top of page
  • Writer's pictureEmmalia Harrington

How I Write as a Spoonie

My energy levels have been low for the past two weeks. More days than not, I had to do spoon math. What activities can I do? Even if I'm capable of doing the activity, how incapacitated will I be afterwards? Many activities fell by the wayside,


The spoons I refer to are not literal. Christine Miserandino wrote and published "The Spoon Theory" in 2003. She described using spoons to illustrate her daily life as a chronically ill person. While abled people can have infinite spoons, or energy units, someone who's disabled, chronically ill, etc. do not. If getting out of bed, showering, making breakfast, and brushing teeth each cost a spoon, and you started the day with seven spoons, you have to be very careful with planning.


Three green measuring spoons, with the smallest on top and the largest at the bottom.
Spoons

I like getting paid, so I spend a lot of spoons at work. I love writing, but it also uses up quite a few spoons. Writing options on low spoon days include skipping writing altogether. It is my least favorite option.


For whatever reason, editing uses up fewer spoons than writing sentences from scratch. I can edit when spoons are scarce. I must also remember that edits are temporary. I mustn't get so fixed on tweaking a piece that I never complete it.


Another option is stream of conciousness writing. This is where I just write to get the thoughts out. Turning it into comprehensible prose happens at another time. Making a sentence or paragraph sound just right is the greatest spoon thief, writing wise. If I already have an idea about what I want to say, that means fewer spoons lost later.


Even with these workarounds, I still need to manage my spoons. This is why over two weeks passed between blog posts. I'll try to be more consistent, but that will depend on how much energy I have to spare.


My work arounds.

0 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page