Well, things just got really strange, didn’t they?
I started this year with resolve to finish a draft manuscript of one of my own works in progress. Believe it or not, it’s always a fight to make time for writing, even if you live off writing. Maybe especially then. The writing and editing work I do for my clients is an absolute delight, but it is technically my day job. As a creative writer, I have to carve out time for my own draft writing, research, revision, and editing, just as any other author with a day job. Or any full-time parent for that matter!
At first flush, a stay-at-home order sounds like it could wind up a period of enhanced writerly production. Telling a writer to go to her room is like giving candy to a sweet tooth, right?
Only it’s not. First off, a stay-at-home order for someone who works from home, isn’t a massive shift in lifestyle. Secondly, I’m profoundly affected by the destabilization that has rattled my clients. That’s a new stress that alters my priorities in unpredictable ways every single day.
As for my author friends who are parents, their lives are in upheaval. Some are working from home for the first time ever and overwhelmed by the new logistics. Many are also home-schooling their kids. So now everyone is duking it out for internet bandwidth and computer time. Is this a recipe for an at-home writer’s retreat? Hardly. It’s chaos management.
Even author friends who live alone have been rattled by the current situation. They’re worried about their finances, their career future, and their loved ones in cities seriously affected by the pandemic. They feel trapped and anxious and out of control.
Most of us are writing, but not for our current book projects. Rather it’s day to day journaling, bearing witness to what’s happening right now. We’ve only got the energy for a few scraps of raw “writing-for-lifeline” at the end of each day. We’re writing to center ourselves in the midst.
That’s fine.
Even war correspondents don’t write their entire articles while IN the battlefield. In the middle of high-risk action, they often do jot (or record) notes. But they have to return to a vaguely safe space to craft the article itself.
All I’m saying is, we’re in a profoundly stressful time. No homework this month. Care for yourself and your loved ones. You’ll get back on the horse soon. I promise.