Writing when poorly

[redzinger]

So, I've had this stinking cold for the last few days, I'm going through snot rags like nothing on earth but don't feel that bad. Well, apart from the sinuses...and the encipient cough and spluttering...and not being able to taste a fucking thing. Gah.

However, since it started, I've hardly written a word.

I know the painkillers I take for a different thing befuddle me, but I was thinking cwtching up in my bed would be a great excuse to get some writing done.

Is this normal? Does all that phlegm choking your creative impulses?

 

[StrangeLife]

I usually feel like sleeping as much as possible and spend the remainder of the time whining and feeling sorry for myself.

Writing is out of the question... I simply can't keep my plots straight while my immune system is fighting off a major cold.


Hope you feel better soon... http://s24.postimg.org/fy7jef0r5/unwell.gif

 

[redzinger]

I usually feel like sleeping as much as possible and spend the remainder of the time whining and feeling sorry for myself.

Haha! I've slept as much as I can, trying to keep the whining and feeling sorry for myself under control. I think my housemate regards me as a hypochondriac already, this is not helping.

Writing is out of the question... I simply can't keep my plots straight while my immune system is fighting off a major cold.
[/IMG]

Slightly relieved it's not just me. I wonder if there's any research into the effects of colds on IQ, as I feel like mine has halved. I'm forgetting words even more than usual, Google and the thesaurus are both having major work outs...

Hope you feel better soon... http://s24.postimg.org/fy7jef0r5/unwell.gif

Thanks. Sick to the sight of salads and soups already. Currently treating myself to a bag of popcorn - I can taste a bit of sweet and the texture's enjoyable.

 

[Seanathon]

Hey RZ,

I'm the same way, when I get a cold or a flu I can barely concentrate. I'm no doctor, but I always figured it had something to do with the body redirecting all that thinking energy to healing energy (I'm not sure that even makes sense).

When I get a cold my cure is always chicken soup and ginger ale. I think it has a placebo effect for me, mainly effect because that is what my mom always gave me when I was young and got sick.

Maybe you can at least dream up a few good plot bunnies from this experience. Maybe one about a woman with a tall, muscular, good-looking son that plays rugby. He is visiting and hears about how the poor girl who lives in the apartment below her is sick with the worst cold. And he decides to drop by and offer her his own special 'remedy' for what ails her...

Get well soon ~ Seanathon

 

[JagFarlane]

Hey RZ,

I'm the same way, when I get a cold or a flu I can barely concentrate. I'm no doctor, but I always figured it had something to do with the body redirecting all that thinking energy to healing energy (I'm not sure that even makes sense).

It's about what I figured, the brain takes up a lot of energy but when your immune system kicks in that sucker saps the hell out of your energy levels. Makes writing damned near impossible sometimes.

RZ, hope you feel better soon and till then happy dreams of your rugby players!

 

[elfin_odalisque]

A heavy head cold is the pits. I've tried to work through it a couple of times but my co-workers said I was talking gibberish and sent me home - I'm not sure I was safe to drive.

Preferred remedy for me is a Tynelol, warm glass of brandy and wall to wall repeat TV series like Law and Order. It's not sleeping but rather semi-comatose.

Flannel PJs and cuddling yourself helps a bit.

 

[redzinger]

Fanks all, you've made me feel better mentally if not physically. It may sound strange/simplistic but being reassured that it's 'normal' took the weight off that I'd placed on myself to 'get some writing done'.

Well, the congestion has turned into a dry cough, which seems to have 'unstuck' my brain and I have actually managed to write over the last 36 hours.

Plus I have lovely pink rings around my eyes. Nice.

When I get a cold my cure is always chicken soup and ginger ale. I think it has a placebo effect for me, mainly effect because that is what my mom always gave me when I was young and got sick.

We had leek soup.

The only time I ever want leek soup is when I'm ill. Can't stand it when I'm well.

Off to make some celery and garlic soup now, I think. Keep the vampires away.

Maybe you can at least dream up a few good plot bunnies from this experience. Maybe one about a woman with a tall, muscular, good-looking son that plays rugby. He is visiting and hears about how the poor girl who lives in the apartment below her is sick with the worst cold. And he decides to drop by and offer her his own special 'remedy' for what ails her...

Hmmm, definitely one to work on. Just got to turn around a 75k novel edit in 48 hours first and I'll be on it...

