I’ll have you know), you have to try my favorite series: The “Dominion Trilogy” by Robin Parrish: 1) “Relentless“, 2) “Fearless“, and 3) “Merciless“. Kind of “Heroes“-ish (if you ever watched the TV show).

Comment by MizB — February 26, 2011 @ 1:03 pm
Ohhhhh, I am absolutely DROOLING over all the great book title suggestions! I few I have read (Mermaid Chair, Peace Like a River, A Thousand Acres), but most of them I haven’t. I’m excited about the anglophile lover suggestions too!!!! MizB, I heard Chip and Dan Heath speak before their Switch book was released, and I meant to read it, and then forgot–but now I will!

Thank you, everybody!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Kristi Holl — February 26, 2011 @ 6:44 pm
Hello,

For adult fiction I enjoy Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series… don’t let the size of the books fool you, they are hard to put down.
Here’s another I enjoyed as a child & again as an adult “The Third Magic” by Welwyn Wilton Katz (wish I could find my copy of it; it’s boxed away somewhere in my basement at the moment).

Ally

Comment by AllyM — February 28, 2011 @ 12:15 pm
Here I am, Judy-Come-Lately, but I was really struck by what you said about feeling agitated when spending too much time online. Me, too! I personally believe it has something to do with the flickering screens shortening our attention spans. I find it hard to settle down to something else after being at the computer for a long period, especially over several days’ time. Book recommendation for cozy lovers and Anglophiles: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson. NYT Book Review calls it a “beautiful little…story told with skill and humor.”

Comment by Judy Dearborn Nill — March 3, 2011 @ 5:47 pm
Ally, thanks for more recommendations! I will be looking for these titles.

Judy, loved your website–intriguing book titles! I mentioned the agitation to my friend who teaches preschool, and she noticed right away that when she implemented state-mandated computer games to teach some skills, that the kids’ behavior went ADHD en masse! And they weren’t learning the skills either! So she cut way back on computer time, taught the skills with flashcards the old-fashioned way, and the behavior of the preschoolers settled down. Food for thought there! She researched and said she found lots of references to the “flickering screen” problem too. Good to know!

Comment by Kristi Holl — March 7, 2011 @ 7:43 am
Thank you, Kristi! And thanks for the report of your friend’s experience with the flickering screen phenomenon. I’ve cut back a lot of computer time in the last two weeks and have noticed my attention span gradually returning to normal. Food for thought, indeed.

Comment by Judy Dearborn Nill — March 11, 2011 @ 4:32 pm