How do we return to productive writing after a period of being away? All authors face the problem, but most neurodiverse and/or disabled authors deal with it more often and more intensely. An episode of poor physical or mental health can make our writing projects seem to be on a distant planet. When we improve, we must find a way to bring them back to us with a style and a pace that fits our needs and our capabilities..
Do we chain ourselves to a desk and dive into a marathon writing session? That may work for a few of us, but most of us need a slower approach. We craft an approach that fits us, and we may struggle with internalized ableism in the process.
For me, stage one of returning involves no writing at all. I just read. I pull up the files on all my current projects and read what I have as if I’m examining the work of an author who is a stranger to me. Then, in a day or two, I give myself a very small and specific assignment. Not “I’m going to work on this” but rather “I’m going to write X scene.”
That’s all very nice. Where it begins to suck is when your condition causes your life to be a nearly constant process of leaving and returning to your writing; when most your writing time is in “recuperation mode.” Which means your productivity is a crawl compared to what you think of as “normal” writers. And you have to live with that, and keep writing what you can.
Lori Lynne Armstrong 