How To Pace Yourself

In Conversation With Debut Author Amy Arthur

Pacing is something of a mystical concept that the chronically ill community will be very aware of. While there are a multitude of energy limiting conditions - and Long Covid has sparked a conversation about this - there is limited research about what to do about them. Pacing is the advice meanwhile - but is often poorly understood. You get sent on your way with a leaflet and limited knowledge - you have the ‘what is wrong’ but not the ‘how’ in great detail or with care.

Amy Arthur is an award winning freelance science journalist - and, in connection with her own diagnosis of ME, she has written her debut book. Pace Yourself is a deep dive into this mystical concept - as well as placing patients (and therefore, people!) at its heart. Out later this month, just in time for Christmas, I spoke to her over Zoom. This interview transcript was also made possible by Journo Resources’ new transcript service.

Pace Yourself is out on December 28th, and is avaliable for pre-order.

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To open up this interview the first question I have is well to be honest I wanted to ask you a little bit about your background as a journalist and now as an author. How did you get into science journalism and what was the impetus, the spark behind that?

So I didn't grow up necessarily wanting to be a journalist, I mean, I always wanted to be a writer but that was something that, you know, you did once you were retired or when somehow you had loads of money and all this free time and it wasn't something that I thought was actually achievable. And so I wanted to be a vet.

I loved science, it was, you know, the thing I was quite good at in school. And then I got ill and it turns out that veterinary medicine is not a suitable degree if you’re in a wheelchair and if you can't get around the farm and, you know..  I had some really terrible open days where they just didn't know what to do with me because they couldn't figure out to get me to you know the right place. So really that kind of changed everything and I had to think what what can I do now in this new life I spent so many years planning for, but it was something that wasn't going to happen. I did take, I think it took, two years out, to just well a you know try and focus on health but be also make some money and figure out what to do and I decided to apply for a publishing with creative writing degree at Bath SPA University. I can't really remember why I just remember thinking what I love is writing and I want to do something, I need to do something.