Worst thing to happen to a writer…

I am sure you’re thinking of writer’s block, but no, that’s actually not the worst thing to happen to a writer. Writer’s block can be chipped away at by writing down the things randomly going through your mind, going to the gym or for a run/walk, and figuring out where you possibly painted yourself into a corner.

You might be thinking about a rejection. No, because even that can become beaten down and trod over. Hard work, resilience, and digging deeper, along with writing better, can turn a rejection into acceptance (unless you submitted something to the completely wrong agent/publisher/etc, then you’re kind of screwed and hopefully they were kind enough to send you in the proper direction). I haven’t been rejected, it’s kind of hard to be rejected if you self-publish…. not impossible, though. (Although I am beginning to think that no reply on the story I submitted to an anthology is a form of rejection.)

No, the worst thing to happen to a writer is illness. Especially if that writer isn’t a full-time writer. Depending on the severity of the illness, in this case a head cold the size of Texas, it can knock you down. On top of the head cold, lately it seems nothing over-the-counter works properly. And even worse, they are upsetting my stomach, so I’m nauseated for hours until it finally dissipates. Yes, I have medical coverage, so I could go to the doctor, but it’s a head cold. A cough, some sneezing, with messy sinuses that are either plugged up or running. This happened a few weeks ago as well and I lay the blame completely at Mother Nature’s feet for screwing with the weather so severely.

I’ve thought about taking an allergy pill, but I haven’t gone that route yet. I don’t really suffer from allergies and the only time I take them is if I eat some kind of blue cheese. (I hate the stuff but so many places have this urge to put it on salads without warning and I’m allergic to penicillin.)

Anyway, between the head cold and medicine that either makes me sleepy, loopy, and feeling like I might toss my cookies, writing has been off the table. I slept on and off most of the weekend and I’ve been taking naps after work and going to bed early during the week. While the worst part of the cold is over, it’s still hanging in there. If I could get a restraining order against it to work, I’d be filling out that report pronto.

Today is the first day I got a chance to do some actual writing. I have been doing a little reading, very little, but it’s there. It feels good that I finally pounded the keyboard for another reason than entering item info into a spreadsheet.