Writing, my constant support

During this difficult year one thing has kept me sane.  Writing has kept away the madness that surrounds this coronavirus pandemic.

I've always seen my path through this crazy time as two-fold.  One, not to give in to the fear and panic which is gripping the nation.  And two, to continue writing what I love as my anchor and constant support.  I write to bring a welcome sense of normality to this frightened, crazy world.

There are many days when I've had to get off social media when yet another of my contacts has posted something hysterical about the virus.  We may not have achieved herd immunity, but social media has certainly allowed us to achieve herd panic.  I'm not buying into that.  I'm outta there.

While others dramatically say they can't write because of all the worry, I've continued working on the novels I love.  The only person they're hurting with their refusal to write is themselves.  Yes, I have asked myself whether a light-hearted riddle quest story was relevant for our times.  But here's the thing: maybe we don't always want to be reading stories that are relevant to our current situation.  Maybe we need a break from all the doom and gloom and death statistics.

Science fiction has dealt with pandemics changing the world many times.  Stories written decades ago examined the fallout from these, so it's not a place I need to go to.  And there's another reason to keep on doing what I'm doing.  It's because that's what the market wants right now.

I've seen several agents say on  Twitter that they don't want to see pandemic stories.  They want to see lighter work.  My guess is that there'll be a rise in hopepunk works n the next few years. Stories of hope and positivity will surge to the fore.  It's my hope that grimdark will disappear, that there'll be a lot less of the dark and bloody books which have been so feted in science fiction and fantasy recently.

I'm hoping so, because that's what's keeping me going.  I have retreated to my writing for support as my social life has been completely destroyed by the pandemic.  I've filled my days with working out complicated answers to riddle clues, and sending my characters off to find a selection of objects.

My writing reminds me that 'this too will pass'.  And when it does, the writing, the stories we tell, will remain.  Let's make the stories we leave behind positive ones.

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