How to Write a Romance Novel When You Have Joint Pain

Imagine this: you've gotten your writing set-up all perfect, with a cup of tea nearby, a notebook, your favourite pen, and your laptop all charged and ready to go.

You open your writing programme, start to type, and then it hits.

Trigger finger. Or wrist pain. Or a bone-deep ache in your elbows, a part of your body you weren't even sure felt pain beyond the occasional bump of the funny bone.

And the longer you write, the worse it gets. So what do you do? Do you stop writing? Do you throw in the towel, grab the ibuprofen, and figure you'll get back to writing tomorrow?

That may be possible if you know your joint pain flare is short-lived, but for many of us, joint pain doesn't come and go. It's constant. So how do you write with constant joint pain?

Take frequent breaks

Taking frequent breaks is key when you have constant joint pain. It gives your hands a chance to rest, and it gives you a chance too, because make no mistake: being in pain is tiring. Try writing for five or ten minutes, then giving your hands a break and making yourself a cup of tea. Then, cup your hands around the mug while it's warm, to soothe the ache. Bonus: it makes you feel extra cosy.

Break out the creams

Two of my lifesavers when I have a heavy writing day are ibuprofen cream (called Volterol here in the UK) and warming cream, aka capsaicin cream. I slather ibuprofen cream on the specific joints that are giving me trouble (it's usually my MP joint, right near the base of the thumb, and PIP joint in my index fingers, right in the middle), or, if I'm having a day where every joint is screaming, I'll smooth on some warming cream to soothe the ache.

Heat your hands

If I'm having a high pain day, I'll often literally warm up my hands under hot water before a writing session. I turn on the tap, let it heat up, and and slowly stretch and retract my fingers under the water until they feel a little less stiff and a little more pliable. This is a tip I learned from a rheumatology nurse, and it really does help. If my hands stiffen up again during a writing session, I'll take a break and repeat the process.

Record yourself talking about a scene

This tip comes with a caveat: whatever you dictate, you then have to edit for clarity, spelling issues, and formatting. And all that editing requires the use of your hands. But just recording yourself summarizing a scene? That doesn't require extra editing. All you have to do is listen to the recording, then turn it into comprehensible sentences when your hands are feeling better. So on days when I've got a scene in my head that I need to get down, but my hands aren't cooperating, I pick up my phone, put on my walking shoes, and go for a trod while I record myself talking into the phone. Then, when my hands are feeling better, I listen to the recording and write out the scene.

I've been dealing with constant joint pain in my hands for nearly two years, and I know how tough it can be when all you want to do is write, but your body just isn't cooperating. I hope these tips help my fellow writers with joint pain find relief on high-pain days, and a few solutions to keep making progress on their manuscripts no matter their symptoms.

Until next blog post, happy reading and writing!