It is currently day four of The LA Fires. I want to preface this post by saying that I live in Northern Orange County, not LA County. And although I have a house full of scared, exhausted, and stressed evacuated relatives, we are all safe. There are so many people whose lives have been permanently altered by this natural disaster. LA residents have lost loved ones, homes, and businesses. Fortunately, I am not one of those people. That said, between cooking meals for eight extra people, cleaning linens and bathrooms, and consoling my family members, I’ve struggled to find the time, space, and energy to write.

I thought about giving myself a break and waiting for the crisis to end, but then I remembered attending a Barnes and Noble writers’ group just days after 9/11 and what my group leader said to me. He said, “These times when the world is in turmoil are the days when it’s most important that we show up and write, to document, to give society and this crazy thing that we’re experiencing a voice.”

But what if you can’t get into your perfect writing office because someone is crashing on an air mattress, or you want to spend the dawn hours writing, but you have to run to the grocery store and buy food for hungry guests? In addition to remembering my group leader’s words, one thing that’s helped me during these past few days is thinking about other writers who have written under less-than-ideal circumstances. I’ve listed some of these dedicated writers below. My hope is that thinking about their grit will inspire you to keep writing when life gets crazy and you feel overwhelmed.

1. Martin Luther King wrote Letters from Birmingham Jail from jail.
2. J.K. Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter novel in a coffee shop as a single mom.
3. Emily St. John Mandel, a Canadian essayist and novelist, wrote her third novel on a subway train.
4. Fantasy Writer Glen Cook wrote several dozen fantasy books while working full-time in an auto plant.
5. George Orwell wrote 1984 while he was suffering from tuberculosis, Paul Kalanithi wrote the memoir When Breath Becomes Air while battling cancer, James Joyce wrote with failing eyesight, and Flannery O’Connor wrote while fighting Lupus.
6. Stephen King wrote Carrie while working as a teacher, living in a trailer with his wife and two kids, and typing in the laundry room.
7. In 2021, more than 2,30,000 books were self-published. This suggests that over two million people wrote during the pandemic.

“If the writers listed above can write, I can write too.” This is what I’ve been telling myself. Of course, there are times when putting pen to paper is impossible. But on the flip side, when you consider the mental health benefits of expressing yourself, writing starts to feel more like a necessity than an indulgence.

Have you written under challenging circumstances? I’d love to hear what has helped you to persevere.  Thanks for reading!