This little quote by Anne Tyler says it all:
The COVID-19 outbreak has pushed a lot of people who are not in “essential” jobs into a means of social distancing where they either find themselves unemployed, laid-off or otherwise living within a state of limbo until the worst of this outbreak passes. Nothing is really going on right now. No films, concerts, sporting events, or plays that you can go see. No trips to vacation destinations that you can take. No hanging out with friends and co-workers.
Again. This is an introvert’s dream and an extrovert’s nightmare. But one of the (very few) good things that has come out of this situation is that writers and wannabe writers no longer have anywhere to hide. You no longer have the excuse that you “can’t find the time to write.” The time is there. It has always been there, but now it is just more in-your-face than it ever was before.
Get in the Habit of Writing Every Day
I am lucky because I work as a freelance writer so our family still has some income coming in and my wife works as a teacher so we have good health insurance and we are far more fortunate than many others out there. Even so, there are no school buses to catch on weekday mornings, no more grocery shopping on the weekends, music lessons, orchestra practices, or extra-curricular activities scheduled to help my brain remember what day it is. The days are blending together in a disorienting flow. You need to put down new anchors to define your days. Why not make writing that novel you’ve always wanted to write part of this new reality?
Fighting Depression and Fear
If you spend too much time watching the news, it is easy to feel helpless and/or afraid. It is far easier to get lost in a mindless Netflix binge and watch hour after hour of video entertainment to try to forget about the situation we are in. But will that make you feel better at the end of the day? Will it make you feel better about yourself once this situation has passed and we return to a semblance of normal life? Probably not. So turn this bad situation into something wonderful.
DO IT! – Creative Thinking Exercise
Where do you want to be 2 months from now? What do you hope to accomplish with this time? Write about the writing project that you always wanted to complete but you’ve never had the time for.