Many of my hobbies are word-based. I read books, I review them, and I write short form narratives. The writing is for fun, something that I’ve reclaimed as enjoyable following academic writing. I have a group of friends that get together and workshop what we’re working on a few times a year – although most of our time is spent visiting as we don’t see each other much outside of these meetups anymore.
My writing has always been in fits and starts. If my brain won’t give me an idea, or won’t stick with it, there is just nothing to write. Over many years I’ve understood that this is part of my neurodivergence, and I’ve become accustomed to how it impacts this part of my creative life. Additionally, recently my chronic physical health conditions have really been acting up limiting my ability to type or write longhand on many days. This I am still struggling with.
Which means that when I saw past Cannonballer Sara Habein review Nerve: Unlearning Workshop Ableism to Develop Your Disabled Writing Practice by Sarah Fawn Montgomery over on Goodreads I went and immediately downloaded it. This was a thing I was struggling with, and even though I don’t have formal writing training in the way that Montgomery means, I figured there were things here that would be of benefit to me as I reinterpret how I approach this activity.
I was right, tucked into this 45-page chapbook are practical ideas for reframing your relationship with writing, especially for those who are chronically ill, disabled, or neurodivergent. Montgomery makes a point to include all three of those populations into her narrative and experience sharing, which I found particularly important as so often those interact with one another. The book is broken up into seven sections, each focusing on one aspect of Montgomery’s mission statement for the work, that unlearning ableist ways and expectations is something that must be done in order to fully embrace ourselves and support our creative life.
“If, like me, the work of your life right now is living rather than writing, let this be a welcome lesson in craft, for struggling to survive is an act of narrative, storytelling an act of resistance.”
“This is an essential element of craft—the art of revision. I revise my perception of myself and my practice, revise my belief about my body and brain, revise my expectations on a day-to-day basis.”