Writing When Life Doesn’t Let Up

By Christopher Downing

Some days, it’s not procrastination or perfectionism stopping you. It’s real life. Chronic illness. A crazy day job. Caretaking kids or an elderly adult. Grief. Fatigue. Neurodivergence that’s not on your side. You know, major stressors that are outside of your control.
And when you’re in survival mode, the last thing you need is a someone telling you to “just push through.”

So let’s try something different. Like, let’s come up with a few strategies that help you navigate around life’s struggles instead trying to take them head on.

Here’s one strategy: when life gets heavy, the first thing to do is reframe your expectations.
That doesn’t mean giving up on your goals. It means adjusting what “success” looks like, based on what’s true for you today.

You don’t owe the world a perfect draft.
You don’t owe anyone constant productivity.
You only owe yourself the chance to show up—gently, imperfectly, honestly—with whatever you’ve got.

Some days, success might mean opening your doc and reading a paragraph. Some days, it’s writing a paragraph. Some days, it’s gracefully letting it go because it’s a flare up day.
For those of us with extra burdens, this is still a creative life. Only, we’ve reframed our expectations.

If your body hurts, if your mind is tired, if your caregiving duties take up every scrap of energy—then writing for five minutes, or writing one messy sentence, or even just thinking about your story for a moment with love… that’s enough.

Sometimes it’s OK, and your story can wait. Your worth isn’t on the line.

One of the most powerful things I’ve learned alongside my writing peers is:
The creative spark doesn’t need intensity. It needs continuity.
A small act of devotion, done with compassion, will carry you further than you think.

So today, reframe success.

Make it kind. Make it doable given your very specific set of circumstances. Make it yours.

But you’re not alone. And your creative spark?
It’s still in there. It’s still alive. And if you appreciate it for what it can do, even if today it’s only a little, it’ll keep showing up for you.

Keep going. One breath, one sentence, one small win at a time.

Coach Chris has been supporting writers of all kinds for almost a decade.