My Year in Pandemic Writing
This week marks one year since I entered isolation. The pandemic has changed everyone's personal and work lives, and it has definitely changed my writing life. Being unable to leave the apartment has brought new opportunities and challenges and has altered my workflow significantly.
Prior to isolation, I spent half of my writing time at home on my desk, and half outdoors. In the warm weather months I'd go to Bryant Park or some outdoor cafe, and when it's cold out, I'd go to the NY Public Library. I have my favorite spots and I've written so many words in these places, so it stung when I could no longer go there to write.
One of my spots is in the Map Room at the NYPL Schwarzman Building.
I live in a one-bedroom New York apartment with my husband and three pets--two cats and a dog. We have enough physical space for all five of us, but I quickly learned that there is not nearly enough psychic space when you are home 24/7. I learned to invest in a pair of noise-cancelling earbuds, but that still isn't enough with the visual distractions and the pull of wanting to spend time with them instead of putting words to paper.
The upside of isolation is, of course, more time. I didn't have to commute to and from work, nor did I have to get ready for my workday and decompress as much when I logged off from my work computer. Nights and weekends got freed up a lot too, since I had zero social life (save for the occasional Zoom game night and a weekly DnD session over on roll20).
Marilyn, Miles and Rory practicing some social distancing
As any writer would tell you, more free time does not always translate to more writing time. Being in isolation threw my motivation for a loop. When the world is turned upside down--with the pandemic, the social justice protests, the elections, a literal insurrection--it's hard to find the drive to do anything.
Writing through difficult times warrants an entire blog post all to itself, and it took a multi-prong approach to getting my groove back. The most rudimentary one was improving my workspace. I made it as pleasant and comfortable as I can, and sans distractions. I also had to implement a schedule and a reward system to bring some order and satisfaction to my process.
My writing desk setup
But the biggest shift in my writing life during isolation comes from the online communities that I've been able to discover and nurture. Being away from my friends and family allowed the space and opportunity for new people to enter my life. As it is, writing is a lonesome endeavor, but in this year of isolation, thanks to new writing colleagues and friends, it didn't feel so lonely.
Photos from my phone