writing in isolation

Supposed Crimes 30-day challenge question for Day 30: How do you think this time of isolation will factor into storytelling in the near or far future?

For this topic, I already talked a little bit in another post about how I think romance storylines might be impacted when writers put this time period covering the pandemic in their stories. But further, it is important to undertand that the human in isolation and/or loneliness have been topics for authors throughout history.

Today’s authors are right now experiencing isolation and loneliness and no doubt will plumb its depths with their characters both during and after processing their own experiences.

Because that’s what writers do.

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”

— Anais Nin

I have always written as a way to process my own experiences and better understand myself. I don’t journal, writing to myself about my personal reality, but I rather prefer to “give away” my issues to fictional characters and watch as they wrestle with and resolve them. It’s cathartic.

I’m definitely a writer for whom this shirt applies (my sister-in-law got me one almost 20 years ago).

As for me, this time of isolation hasn’t been much different from my pre-pandemic life. I’m still an introvert and prefer time alone to time being social. I just now have a “universal” excuse.

As a writer, too, I tend to write stories featuring characters who spend time alone without angsting over missing time with others. In fact, what’s often more surprising to my characters is when they do miss someone (usually the LI). The pandemic, if it’s ever in the setting of a story, might be one of the obstacles I use.

For example I might start asking: how do the characters get to know each other if they can’t interact physically? What other ways can I have them connect?

~ Lara

PS: OMG. I am so excited to complete a project. It’s felt like ages, and it may be “silly” to some people, but with this post I have completed an entire month of daily blogging.