Dear WriteByNighters,
Here’s my recommendation: Do whatever you can to keep reading. No matter what it is. I haven’t read anything (other than, sigh, twitter, and articles linked to from twitter) in almost two weeks, and it feels awful. And I miss it terribly.
But. I. just. can’t. focus.
You know what else feels awful? Outside of a small amount of journaling, I haven’t written a word in a long, long time.
I haven’t exercised in weeks! The tension on the streets is intense. Every time you pass someone, you think "Will this person be the reason I’m loaded onto one of those refrigerated trucks parked outside the hospitals?” And you know he or she is thinking the same about you.
When we first wrote to you about COVID-19 and the shutdown in NYC, it hadn’t yet hit wide swaths of the U.S. Now almost 95% of Americans are under stay-at-home orders, so most of us are stuck in the same very weird boat. (We sincerely hope none of you are stuck in those other boats, the floating nightmare cruise ships that can’t find
harbor.)
I’m not exercising my body and I’m not exercising my brain. Are you having the same problem? How do we snap out of it?
All over this ravaged country we’re seeing people help each other out, in ways big and small. Neighbors deliver groceries to shut-ins; people cheer and applaud out their windows every night to thank the medical professionals working tirelessly on behalf of us all.
In what ways have you helped out the friends, family, and even strangers in your life? We’d love to hear about it.
Are there ways that we writers can help out fellow writers?
On twitter, a novelist I admire offered to read the work of a few writers struggling with short projects. I sent him a story I’d been grappling with, back before I quit writing. I didn’t expect more than a superficial response. Instead, the guy sent back 800 words of insightful feedback. I was touched. He even replied thoughtfully
to every pesky follow-up question.
If anything gets me writing again, it will be that response to that story from a total stranger.
That incident is part of what prompted us to begin offering to proofread, at no charge, any essay or article written by any medical professional chronicling his/her experiences fighting COVID-19. If that’s you, reply to this email with details about your project. We’ll do as many more as we have the time and headspace for.
We hope those of you who are able to be creative right now are finding comfort in that. We hope those of you who are unable to be creative right now are finding comfort elsewhere. And going easy on yourselves. To borrow from Uncle Tupelo: It’s not forever. It’s just for now.
Stay well, WriteByNighters, and stay safe.
