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How I Keep Writing Even When Life Gets in the Way
There will always be challenges and distractions, but having a writing routine will make all the difference.
Stephen King finished writing a book after nearly getting killed while on his afternoon walk. A distracted driver hit King, sending him flying through the air, the impact gravely injuring the author.
In On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, King recalls the accident, the unbearable pain, multiple surgeries, and hours of physio — yet five weeks later, he managed to start writing again.
Because King’s injuries involved his hips and knees, sitting for any length of time was agonizing. He describes the first writing session (which lasted an hour and forty minutes and was only 500 words long):
“When it was over, I was dripping with sweat and almost too exhausted to sit up straight in my wheelchair. The pain in my hip was just short of apocalyptic.”
He also says, “There was no inspiration that first afternoon, only a kind of stubborn determination and the hope that things would get better if I kept at it.” (On Writing, p. 268)
Despite the physical and emotional pain, King found solace in writing. Writing is more than just his profession — it is his identity.