RZ, hope you feel better soon and till then happy dreams of your rugby players!

Thanks. I need to get to a match this weekend to get some inspiration. Must get well soon.

A heavy head cold is the pits. I've tried to work through it a couple of times but my co-workers said I was talking gibberish and sent me home - I'm not sure I was safe to drive.

I can't drive any more due to a hip problem, but I can cycle. I've opted to stay off my bike for the last few days; I couldn't even cross the road safely to go to the Inconvenience. Plus I really don't want the cold to go to my chest. I've had a couple of courses of antibiotics a couple of times in the last eighteen months and don't fancy any more.

Currently huddled in bed with a nice scarf around my neck. Partly as I'm feeling sorry for myself, partly as I'm hiding - my housemate and houseguest aren't too chuffed with me as I've given it to them.

 

[PayDay]

The only thing that can stop me from writing is my heart.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Nonsense! A Mack truck, fully laden, speeding at an intersection can have an adverse effect on the creative juices.

 

[Vanadorn]

There are a finite amount of juices in your body to begin with and they all have different jobs: plasma, corteal fluid, lymphatic, bile - you name it. To make the juices your body has to refine everything it takes in with an maniacal exacting precision to turn water into something else.

Creative juices are one of the more rare, most difficult liquids to craft. Distilled down through 8 different organs and kept in dram sized quantities hoarded in nooks and crannies hidden throughout the entire cardio-vascular, endocrine, lymphatic, and other related systems it is doled out miserly and with much suspicion through the machinations of your Cerebrum, Cerebellum, and Medulla Oblongata.

When one is sick your body has a need to generate as much mucus and phlegm as possible to help expel the various infections lodged in your ears, nose, throat, lungs - and will repurpose non-life sustaining fluids to help facilitate this. Invariably that is why creative juices often disappear when one is ill - since they are part of the round up and purge to help make one healthy again.

It also explains why one can spend days in bed, watching the most god-awful crap on TV, read some real shitty novels, and sleep most of the time away when you aren't blowing your nose clean and clear.

So when you see that wadded up tissue with your latest cough jag leave your hand and fall into the trashbin, you should be aware that you most likely just coughed away 1,200 words to your next story, an interesting non-sequitor about the feasibility of Albino cats and traditional witchcraft, two really good off-color jokes that involved a priest a South Dakota senator and a turbo-prop plane, or the spontaneous solution that would help to discover the cure for cancer.

Nice going, you sick fuck.

-V

 

[shellieslut]

There are a finite amount of juices in your body to begin with and they all have different jobs: plasma, corteal fluid, lymphatic, bile - you name it. To make the juices your body has to refine everything it takes in with an maniacal exacting precision to turn water into something else.

Creative juices are one of the more rare, most difficult liquids to craft. Distilled down through 8 different organs and kept in dram sized quantities hoarded in nooks and crannies hidden throughout the entire cardio-vascular, endocrine, lymphatic, and other related systems it is doled out miserly and with much suspicion through the machinations of your Cerebrum, Cerebellum, and Medulla Oblongata.

When one is sick your body has a need to generate as much mucus and phlegm as possible to help expel the various infections lodged in your ears, nose, throat, lungs - and will repurpose non-life sustaining fluids to help facilitate this. Invariably that is why creative juices often disappear when one is ill - since they are part of the round up and purge to help make one healthy again.

It also explains why one can spend days in bed, watching the most god-awful crap on TV, read some real shitty novels, and sleep most of the time away when you aren't blowing your nose clean and clear.

So when you see that wadded up tissue with your latest cough jag leave your hand and fall into the trashbin, you should be aware that you most likely just coughed away 1,200 words to your next story, an interesting non-sequitor about the feasibility of Albino cats and traditional witchcraft, two really good off-color jokes that involved a priest a South Dakota senator and a turbo-prop plane, or the spontaneous solution that would help to discover the cure for cancer.

Nice going, you sick fuck.

-V

wow looool

 

[sr71plt]

I recently had a six-week congestive cold--and it did slow down my muse considerably.

 

[Over_Red]

I can write when I'm sick, if I'm motivated enough, but it usually goes slowly. I find myself taking more breaks.

I prefer putting my feet up with hot drink and watching a movie or playing video games. Something that keeps the critical thinking to a minimum.