My Three-Tiered Approach to Writing During a Pandemic

Way back in March of 2020, when we were all still getting used to the term social distancing and many of us were first learning that we were evidently “non-essential” to society, this tweet by Rosanne Cash was being posted all over social media, reminding writers that Shakespeare wrote King Lear while quarantined during the plague.   

No pressure, right?

All levity aside, I know I was not alone in quickly realizing that being stuck at home indefinitely was not going to mean I was going to be writing the next great novel. In fact, for at least the first month and a half of lockdown, I barely wrote anything at all. 

Life was turned upside down. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to get all the groceries we needed. My house suddenly became a makeshift school for my kids. I work at a circulation desk at a library and since that doesn’t translate well to working from home, I had to adapt to an entirely new role that I could perform from my laptop at the dining room table. By the time I had all that figured out, the pandemic was getting worse again and we were in the midst of the growing Black Lives Matter Movement, which was far more important than my ongoing writer’s block.

I was sad. I was worried. I was exhausted. I wanted to want to write. I just couldn’t get there.

Now I’m about to reach the four-month mark. Four months since I’ve been to my library, to a grocery store, to a restaurant. Four months since I’ve seen my family and friends in person. Four months since I had any time to myself. But at some point during this period, my desire to write returned. It started with journaling and writing letters before I was able to start writing fiction again. But when I say it was a relief. Wow.

That said, my writing life is different than it used to be. It’s harder to find inspiration when you’re holed up at home instead of out observing the world. I have about twenty hours less per week to write than I used to. And I can’t even look at the novel that I was almost finished revising before quarantine started. But I’ve carved out a writing space in my house. I bought some cute new file folders online and made a stack of my favorite books for inspiration. I even put up a “Coffee Shop” sign on the wall above my desk after seeing this comic from The New Yorker. 

As I slowly settled into a new groove, I started to notice that my writing life has always been defined by three overlapping categories: letter writing to stay connected, journaling to clear my mind, and writing fiction as an escape. 

I call this my three-tiered approach to writing during the pandemic.

Bottom Tier: Letter Writing

Letters were my first form of writing so I consider them my foundation. I became pen pals with my great aunt when I was about eight years old. She and I wrote back and forth to each other for twenty years. After she died several years ago, my cousin found a stack of all the letters I’d ever written to her. She kept every single one of them! 

Early on during lockdown, I decided I would write at least one letter per week to a loved one I miss. It’s not only a way to find human connection in this madness, but it’s also an act of kindness. Seriously, is there anything better than receiving a handwritten letter in the mail? When I started sending letters out, I didn’t even expect to get any responses, but I have! It brightens my day every time.

So, if you haven’t written a letter in a while, I’d encourage you to sit down and try. It’s good for the soul. You might even find inspiration for a future story in sending and/or receiving letters. I know I have!

Middle Tier: Journaling

Journaling has so many benefits and it’s something I’ve done on-and-off since I was a kid. For me, sometimes it’s simply a temporary fix to get looping or worrisome thoughts out of my head. It keeps my imagination working, even when I can’t think of anything creative to write. It also serves as a personal record of my history. Right now, historians are even encouraging ordinary people to document their pandemic days in journals, to help shape the way the history of this particular time will be written. 

When it comes to journal writing, I’m all over the place. Sometimes, it’s one or two sentences. 

On April 11th, I just scribbled: 

Working from home now. Don’t love it.

Other times, I make lists.

On July 12th, I wrote down a bunch of things that will remind me of quarantine. Homemade popcorn, my thirteen-year-old cat’s epic birthday party, sidewalk chalk, our giant inflatable pool. It’s important to take note of the good stuff and not just the struggles.

It could be a quote from the day that affected me in some way. 

On May 8th, I transcribed part of a phone conversation with my eighty-year-old grandmother that made me laugh: 

“I can remember some Mother’s Days that were really crazy and wild, but you’ve gotta calm down sometime.”

I asked her to elaborate, but she just laughed.

Then there are the days when my entries are a three-page long rant about all the things I’m worried about, all the things that hurt, all the things I miss, and all the things I wish I could control, but can’t. 

All I can say is when you sit down to journal, write it all out. Whatever is on your mind or in your heart. You don’t have to hand it over to the pandemic historians if you don’t want to. It can be just for you. 

Top Tier: Writing Fiction

Writing fiction is my top tier because I can’t do it well without the others. I need letter writing and journaling to support my attempts to write stories during this turbulent time. I write contemporary YA romance, even though I didn’t read YA when I was an actual young adult. But as an anxious mom in her mid-thirties, I fell in love with writing and reading stories about kids navigating their teen years. It’s my favorite escape and has really helped me cope during my time in quarantine. 

I can’t physically leave my house, but I can write a story about two best friends going on a road trip to take photos of themselves in front of different restaurants shaped like food.  Or a girl who falls in love over the summer while working at a candy shop. Or old friends who reconnect at a concert and their lives change in one night.

Someone recently asked me if I was going to write a story about the pandemic, but the answer is no. For now anyway. Maybe when I’m no longer living through it, I’ll want to do that. Right now, I want to write stories about any and everything else. And they may not be the best work I’ve ever produced, but at least I can get inside my characters’ heads and experience what they experience. Writing fiction, no matter your genre, will allow you to have the adventures you might feel your life is currently lacking. 

So, take some time and define your tiers. Most importantly, don’t give up on your writing, even if it’s hard to focus. You don’t need to pen the next bestseller, or even anything you’re willing to share with your critique partners.

What matters is that you keep writing, in any form, because if there’s one thing all writers have in common, it’s that no matter the circumstances, we need to write to feel alive.

Miranda L. Scotti is a lifelong writer and daydreamer who found her voice writing contemporary YA romance after experiencing her own happily ever after. She works in a library to maximize her time spent drinking coffee while surrounded by shelves of books.

You can follow her on Instagram.