5 Steps to Elevate Your Writing During COVID
As a writer, we sometimes live an isolated existence. This current pandemic has put us were we have been before; sitting in a quiet place, secluded, concentrating on creating our next masterpiece.
But as a writer, the current state the country is in creates something unique for us. It creates a world where fresh ideas can stem from. It creates a world where new methods of survival are happening. It creates a world of opportunity that you may not have realized.
It takes a new world to create new thinking, and the situation today, is ever-changing. It can take a writer to new heights of imagination, and if you are not there, you will be.
This list is to help you spark those ideas. So, lets begin.
1. Enter those contests!
Now is the time to look over the many contests that are still vying for writers. It will give you time to practice your writing and expand your fan-base. Amazon has contests happening all the time, for novels and short stories. One of the more popular ones come from Amazon UK, and is open to anyone. It is Kindle Storyteller. While the contest for 2020 (deadline is Aug 31st) is over, you can start penning that story for 2021. The best thing about this contest is that you have to publish your book through kindle as a way to enter, so even if you don’t win, you have a book you can promote and sell.
COVID Contests: There are many contests that deal with writing about Covid itself, and how society is dealing with it. Why not? Clearly it was not a part of literary-speak last year. You can find a list of agencies looking for poems to short stories here: Discover Submittable.
2. Journaling
One of the submissions above have to deal with journal entries. Starting a new journal is the perfect outlet for writers during this epidemic. You can call it: “During Covid, My Perspective.”
Keeping a journal about your everyday life, will include new ways life is lived during covid. It is something you can always refer to when writing about this era in your other works. Eating outside, the fashion of masks, the emptiness of the big city, fights over social distancing, technology changes, the fear, the anger, the civil and social unrest. Each day things change, and with it, new ways a writer can approach it. Once this is over, your journal will be a link to a past that will have seemed unimaginable. You can pull on those past resources to enhance your work.
3. Reading
It goes without saying that writers should be readers too. And while now is a good time to catch up on reading, especially since the parks and beaches are still open (and hopefully the libraries and atriums will open by winter) and enjoy a good book in the open skies. It is a good idea to sk your friends for their recommendations on good books. People Magazine has a list at: People Books During Covid. But it is also a good idea to read writers in the genre you write.
But your reading can go beyond the latest novel. During this time, it is best to read articles, news stories, essays, and personal accounts of Covid-related issues. This is a time of personal trama in 20th Century. protests, unemployment, consumerism changes, brick n’ motar vs online, and so much on a human scale. This can translate into any future/fantasy novel dealing with the same issue, or any work set in the future. How we tackle this situation now, globally, sets the tone for how we handle something like this in the next Century to come. It gives you more insight that can fuel your characters, create their motivation and drive.
4. Family
The one thing this pandemic has made us realize, is that we are social creatures. We long for the communion of the human interaction. As a writer, you are in a unique position when interacting with your family. People are talking more, expressing more, and the conversation is all about how they are dealing with the NOW. You can use this as a venue for not only writing, but for bringing family closer together.
Keep a log of how family members are dealing with this, by asking them specific questions: How are you homeschooling? What is the dating scene like for you? What is keeping you busy? The answers they give now may have changed since last year. Maybe it is time to write a real letter to someone. Something that will last, and not disappear with the next scroll.
Create something fun. If you are a blog writer, or a web designer (you can also get a free web at wix.com), and create a webpage for relatives to submit stories. Or you listen and writer their stories yourself. Create a page for recipes, that everyone can submit (or they submit them to you, and you create the page). It allows other to share pictures of their meals, and be connected through food, no matter how far apart.
5. Promote Yourself
Finally, this is the time for you to work on your own goals, but not just your writing, you also have to continue to promote yourself. The book festivals, fares and conventions are gone this year. Everything is going virtual. This means you will have to as well. We don’t know how long this will last. So work on a YouTube video reading from your work. Have friends send you a video of them reading it, outside in some beautiful locale. Write witty prose on your social media, maybe on how your novel saved a housewife from dish-panned hands. Post a virtual reading with a link to where others can buy your book. Friend other writers and ask what they are working on. If we are soon to be living in a virtual world, you might as well be ready.
While there may be isolation, especially when being a writer, there is also an opportunity to bond and share with others. It helps you to create and helps other connect to you.
