How can you write if you’re experiencing chronic pain?

Chronic pain is terrible if you’re a writer because it can prevent you from producing your word count for the day.

I know because I’ve experienced migraines on and off over the years. They usually occur when I’m stressed, dehydrated, or tired. When I experience a migraine, I find it exceptionally difficult to look at a computer screen or a phone.

I tried to push through the pain at one point, but this didn’t work for me. So now, when I experience a migraine, I immediately go for a rest, even if that means calling it a day. I have to accept that I need to deal with the migraine and not try and push through it because it’ll just make things worse.

That got me thinking, how can I still move a creative project forward if I’m experiencing chronic pain? My answer is somewhat similar to the solution that this week’s guest found.

His name is Oliver Mol, and he has a truly impactful story about writing with chronic pain, what it did for his creative process, and how he overcame it.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Oliver turned his experience into a piece of narrative nonfiction
• What his creative writing process looks like today
• Using fractional or atomic writing to get the job done

Resources:

Train Lord Book Link

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Thanks for listening!