How to Write a Romance Novel When You Have Chronic Fatigue

Every book is written word by word, line by line. This is true no matter the way you write your novels, and it's that edict we're going to hold onto today as we talk about writing with chronic fatigue. But let me first be clear about what exactly chronic fatigue is.

Chronic fatigue

Chronic fatigue is not just tiredness. Anyone with chronic fatigue will know there is a very, very clear difference between the two, but for the uninitiated, fatigue is a total lack of energy. It can hit you suddenly and make you feel like lying down in the middle of the grocery store or car park is not only acceptable, but essential, because there is no way on God's green earth that you can move another step. It can also creep up on you slowly, building and building throughout a day or week until suddenly bam, you need an 8-hour nap.

It is all-encompassing and really, really inconvenient, because it doesn't care about your plans or t0-do list. Fatigue is a diva, and it does not take well to being ignored.

"Take me to bed, so I can sleep for 8 hours and wake up feeling even less well rested than before."

So, what do you do when you're hit with yet another bout of fatigue but you really, really want to work on your romance novel? Or what if you don't have bouts of fatigue, but just constant fatigue that never goes away?

Writing romance with chronic fatigue

You start with 5 words. Literally, 5 words on the page, using whatever method of writing works for you in the moment and is easily retrievable. They might be a coherent sentence or just a phrase about your romance novel.

And then you write 5 words the next day, and the next, until it stops feeling like you're straining your brain to write them. Add 5 more, so you're writing 10 every day.

Slowly increase as it feels easier, and know that it's okay if it takes a long time to feel easier. Eventually, you'll find a number of words that you can achieve in a day no matter how you feel.

That's your baseline. Keep that in mind on days when you feel great and tap out way more; those days are fun and worth celebrating, but they are no more or less valid and incredible than your baseline days, because either way, you're getting words on the page and making progress on your romance novel, despite your chronic fatigue.

When things are really bad, you might have to drop down to below your baseline, and that's okay. That dropdown can even become your new baseline for a while; the nature of chronic fatigue is that you'll have periods when it's better, and periods when it's worse. Your baseline should reflect that; lower in bad times, higher in good times.

But as long as you have a baseline, a set number of words you're writing each day, you're working on your novel. You're writing it, 5, 10, 50 words at a time.

I used a modified version of this method after a writing slump earlier this year, and on the bad days, it made me feel like a rock star, because even with chronic fatigue and whatever other health mumbo jumbo I was dealing with, I was still writing, which is just as essential to my mental health as rest. It allowed me to take back a bit of control, and that's so important when you have chronic illness and so much is out of your control.

I hope this method helps fellow spoonies and writers with chronic fatigue get back to the joy of their romance novel writing projects no matter the state of their health.

Until next time, happy reading and writing!