Writing in the time of CoVid-19?

Get up, make coffee, have breakfast, shower, brush teeth, descend into the basement, logon to work’s remote access portal, monitor the queue for support items, answer calls forwarded to my cell, meet online with my (IT) team members, work on my projects so they don’t slide, sign out of portal, spend evening with family, go to bed and read a few minutes before falling asleep…rinse and repeat. Oh and somewhere in there mix in lunch, dinner, if it’s not too cold a 30 minute walk outside for fresh air and the occasional grocery trip for supplies.

You notice something missing from the description of my new “normal” work day? Exactly. Writing! With only a tiny sliver of time where I’m doing any reading. This is outrageous and cannot continue!

So how to break the cycle? I’ve puzzled over this infinite loop of artistic non-creativeness until my puzzler was sore (all kudos to Dr. Seuss and “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”). Then just the other day it happened. A solution arrived in the form of an email. An online course company (Coursera) was offering a 26 week course – “Write Your First Novel” – for FREE! So I’ve jumped in with both feet, signed up with the Michigan State University instructor and – I’m already behind on my first week’s assignments. It’s okay. I can catch up, my online Peer Review group is there to keep me honest and I will help them out in return. Support and a Focus, exactly what I needed to break free. I know that there will be stumbles, trips and falls but with luck and the muse to assist me the writer’s path stretches on before me.

Stay tuned as I journal this endeavour and throw in a self-help suggestion that I’ve discovered for working at home as we all navigate this new “normal”.

Logan Pittman – BMW 😎