An author during lockdown …
Yesterday, I received an email from Steph, a colleague/author. She updated me on her move from Cornwall to Scotland and revealed that, since the lockdown began in March, she hadn’t written a word.
In general, writers are living in their ivory tower, hiding in their fantasy world and hidden away from the real world. I know writers are different in many ways. Some plot every chapter to the detail, others just sit down and start from less than scratch; some have a strict regime about their daily working hours, others spend the days doing nothing or anything but writing, and then write all night.
For some writers, the lockdown was the perfect opportunity to write, others felt trapped and experienced a lack of inspiration or even a writer’s block. When Steph told me she hadn’t written at all, I could hardly believe it because I had done quite the opposite!
During the lockdown, we were not allowed to travel as we had grown accustomed to, which I found difficult in the beginning. I always like the idea of travelling whenever and wherever I want. But, as my scheduled travels were cancelled, I found a way of travelling in my head. I sat down not only to write, but also to temporarily escape from the reality of life. In my head, I travelled back to the Californian coast and brought my characters to life. Whereas Steph wrote nothing at all during lockdown, I have written two full length books. One will be out published in October, the other in 2021. And the good news is, I’ll be going back to California in a short while to write the next story.