It’s a ridiculously hard time to write. No one is feeling productive. Many people have been plunged into financial uncertainty and feel vulnerable to a virus that’s an invisible menace.
Some people have even started wondering: what’s the point of writing? What kind of a world will even be left for me to publish a book in?
Don’t be paralyzed by our present circumstances. There will be a time after this one. And we’re going to need books.
We need your writing.
The last apocalypse
In 2008, I was just starting my career as a young literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. I had written a novel out on submission to literary agents, but it was floundering. An agent wanted edits I didn’t think I could pull off.
Then the financial crisis hit. Publishers started shuttering imprints and many of my editor friends were laid off. My boss came to work one morning and advised me against submitting any books for the rest of the year. This was early October!
I faced the daunting prospect of building a career in a shrinking industry. I suddenly had a lot more time on my hands because I wouldn’t be managing submissions.
So what did I do? I wrote.
One day I had an idea for a novel about a kid trapped on a planet full of substitute teachers. I worked really hard with my extra time. I finished Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow in six months.
In April 2009 I started submitting it to agents and found one by the end of the month. In July 2009 there was an auction and Penguin won the bidding.
In nine months I went from feeling like I was living through an apocalypse to living my wildest dreams.
You can do this
Right now, I’m as uncertain as you are about what kind of world we’re going to emerge into. What we’re experiencing feels bigger than 2008 and is happening in a political climate that already felt completely tumultuous. The world is not going to look the same when we’re on the other side of this.
But there will be a time after this one. There will be books. People are going to be reading.
Even if I hadn’t ever found a publisher for the novel I wrote during the financial crisis, it still would have been worth it.
Writing is an act of hope. It’s powerful to lose yourself in fictional worlds. It’s how we can take the badness out of the air and turn it into something better.
There’s no better time to go after your dreams than when things feel the most uncertain. Create something for the world you want to live in.
Don’t despair. Write!
Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!
For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.
And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!
Art: Woman in the sunset by Caspar David Friedrich
I love it! Although I still think I’d write better from New Zealand.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Words of hope from experience!
Very timely post. It’s something writers need to hear right now.
I have time to write BECAUSE of the shutdown and shelter-in-place order here. And since I’m in Seattle, I got a headstart. I’ve been pretty productive the last 6 weeks. And I’m lucky my husband learned a painful lesson during the recession: always keep a 6-month reserve of cash on hand for emergencies.
Very timely for me. An agent requested both my manuscripts last month just before the brunt of the virus ran amok through the masses. And here I sit, working on #3 as instructed, eating too many doughnuts and wondering if my efforts will pay off. ????????♀️
Nathan, I’m crying — bawling — as I read this. I’m alone and scared and rapidly coming up on my 40th birthday, which used to feel exciting, but now feels like an open invitation to all the mean thoughts in my head to tell me I haven’t amounted to anything… and that it’s too late to try. I’m struggling so, so much to have even a shred of hope. I was, in all honesty, struggling before the pandemic happened. But I like the idea of a future with books in it. And I like the idea of something beautiful coming out of all this awfulness. I’m going to take a few days to be scared and sad, and then I’m going to grab any scraps of hope I can and get back to writing.
Hang in there! I’m also approaching 40 and, this is far easier said than done, but try as best you can to harness those fears. They can be useful! Just don’t let them overwhelm you. You can do this!!