COVID-19 and writing

2020 has been a garbage year so far. I'd trade it in. I'd even take 2001 or 2008, honestly.

I had some months without writing, and even abandoned a novel, but I'm about 70 pages into a new one and submitted a short story the other day, so I'm back at it.

My heart goes out to people who are really isolated by the quarantine. It sucks to be lonely an anxious.

 

To tell the truth, I'd been telling myself since the middle of 2019 that 2020 would be my magic year, when I'd stop being such a pissy chip-on-the-shoulder hermit and get out and meet people. At 28 and with no friends, I felt obligated. That I'd stop hoarding my stories, telling myself that they're absolute garbage, and try to allow others to read them. Then Covid-19 sprung up and flooded the US, and my plans fell apart rather swiftly. I live in the woods in Minnesota, which means I'm [relatively] safe, or less prone to infection, I should say, but that doesn't make me feel any better. Do I say "Hooray, I still have no one to talk to?"

I have plenty of short stories finished, none that I'm actually happy with, none that I've submitted anywhere. I don't expect traditional publishers to sign me up (because I don't have a million Twitter followers), so my only hope and closest-at-hand plan is to self-publish a couple collections. My novel drafts are not without some progress but still frozen so I can work on smaller projects.

The other week at work, someone asked if I began writing during the onset of the Covid-19 quarantine measures. I know it was a bit irrational to feel incredibly offended by the question, but I couldn't help it. I've been writing for a lot longer than that, and the fact that I don't have any actual proof of that doesn't help. I'll just keep writing, though.

 

I only decided to get back into writing last year around the summer. Covid-19 hasn't changed my work schedule. I work in a lab for a big New York hospital. It was pretty stressful. the stress led to a profound feeling of anxiety and depression. It's tough for me. It feels right to put pen to paper and write down my thoughts, to write stories. I keep lying to myself about all of the things I would have done if there were no pandemic. The reality is my life wouldn't have changed much. Well that's not exactly true. My wife has been out of work for months and that puts a lot of stress on us. My daughter has just started the third grade via remote learning. So it has changed a lot only it isn't as drastic as my imagination makes it out to be. My fear is that this "new normal" is unsustainable for me and my family. I'm trying to stay positive though. What helps me feel good is when I set out to complete a goal and actually accomplish it with respect to my writing goals.

 

This thread is long and I've only read the first post. At this point in time I can say that the pandemic/lockdown didn't help me write more, but it certainly helped me getting my finished stories ready (I create the design of my books myself, as well as the ebooks). I think it has also helped me get more beta readers and even reviews.

But the year is not over yet. I'm working on revising at the moment, but I could yet write something new.

We should have a lockdown every year, even when the pandemic is over (hopefully!). I vote for the month of January, because it's miserably cold and who wants to go out in that weather?

 

What did I say? I wasn’t thinking of doing it when I replied, but a new story is born!

I really hope they let me keep working from home after the pandemic, because this has been one of the most productive times of my life! I haven’t been this productive since I was in high school and life was easy.

 

I've now written and published (or have forthcoming) several pieces of creative writing about life in the time of the coronavirus. It's actually pretty hard now to write something where it isn't part of the story. At least that's true for the short stories and essays I've done for the better part of the year. The new novel I'm working on doesn't exactly deal with the coronavirus, but there are elements of the story that reflect how this virus has changed the world. My novel is set in the future. The time is unspecified, but maybe 20 to 50 years in the future. Hopefully, covid is a thing of the past by then, but there is political and cultural fallout from the pandemic. I took that as inspiration for my new novel.

Does anyone else find it hard not to write something coronavirus related even if it's not so blatantly obvious?

 

Oh, no. @Homer Potvin does this mean you won't be reading my novel? But, really, do you think this is something to be concerned about? Why are you so anti coronavirus stories? My novel doesn't deal with the virus exactly, but you have to admit it's changed the world, no? And, for me, that has carried over into fiction. The last short story I wrote doesn't mention the virus, but how the world has changed played into it while I was writing it. It's like I can't help it from sort of factoring in to my writing somehow.

 

We can take notes for the next dystopian novel someone wants to write. Not saying that the next dystopian will get written soon. I vote to cross virus-novels/virus-created Zombies off the publishable list for the foreseeable future. We've now a real life blueprint of how things can get fucked up.

Yeah, I'm with you @Homer Potvin .

 

You bet that how it'd have gone!

 

I always used to think it was such a dumb trope in zombie stories when someone would get bit and try to hide it from their group. Then all of...this happened, and I realized it was just that those writers had way more insight into human behavior than I did.

 

Then let's try not to make the these 'dumb' mistakes. We're living this now, and it's not some kind of novel that we can shrug off.

Sorry for the offTopic. On to writing, again

 

Nope, I haven't written a single thing about the coronavirus, nor will I. I really don't see the point.

 

It has affected me. We got a few houses here and there, and when school shut down here, my wife moved her and the kids to a place where school was resumed and wide-open all week instead of distance learning. That means I am living alone at the moment, and have for a few months. That has given me a lot of time to write.

I had a setting where a guy goes through security, and I added a line where he had his temperature checked before entering, because I am not sure at the end of this Covid Nonsense if stuff like that is going to remain or not? After 9 months of this crap, now it is hard to imagine entering a facility and NOT being temp checked!

Uggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg..............

 

That's a lot you're dealing with, but that's sort of my point. It's everywhere and woven into all our lives whether we get sick or not. It's out there and the fear comes with it. I'm in a place that's on the rise. My state's been a little up and down, and I almost never go outside anymore. But I understand escaping in books. I've been reading more. I'm sick of tv and movies, hardly talk to friends. A good book is a break from everything. I did read the latest Woodward book and found it to be quite the page turner. But even reading that was an escape from living in this mess. I find it hard to ignore or pretend this isn't reality in my own writing. I didn't feel the same way when I started this thread, but I really didn't think it was going to last this long or get this bad back then. I hope you pull through with your restaurant and that your wife is doing well.

 

Yeah, that's sort of my in-progress novel. Probably it's the kind of story a lot of writers are working on, I would guess. The novel I finished right before all this happened just seemed so unrealistic after the virus hit. Too many bar scenes and other crowded scenes. That's just not happening now. I never even queried that novel or finished revisions because I don't think the world is ever going to be like that novel again. I have another novel that's unfinished. It's magical realism and I would still like to finish that one, but I lost some of it to computer issues and took it as a sign to try something else.

 

That surprises me given you're such a prolific writer.

 

There's lots of things to write about. Why would I mention Covid? Fiction is escapist fare for a reason.

 

i got asked in person if COVID has influenced my writing in anyway.
I said NOPE.
In my fiction, i can create whatever I want in my worlds. indeed, its my escape.

 

I initially thought being on lockdown and staying home all the time would make me be more productive with writing, drawing, and getting progress in my video game backlog -- NOPE, not at all! My motivation and energy actually was sapped from me. I've been working from home since March, so I have no change in scenery, and the furthest I've traveled was walking around my neighborhood. It's very disheartening.