Writing Under Pressure

 by Linda Rodriguez

In Ukraine, bombs and artillery shelling are falling on civilians as they try to evacuate their mostly destroyed cities. In an attempt to help, the US and European allies are playing a dangerous game with a crazed Russian autocrat, who's threatening nuclear war. As we release all the precautions we were taking against Covid-19, epidemiologists warn of a new variant and another wave on its way--after two years of isolation and societal shutdown. Our society is more divided than it has been, probably, since the Civil War, and in fact, one group on one side of that divide is absolutely threatening a second civil war.

I could indeed go on and on with examples of the very real challenges we are living among at this moment. These are all issues and crises that everyone in this country is facing, but we are all dealing with them in different ways.

I know some people are dealing with the current example of the Chinese curse's "interesting times" by throwing themselves into work and trying to ignore everything that's going on around them. It's a valid choice but it only works for a lucky few people. And I suspect it takes its own severe toll, ultimately.

In my own case, I have also had some debilitating health crises to add to the craziness. I know that many others also have this extra burden.

What is a writer to do, facing all of these anxiety- and depression-producing circumstances? In many cases, writers are also suffering from fear for the health of young children, elders, disabled, or immune suppressed people in their own families, birth and chosen. Many of us have prided ourselves for years on being able to make deadlines, even as we grumbled about some of the unrealistic deadlines our publishers may have given us. We have always been people who could sit down and write under almost any circumstances. Until now. Until we have such a heavy load of circumstances pressing upon us that we are nearly flattened.

I wish I had a clear answer for you, a one-fits-all solution to the problem. Unfortunately, I don't. I do have some possibilities, some techniques that any of us can try to work our way back to that blessed prolific writing that used to characterize our lives. And I hope that some of you will be able to toss in other suggestions in the comments.

My first suggestion is to go out the front or back door of your house into some little sliver of nature, even if it's only a front or back yard. Nature has always been the great friend and patron of writers.

Secondly, journal. Use one of the many hard copy journals that all of us writers seem to collect or use your computer or use your phone. Take notes on what you see and hear. Practice small descriptions or mini-scenes. Pay attention to your emotions and your reactions to all of these crisis stimuli around you. You're a writer-write it down. And it wouldn't hurt to make a short list of things you're grateful for at the end of the day. 

Read books on writing. Watch talks, webinars, and workshops on various parts of a writing career. All of these things are a way of priming the pump.

Take up knitting or sewing or wood carving. Start singing or dancing again, even if it's only in your own home or backyard. Take an online class in something totally unrelated to writing.

This last one I'm going to mention is the most important. Take care of yourself. Look at all of the medicines, activities, and habits that you had developed with your doctor and various therapists or coaches, all the things that were designed to keep your health in excellent shape. How many of them have you grown lacks about? How many of them have you stopped doing? Reactivate all of these habits. Add some new ones. If you're having problems doing the kind of work you have been able to in the past, take some of that freed up time to pay attention to your mind, emotions, and body. Maybe this last one won't start you creating prolifically again, but it will guarantee that, once you do manage to start producing the way you want to, you will be able to continue it.

These are terrifying, worrying times. I don't foresee any immediate changes for the better, though I know we will eventually see changes for the better. For the immediate future, this crazed world is our new normal. And if there's one thing writers are good at, it's adjusting. So here's to all of us adjusting and thriving in our new "interesting times."