Today is day 109.
In the first few weeks of quarantine, I was one of those people who couldn’t get anything done.
I did what I had to do for the classes I teach, then I turned on my comfort TV, The Great British Baking Show, and numbed out to polite, adorable British bakers trying to perfect their tarts and puddings.
My other fallback was the news, though obviously not for escapist reasons. I had to know everything that was happening with COVID and quarantine. But after gorging on the news kept me awake at night, I learned to set limits on my consumption.
As I settled into my SIP rhythm, I entered a new quarantine phase: self examination.
I started to see things about myself that I didn’t like.
It’s one thing to become tired of the people you live with. You can go for a hike, suit up for a daunting trip to the grocery store, or go sit out in the backyard. But when you’re frustrated with yourself, you’re pretty much stuck.
My nagging question was, why aren’t you writing?
If writing is your dream—and it makes you feel good to do it—why is your go-to activity watching people make tarts?
I decided that if writing and publishing were important to me, I couldn’t let SIP keep me from doing them. My goal is to publish a novel. I left my second novel hanging—a completed first draft waiting for revision—and hadn’t gone back to it since before quarantine.
I also felt distanced from that good feeling that comes from writing. My novel hung over my head like a threat. Writing felt like an obligation, not a happy place to go to.
After some thought on how I tend to work and think, I decided to do the following things. So far they seem to be working.
1. I started a short-term project, to experience the fun of writing again. I started a short story, something I could finish quickly. I wrote a locked room Shelter in Place mystery, with a completely new protagonist: a single-mother private detective. I had a blast writing it.
2. I now set a timer and sit down to write every day, even if it’s a short increment of time. A sneaky trick I play on myself! I set a timer for maybe 30 minutes. But then I get really into what I’m writing and end up going past the timer.
3. I meet with my writers groups. I am privileged to be a member of three awesome writing groups. Many of the writers have been dealing with similar issues. It’s helped to see how they’re handling this time. Even if it’s meeting on Zoom, it’s life-giving to connect with other creative people.
4. I do online write-ins. Accountability for the win! Whether it’s on Zoom or FaceTime, it helps to sit down with other people who are writing. You’re doing this together and your butts stay in the seats. After the timer beeps, you can check in and get encouragement from each others’ breakthroughs.
5. I faced the big project I was avoiding. I’ve gone back to the overwhelmingness of my big project—revising my novel. I have my list of big revisions and the research I want to fold in. It will be a big undertaking that will probably continue to be overwhelming, but now I remember what I loved about my novel concept. And how much I love my characters.
I’m back in the game! Still quarantined and not going anywhere.
But feeling renewed and reset.
That’s what I do too! I finished my second novel by tricking myself into writing just 250 words a day. I often overshot that, but it’s the low expectations that got me started in the first place. Thanks for sharing, Victoria!