You know, just because Newton invented calculus while he waited out the plague doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have done it even if he still had to commute to his day job. (Which, in his case, was probably inventing calculus. But I digress.)
It’s common wisdom that if you want to be a successful writer, you should write every day. And I’m not here to argue against that. I’m here to argue against the idea that because you may be enduring forced isolation, you should be writing until your fingers bleed, because this is your time! Sure, we’re all stuck inside (or stuck inside at different times, depending on our State), but some of us are fortunate enough to be working from home. That means we don’t have a whole lot more time to write than we ever did, and we’re sitting at the same desk all day. This is not conducive to creativity.
Plus, you still have all of your home chores–more, now, if everyone is home 24/7. There’s more laundry, more dishes, more fights to break up among the kids–who want more attention…
Did Newton have to deal with all those things? Of course not, he had people for that. Ask how far calculus would have gotten in the face of a mountain of sheets and three stacks of dishes every day?
And I’m not even talking about the emotional toll… So if you’re not getting 3000 words a day (I’m not), ease up on yourself. Being home without a job is not the same as being on vacation.
Note: This does not apply to those who write full-time for a living. You may not even have noticed anything is different these past couple of months. In that case, grab a newspaper. But don’t go outside to get it. You’re not supposed to go outside. I think there are zombies.
#SFWApro
Graffiti on the Walls of Time 