Locked down and blocked up

Writer's Block during lockdown

While social media is bubbling with samples of creativity and productivity during lockdown, many other creatives are wondering why they feel 'blocked'. Periods of solitude are often essential for focus, for losing yourself in your creative zone and coming up with your own personal masterpiece, in whatever medium you happen to prefer. Theoretically, having to stay off work and stay home for a prolonged period should give many of us the time and space we have been craving for. Writer's block is a well-documented phenomenon - whether you agree it exists or is just a temporary frame of mind - but perhaps it feels a bit bizarre that it should happen now, when we all seem to have more time and space to be the writers we want to be.

Puzzled as to why I personally was struggling with my own lack of wit or energy to apply to my own writing, I called a couple of friends to see how they were getting on. Here's what they told me:

June

June is in her late middle age and a semi-retired business consultant with a small portfolio of loyal clients that keep her linked to her profession while giving her the time to also write professionally. She is an author of school text books, and her enthusiasm for quality writing being key to communicating information effectively knows no bounds despite the dryness of some of the subject matter (maths, stats and economics).

Me: June, how's it going? How are you finding lockdown is affecting your writing?

June: Hello, dear, nice to hear from you. All well at my end, and busy, busy busy.

Me: So much for people have loads of time to be creative! Are you managing to write?

June: Of course I am. In fact, I'm making great progress with my latest project, and I'm planning out another. And I'm thinking of co-writing a book on the economic impact of the pandemic and the future of small businesses.

Me: I'm impressed, but how do you manage to keep motivated.

June: Good planning and good organisation. You know I like my routine, so  haven't changed it at all except allow more time to go to the supermarket and queue, and then take the shopping round to my neighbour who is in her seventies and can't go herself. I get up at the same time, go to the garden and do my Tai Chi (Note - June used to go to the local park with friends to do this but lockdown rules means she follows the routine at home instead). Then I do any client work that needs to be done - I've just started using Zoom, it's marvellous! - by which time its usually a stop for lunch. Then a call around the kids to make sure they're ok, a bit of housework and by three pm I'm back on the computer and writing. In fact, I'd say the routine works really well, because I'm writing better and faster than before. Perhaps it's a sense of being determined to get the project finished before the bloody virus gets me!

Me: Doesn't Neville (June's other half) interrupt you?

June: He's too busy painting the back room. We're hoping that when all this is over that Julian (youngest son) will come and live here. He's not at all happy alone so far away since he and Imogen split up.

Me: I guess the peace and quiet is helping you stay inspired and creative. No writer's block then.

June (laughs): Oh well, you know I think writer's block is a myth. You might think you've got no inspiration, but inspiration itself is a myth. The best inspiration is an unmovable deadline and the vision of the invoice you're going to send your client or the cheque your publisher has promised you. All you have to do is knuckle down and put words on paper. Once you start forcing the pen, the brain follows, grudging or otherwise. And I don't listen to the news until suppertime when I'm done writing for the day. By the next morning, the bleakness of what is happening has thinned somewhat!

Shefali

Shefali is in her thirties, single and a vet working in a small animal clinic. She has continued working during the pandemic, because pets continue to get sick and need treatment, coronavirus or not, although the clinic is providing emergency treatment only and she is working from home several days a week. Shefali is always inspired by the animals she encounters daily and by their owners, and enjoys writing stories for children.

Me: Hiya Shefali, how are things with you?

Shefali: All good, thank you,  pretty busy as usual. I'm working from home quite a bit, doing call outs as and when I have to but generally managing to give advice to owners over the phone and offer prescriptions etc. I've been going into the clinic either mornings or evenings and keeping the admin under control. It is a lot quieter than usual though. It's a bit weird, to be honest.

Me: Are you still managing to write?

Shefali: Well, funny you should ask but I'm really struggling. I started a new story at the beginning of the year; remember I said that I was going to try my hand at YA fiction? But I just can't settle down to write. 

Me: Why do you think that is?

Shefali: I don't know at all. I do have a bit more time on my hands, and you see on Facebook and on TV all these people learning new skills and performing music, and all I can do is lounge about in my PJs eating chocolate! Seriously, when this is over I'm going to have to get back to horse riding and work it all off! But as for the writing, I don't know. When I'm at work, I am focused, caring, I know exactly what I'm doing, but I find that in my spare time I feel tired, I don't want to think much and when I try to think about the story, or characters, or plot, I feel confused, a bit lost really.

Me: Writer's block then?

Shefali: I guess it is. Or maybe just a way for my anxiety to manifest. I feel perfectly fine most of the time, but I am finding it hard to be away from family. I speak to them every day on Skype and WhatsApp - in fact, I've spoken more to my aunties in India in these past few weeks than I had in months - but when I try to work out what I want to do in my free time, I'm at a loss. So, other than jotting down some research notes for the story, I have not got very far. But I am reading.

Me: Does reading help?

Shefali: Reading is so relaxing. I'm hoping it will eventually unlock my creativity again, and get me writing. I've just started Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall". I got the whole trilogy now that "The Mirror and the Light" is out so I'm giving it a go during lockdown. And I've set myself a target to have all the character summaries for my story completed by next weekend. Perhaps if I get all that going, I will get my mojo back! (And I hope she does because her stories are great!).

Colin

Colin writes poetry. He's a teacher in a comprehensive school and has been working incredibly long hours helping his students through this difficult time of uncertainty.

Me: Colin, how are you and the family?

Colin: Hey, good to hear from you. We're all well, and the kids have taken to lockdown surprisingly well, which Maggie is delighted about because I am working mainly from home and we were worried that I would not be able to concentrate with all of us in the house together. But so far so good.

Me: I guess with delivering lessons online and assessments and grading the A-levels, you haven't had time to write?

Colin: You've got it in one. Well, I have drafted a couple of poems, but these are literally in pencil on the back of a scrap of paper I was doodling  on during a Zoom meeting with the heads of department (I probably shouldn't admit to that!).

Me: Interesting, so where did the inspiration come from for those poems? The pandemic?

Colin: Not really. Not about people getting sick or the heroism of medical and care workers. I was thinking about the disengaged kids, and that the risk of them falling away from engagement with society is so much higher  now. The kids whose home lives are not supportive of education, who have so many disadvantages to overcome anyway, and now this. Or the kids who are vulnerable and at risk, and of course, we're not really seeing them now so we can't help them if help is needed. That's what's keeping me awake at night far more than A level results, and that's what came out in the poems. But don't misunderstand me - they need a lot of polishing up before I can really call that gathering of words actual poems!

Me: But at least you have been creative...

Colin: At the end of the day,  it doesn't matter whether as a writer you can be productive during lockdown. What matters is that we get through it. And perhaps one day, we can refer back to this experience for inspiration in our poetry or whatever it is we write. No-one has to do anything during this time. We are all different and we are all trying to survive. 

Quite an interesting mix of thoughts. Perhaps writer's block is a figment of the imagination, an excuse for not knuckling down. Perhaps it is that we cannot always be creative when we are anxious, or overworked, or tired. Or perhaps we just need to relax and let our minds mull. Shakespeare might have written "King Lear" during his version of lockdown, but none of us is called upon to be Shakespeare and right now, being ourselves is perhaps the best we can be. So my lesson? If I can't concentrate on writing, go and do something else. Like Shefali, I'll get my mojo back eventually! And like Colin, a scrap of paper with a selection of words is a start. I'd love to be half as organised as June though!