Writing when you're ill?

[Rob_Royale]

I almost wrote 'writing when you're sick' but I realized that question is open to interpretation.
So, as I'm sitting here battling a flu bug trying to decide between writing or Skyrim and I was wondering if you guys take advantage of the 'downtime' when your ill and getting some writing done or does feeling bad squash that creative drive?
Ordinarily it kills it for me, but I'm feeling rather motivated, surprisingly enough.

 

[StillStunned]

I'm self-employed. If I can write, I can work.

Speaking of which, I've only done 9 hours today, so it's back to the coalface for me.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

When I was bedridden last year, there were times in which I didn't want to write. Those times were not too often though. Most of it I managed to crank out at least a short story out of it, still daily.

If I should say something about this, it'd be to listen to your body. Recovery might be a better option in most cases.

 

[Djmac1031]

Yeah no, being ill absolutely kills any desire to write for me.

Hope you feel better soon

 

[TheLobster]

Depends on the bug. If it’s just sore throat and sniffles, totally; if it’s more like everyone’s favorite 2020 virus that makes you super tired, probably not.

 

[old_prof]

It depends on what way I feel under the weather. Post knee surgery, when it was just pain, I particularly liked editing. There's a special kind of zen to editing. But writing (or reading) was not really possible. I have a head cold this weekend. I did no writing what soever yesterday because of it. The fuzziness of that makes me pretty useless.

 

[SmilingLez]

If I have a fever, and start writing poetry, it comes out strange. Not the structure itself, but the subject.

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

I once wrote a story when I had strep throat. The steroid meds kept me awake all hours, so why not?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I almost wrote 'writing when you're sick' but I realized that question is open to interpretation.
So, as I'm sitting here battling a flu bug trying to decide between writing or Skyrim and I was wondering if you guys take advantage of the 'downtime' when your ill and getting some writing done or does feeling bad squash that creative drive?
Ordinarily it kills it for me, but I'm feeling rather motivated, surprisingly enough.

It depends on how the illness makes my head feel.

Aches in my body typically won't affect my desire to write, where something as minor as a stuffy nose can drain me of all interest in writing.

 

[IWroteThis]

A lot of my writing is converting the actions playing out in my head into words. Sometimes that happens in real time at my computer, but a lot of the story development happens in that semi-wakeful period before I give up and get out of bed. It rattles around up there until I can type it out or it fades away. When I'm sick and stuck in bed, I just create a bigger backlog to transcribe.

 

[crookedletter]

No. I'm pretty useless when I'm under the weather, whether it's a cold or a hangover or I have one foot in the grave. I'm not much a go-getter at the best of times; when I feel crappy I go full sloth.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I wrote my Smoking Hot series when I had Covid, in bed on my phone, under the influence of rather a lot of opiates, though I did edit a bit on my PC once I was well enough.

A lot of my writing involves thinking through a plot and characters, so that's a good way to pass the time when totally unable to do anything else. But yes, being officially off work is a good time to do hobby writing of all sorts. And a lot of my writing happens when I have insomnia or pain stops me sleeping. The meds and being exhausted may explain a lot of my more surreal metaphors, not to mention the number of disabled protagonists.

If it hurts too much to hold a phone, then that stops me writing much.

Unfortunately it's much easier to concentrate enough to write a story than to focus on the work I'm paid to do.