It's Disability Pride Month, so here's some writing tips from me, a full-time professional author who is disabled and lives with multiple chronic illnesses.
I deal with chronic pain and fatigue, executive dysfunction, brain fog, and mobility issues. I have been a professional author sinve 2021.
1. Write what YOU want to write, not what the world needs or what people say you should write.
You don't owe the world representation or inspiring words on the subject of your pain or disability. Write what moves you and that YOU feel passionate about. You don't have to JUST write about disability.
2. Let daily goals motivate you, not shame or frustrate you
It's great to write or work daily if you can, but if you need a rest day or time to decompress, it's better to let yourself do that than power through and set yourself up for exhaustion, pain, or a flare-up. Give your body grace.
When you're disabled, it feels like time is constantly being stolen from you - by your fatigue or accessibility issues, by administrative burden, by the amount of time it takes to communicate things, etc.
Writing will take more time too, and that's okay.
If you struggle to focus on one project at a time, it's not cheating or abandonment or undisciplined to swap between multiple drafts and ideas. Let yourself enjoy the process. Let things marinate and come back to them months later. Follow your passion in the moment.
People say that good writers need to read, and sure, if they can, that's great - but "reading" doesn't just mean reading a book. You're engaging with the text from a craftsman's perspective: how did they write it? Why does it work or not work? What can you learn from it?
If you can't focus on text right now or can't hold a book, you can still apply those questions and skills to other media: to videogames, movies, TV, the news, to art, to music. You're taking apart in your head or in conversation, seeing how it works, and taking lessons for yourself.
All of that gives you skills, and should also give you inspiration. Everything doesn't come from nothing in your imagination: you need to fuel that engine with stories, characters, ideas, and feelings that you find inspiring, exciting, and fun.
