The Curious Case of the Writer in Lockdown
By Daniel Stallings, East Sierra Branch
Finding motivation to do anything remotely creative and productive while in isolation is one of the biggest mental health challenges of 2020. Being able to create is something vital that sustains me. While I wouldn’t rate it higher than air, food, water, and sleep, my need to write and design and dream is so crucial to my well-being that I rate it in the top five.
So being isolated from many of the activities I would use as avenues for creativity has been quite a journey of self-discovery and a learning experience on how we all process this moment in history. It has especially hard for people to reestablish patterns or develop new sense of normal in this era of upheaval. Still, working with others has helped me shape my life into more recognizable patterns and has given my friends and colleagues help as well. And maybe some our tricks can help you. Again, I don’t say that everyone HAS to follow my advice. But if you find yourself in a creative slump or are trying your hardest to stand up under the weight of uncertainty, maybe this can help you find self-satisfaction again.
One big thing is allowing ourselves the freedom to set up fun things to do. Now I am NOT suggesting booking flights, concert tickets, or anything risky during this time. What I am saying are little fun projects that are creative, but not connected to work. Then you can make bargains with yourself to budget your time and have something to look forward to. I’ll give an example: I’ve been working on this paranormal investigations-themed radio show called Regions Beyond. One of my actors was struggling finding work-life balance in these uncertain times, even though she had this fun project to look forward to. So I told her she could budget her time into parcels. Say she had a huge term paper to write for school. She could write the first half and then take an hour break to watch a favorite TV show or do a craft or play a game. Once the hour was up, she could go back and finish her paper completely. Then another break. By parceling out her day, she could have things to look forward to AND get more work done. She’s messaged me recently about how much the system works and how much it’s helped her organize her life again. AND she gave me fantastic recordings for Regions Beyond because her time reopened and she had the spirit to be creative again. I call that a huge success for this writer in lockdown.
“…In Lockdown” first appeared in the
November 2020 Writers of the Purple Sage,
newsletter of the East Sierra Branch.