The difference between fiction and fact
In this first week of lockdown, I've been seeing tweets from other SF writers about the realities of isolation. One writer tweeted asking who would like to be on a generation starship now.
I've been wrestling with this idea of what is the right amount of isolation for years. I love my solitude at home, and can happily work away for hours in silence. But that has always been because I spend a large part of my time outside my house.
I'm one of those people who writes in cafes. It gives me interaction with my regular baristas, with whom I'll exchange a few words while buying my coffee. I've also over the years made several friends with others who are regulars at the cafes I frequent. With lockdown, all that has disappeared overnight. I can't stay inside the house for more than a couple of hours before I get cabin fever, so this is really stretching me.
Thinking about it, the parallel with generation starships is false. Yes, you'd be closed up in a ship all your life, but you wouldn't be isolated. You'd have social interactions with all your fellow travellers. And you wouldn't be alone there.
The reality of lockdown for those who live alone is very different. There is no social interaction with anyone inside, and now social interaction outside with others is effectively prohibited. So how do we deal with this situation?
One way is to try and bury ourselves in the world of fiction. In theory, lockdown gives us far more opportunities to write. Except that, for me, I find it very hard to write at home, I've cleared off my desk by the window as a writing space, to try and tempt me to work, but I'm getting a lot less done with this new routine.
Another difference between fiction and reality is that starships put into port regularly, and those stations are teeming with people. So again, being a starship crew member isn't like being in lockdown. And they know when their voyages will end. We have no idea how long this lockdown will go on.
I'm trying to build a new work routine that works for me, but it's hard. Let's hope this situation doesn't last too long.
I have had some experience of being cooped up in a ship for long periods. The trick there is to find some isolation when surrounded by other people. I and my fellow submariners became adept at indicating by body language the desire to be left alone for a while. More importantly we developed the ability to recognise it in others.
ReplyDeleteAs to the other problem; getting things done when you have all the time in the world. I recognise the problem. The classic answer is to give yourself a specific time and devote it to the task. It doesn't work for me. Instead I give myself artificial deadlines. For example, an imaginary editor has said I must send this piece out by 12 noon or I won't get paid.
Finally, if procrastination is not working for you, just give it more time.