It’s been damn hard to write during COVID-19. We have all this time on our hands but we’re swamped by stress. It’s all that bad news and plenty of terrible events, which is not good for our creativity.
From March to July I was a bit broken. I’d sit down to write my novel and I just couldn’t do it. I ended up stress eating and binge watching Netflix. (The Witcher was the first thing I binge watched.)
Luckily, I did break through the stress and found a way to get back to writing. The bad news is Castoffs of the Gods, sequel to Gamble of the Gods, is a little late – probably releasing it at the end of October.
How to Write during Covid-19
Each of us has different ways of dealing with stress, but just in case any of these things can help you, this is what I did to break through and find my creativity again so I could write during Covid-19.
~I focused on helping other people (through my business Plot Duckies and as a volunteer through One Million Cups)
~I stopped watching so much news. In fact, I rarely watch the news at all now.
~I adopted a dog from the county shelter. Best thing ever. He’s a character, forces me out of bed in the morning, and makes me go on walks.
~I’ve got into a routine on my weekdays and another on my weekends
~I’ve scheduled weekly fun time with a small group of friends. We go roller skating, have breakfast, and get out in the sun.
~I’ve scheduled weekly time with my family. We meet somewhere for a hike, go out for breakfast and catch up.
~I also stress eat and binge watch occasionally because no matter how much everything helps, It’s still annoying to be home so much.
in addition, I know that winter is going to be even harder because I won’t be able to sit on my porch and hear the world at large while I work. So, I’m scheduling mid-week time with my best friend in advance!
Castoffs of the Gods
A bit more about the next book. I have 50,000 words edited, now I need to go back through, make some changes suggested by my writing group, and my artist is finalizing the cover. It came down to the following two, but I’ve asked her to make a big change to one of the covers. Final reveal will be coming soon.
In other words, it’s close! So if you’re waiting for that next adventure, there’s not long to wait.
Below are the two covers that my artist created:
Don’t want to wait for more adventure? Check out my new prequel to the Idol Makers series! A short story – The Glass Mountain. See how it all began for Leslie Kicklighter.