Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers

How is the isolation affecting your writing?

When I virtual chat with writing friends most of them say they feel generally lethargic. It is not just their writing life and routine that has changed but also life in general has restricted their creativity. With limited interactions, we do not have access to our normal writing routines. We may have people in the house not normally there, or meetings and events that sparked our imaginations are cancelled. Whatever our normal was, we are being proactive in protecting our loved ones from this horrid disease by staying home.

When I looked up lethargy, I was surprised at how many definitions it has. All of which describe beautifully our current state.

Sluggishness, inertia, inactivity, inaction, slowness, torpor, dullness, listlessness, languor, stagnation, laziness, idleness, indolence, shiftlessness, sloth, phlegm,
apathy, passivity, ennui, weariness, tiredness, lassitude, fatigue, sleepiness, drowsiness, enervation, somnolence, narcosis, hebetude.

So let’s take one of these and use it in a writing exercise. Write a poem or short story about a character affected by it.

Use the comment section to leave your response.

As writers we can use what prompts us to create. Use this experience in the same way. Make it a positive. Finish that novel, short story, poem. Create a new one using this experience as inspiration. Reorganize your physical or virtual writing files. Research new story ideas. List writing projects you want to achieve. Revisit old story ideas or manuscripts – can they be resurrected?

Think positive – be positive and write!