Pandemic Thoughts: Who Needs This?

“I decided I was going to learn to draw (during the pandemic). I really sucked at it. It was hard on my self-esteem. I had to let the drawing go” (novelist Tayari Jones). Why, in times of stress, do creative people pile more on ourselves by undertaking new challenges? I admire Jones, who was able to drop the drawing. Many, myself included, find it hard to let go. What started as an adventure becomes self-inflicted punishment. Instead of either bidding adieu or simply finding pleasure in something regardless of our ability, we build a wall and persist in slamming our heads against it. Occasionally we break through, so we risk our self-esteem again. And again. More thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

Not letting go: Creativity or craziness?
Why writers write: “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” – Richard Bach

Pandemic Thoughts: Laughter is a COVID Casualty

“My bad ideas (during the pandemic) were usually bad because they were not funny because I was depressed” (actor and writer Aidy Bryant). While I’m not primarily a humor writer, I occasionally write “funny” or quirky pieces. I don’t think I’ve written any during the pandemic. I can joke about COVID-19 to cheer someone up, or dash off a throw-away line in a letter or conversation, but sustained humor seems neither appropriate nor possible. Perhaps a sign that the pandemic is receding will be when laughter rebounds. More thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

The return of laughter signals healing
Why writers write: “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” – Thomas Mann

Pandemic Thoughts: Complain with Originality or Hush

“If I were to write (during the pandemic) like I normally do, which is glorified complaining, it would be the same as every other person. I don’t know what new experience I can bring to it” (musician Phoebe Bridgers). Since my writing is timeless, rather than timely, and I don’t kvetch, I continue to write as always. For contemporary commentators, the best COVID-19 writing may have to wait until the pandemic has passed. It’s hard to see clearly when one is mired in misery. More thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

Rare is the complainer who stands out from the crowd
Why writers write: “Writing a novel is taking life as it exists to make an object that might contain this life inside it, something that never was and will not be again.” – Eudora Welty

Pandemic Thoughts: (Almost) Craving Social Interruptions

“There is a myth about the redistribution of time during the pandemic, that we have fewer interruptions. I’ve experienced the opposite” (artist Anicka Yi). Neither is true for me. I attend the same number of in-person meetings and coffee dates, only now they happen on Zoom. While it’s true that I go to the market less often and buy things online rather than in-store, I was never much of a shopper to begin with. What has changed is how I feel about uninterrupted time spent alone. As a writer, I’ve always treasured it. I still do, but after a year of solitary routines, I’d (sort of) welcome more in-person social “disruptions.” Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

After a long lockdown in solitude, a few social interruptions may be welcome
Why writers write: “Because somewhere out there is someone who needs that story.” – Neil Gaiman

Pandemic Thoughts: Grimmer Fare or Greater Feeling?

“I switched to watching murder documentaries [during the pandemic]. When the world is grim like that, you look for something that is even worse” (actor and writer Sharon Horgan). Unlike Horgan, knowing that others are suffering doesn’t make me feel better. I just feel bad for them too. So, my (minimal) viewing habits and wide-ranging reading choices haven’t changed. Nor has my writing. The difference is that my level of interest and emotion has intensified. Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

Knowing someone has it worse makes me feel bad for them, not better about me
Why writers write: “An artist is a sort of emotional or spiritual historian. His role is to make you realize the doom and glory of knowing who you are and what you are.” – James Baldwin

Pandemic Thoughts: Whence the Blahs?

“2020 was the year I finally got my wish, to be really bored of the monotony of one day bleeding into the next” (artist Anicka Yi). I neither am, nor wish to be, bored. A new day of writing always awaits and I never know where it will take me. However, months into the lockdown, I suffered inertia, spending scarce reserves of energy to do something as simple as peeling an orange. Pandemic anxiety is debilitating. Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

A pandemic loop: Anxiety-inertia-boredom
Why writers write: “Most of our lives are mundane and dull. It’s up to the writer to find ways to make them interesting.” – John Updike

Pandemic Thoughts: Write or Be Damned

Asked by The New York Times what she had made during the pandemic year, actor and writer Sharon Horgan replied, “I wrote tons. I hope that’s not a smug answer. It was like work or be damned.” The lockdown may intensify that feeling, but for me, and I suspect most writers, writing versus damnation are the ordinary poles of non-pandemic life. A day without writing, or comparable creative activity, is a woebegone day! Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

A day without writing is a woebegone day
Why writers write: “Find out the reason that commands you to write. Confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Pandemic Thoughts: Reopening Opens Anxiety

“I’m getting stressed imagining the world opening up. If I have a creative epiphany before then, it would make me feel like this time is done” (musician Phoebe Bridgers). I too am both anxious and eager contemplating a return to normal social interaction. I don’t need an epiphany, but I need reassurance that my creativity as a writer during the pandemic will continue after restrictions ease. Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

I’m anxious in both senses of the word about the pandemic ending
Why writers write: “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” – Thomas Mann

Pandemic Thoughts: Half Full or Half Empty?

Asked by The New York Times what they’ve accomplished during the pandemic, creative people offer opposing responses. “I have never gotten so much work done! There are so few distractions or interruptions. Even if you choose to do nothing, you can do it with intensity” (Sheila Hicks, fiber artist). “I’ve made nothing. Creatively, I’m lost. It’s why I’m doing this interview. I’m guessing some other artists identify” (Tracy Letts, playwright). I’m with Hicks. Not because I have more time to fill, but because writing offers solace. I immerse myself in my characters who, while coping with other problems, are decidedly not living through this pandemic. Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

Is your pandemic year creatively half full or half empty?
Why writers write: “A book is not an end in itself. Like a newspaper or magazine, a book is a means of communication.” – Isabel Allende

Pandemic Thoughts: Literary Shin Splints

“(Our) bad idea in the pandemic was finishing our daily dance regimen jeté-ing and tumbling down the promenade in Riverside Park. It was a total blast — until it gave us really bad shin splints” (Choreographer Justin Peck, The New York Times). Shin splints are caused by prolonged running, typically on hard surfaces. I wondered if there was a writer’s equivalent and concluded that it’s overexplaining, telling the reader what you’ve already shown. The cure for physical and literary shin splints? Give it a rest! Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.

Dancers and writers can both get shin splints when they come down too hard
Why writers write: “The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes.” – Andre Gide