by Caitlin Allope Whitefeather

Created on: January 04, 2009

Have you ever tried writing when you are sick?

Who hasn't?

Frustrating isn't it?

Your head is aching, your nose is dripping faster than your fingers can type letters let alone words and your brain has left the premises.

As for your fingers?
Well you are looking for the little "darling" who put weights on your arms and made them feel so darn heavy.

Sound familiar? To many writers it sounds painfully familiar. Trying to write when you are ill is often an exercise in futility, frustration and often ending in tears and a worse headache than the one you started with.

What to do about it?
Well a lot of people would say turn the laptop or computer off and go to bed. This is all very well and good but what happens when you have to get an article in? Grin and bear it right?

Wrong.

As frustrating as writing is when you are sick there are ways to help you. They are cheap to purchase and the wonderful news is they do not effect any other medication you may be on (Some precautions are required in pregnancy)

Have some Lavender Essential Oil on a tissue and sniff it. Its scent is calming and allows you to relax and hopefully get the creative juices flowing.

If your nose is blocked try Eucalyptus essential oil, the decongestant will allow the mucus to dry up and help you breathe easy.

If you have a headache a small amount of peppermint oil is good for clearing them

Have you tried soothing music? Music is said to soothe the savage beast so possibly it could help calm your racing thoughts and let you write easy.

Like with studying take regular breaks. A walk out in the fresh air, if properly wrapped up could be beneficial.

If you feel frustrated simply stop, the worst thing with feeling frustrated is you cannot get your words to come out straight and then the frustration increases leading to you wanting to pull your hair out and scream at your computer/ laptop or in the worst case scenario throw it out of the window. (We hope if this is the case the window is open first to avoid howls of frustration).

I hope that this short essay has helped all those writers out there suffering with the usual assortment of winter bugs and colds, that are worried about getting their articles in to relax and hopefully manage to complete their assignments with the least amount of annoyance, discomfort and frustration possible.

Happy Writing!

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