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Will it ever end!?  I think this is the question we're all asking ourselves. Sixty-percent of the population has had COVID at least once in the last 2.5 years.  Even more of us are vaccinated. Some are boosted, and it just keeps going.  If you're like me, you've spent the last 2.5 years in near isolation, and every time you do venture out (on low covid days) you inevitably run into someone who tells you - so and so is sick....  Oh yeah, and they live in my house and I'm outside and and and  . . . FUUUUUCCKKKKKKKK!  Fucking seriously??  (No joke, I just had this happen to me the other day. I'm not clear until May 10, 2022, and if I do get sick, I'm wondering if I can charge them with attempted murder.) But anyway, I'm still trying to get some writing done.

Overcoming the Inability to Think and Write (Writer’s Block)

The biggest problem with maintaining any type of productivity is the fact that COVID-19 is a global crisis, so even if you’re at home with a fully functional computer, cell phone, tablet or other electronic devices where you can work on your novel or next piece of writing, there’s a good chance that you simply are unable. That’s a double-whammy. You now have all this freetime and can’t wrap your head around what you need to write, much less get any serious words on the page. If you’re like me, you’re going to feel like you haven’t accomplished shit once this is over.

 

What You Need to Overcome

Hopefully, no one is your house is sick. I truly hope they are not, and that everyone is healthy and has managed to stay away from this virus through proper handwashing, sterilization techniques and social distancing. If everyone is your house is healthy, and your home is fully stocked with food, toilet paper, paper towels and other essentials that you need on a daily basis, you still have two problems.

1. IT’S A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. This is a global pandemic. It’s not a US problem, a Europe problem, a Russian problem, an Australia problem, a Mexico Problem or a Canadian problem or even a China problem. It’s a worldwide problem. A good rule of thumb is to take care of the crisis first. Once you’ve solved the problem, you can get back to writing. The unfortunate thing about this particular problem is that there is no immediate or definable solution, except to wait it out and hope it burns itself up.

The problem is that there is no definitive timeline. If your house gets blown away by a natural disaster and you are not hurt, you move into a hotel. You contact your insurance agent and file a claim. A contractor gets back to you, and your house gets rebuilt. You also have a reasonable expectation of when your house will be repaired or when your new house will be built so that you can move back in. You have the solution. You have the timeframe. Everything will be okay.

There is nothing like that with this virus. There’s no timeframe. The air is poison, and you might as well just assume that everyone you see has the virus. This cannot be mentally rectified or solved. There’s no action to be taken to solve the problem other than staying at home and keeping yourself and your family safe as best you can. Somehow, you must be able to mentally and emotionally come to terms with this. It is a problem that you cannot solve today or tomorrow or even next week.

 

2. YOU HAVE NO ABILITY TO CONCENTRATE

Consciously or subconsciously, COVID-19 is all you can think about. Mentally, you need a solution. There is no solution. This creates a disturbance in the time/space continuum. Your inability to rectify the situation is causing an endless loop. It’s the spinning circle on your webbrowser. Your brain just keeps loading and loading and loading and loading… And it doesn’t matter if your an introvert or an extrovert or a Type-A personality. Everyone is affected. You’re just not going to be as productive now as you were before this crisis.

Possible Solutions to Your Productivity Problems

The first thing you need to do is stop endlessly searching for updates on the novel coronavirus. It’s not going anywhere. Get your daily updates for a few minutes and call it a day. Eventually, we’ll all be informed that it’s all clear.

1. Watch a Movie or Your Favorite TV show

IF you really can’t concentrate, turn on your favorite movie or a new movie or your favorite TV shows and sit down. I’ve found that nothing takes my mind off this bullshit than watching some TV. You can write during the commercials.

2. Pick Up a Book

I have plenty to read in my review stack. Pick up a book and get lost in someone else’s world. Whatever is going on in that book is solvable and will be completed by the last page or by the end of the series.

3. Burn Up the Anxiety

Exercise. There are exercise programs on your cell phone, tablet and TV, pick one. Exercising will help you burn up your excess energy and anxieties. Not to mention, it’ll help you control your weight and feel better physically.

4. Try Some Music

When you do finally sit down to write your fiction or non-fiction, try some music. It can help you focus and silence some of the thoughts in your head so that you can focus.

5. Get It Out of Your Head

If you can’t focus on your current work in progress, try writing a blog post or an article on whatever is bothering you today. We are, after all, writers. If you really can’t focus, and there is a particular component that is bothering you today, write about it. You’ll feel better once you get those thoughts out of your head and onto the digital page. I also recommend that you write it how you feel. If you think this situation is complete and utter bullshit, write it down. No one is going to judge you on your thoughts and feelings over this situation. Express your anger, fears, anxieties, ect. There’s a good chance that a lot of your readers feel the same way you do.

It’s important to note that while you can’t go about your daily life as normal, you can find a new normal, and you can work on your next book. Hopefully, these tips have helped you. If you have other tips that you’ve found work, please let us all know in the comments.

 

If you need or want COVID-19 updates, please check out the CDC, WHO and NIH websites. There’s also a global tracker on the Johns Hopkins website.

 

Read More on Editing

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An unemployed male nurse lands a job at a reproductive clinic only to learn the babies he is helping to create are being sold to the local vampire population.​

After being unemployed for a year, William finally receives a call to come into Elite Surrogates and Adoption (ESA) for an interview. The sterile white interior does nothing for his confidence as he’s led to Sadie Jones' (HR manager’s) office where she proceeds to question him about his job experience and reproductive knowledge. 

It all goes well in this paranormal medical erotic romance until William realizes that he’s going to have to “perform” for the job. Fifty dollars an hour would help him catch up on his mortgage and get his wife to stop nagging him about the bills. However, using his own semen to propagate the reproductive cycle is more than a little weird. After considering the job and the busty HR manager, he agrees to continue the interview.