Categories: Lifestyle

Ways For A Writer To Use Their Quarantine Time

Writer. An anomalous organism that is capable of transforming caffeine into text. Text that is preeminent and perplexes the human mind. As a writer, it is difficult to find time to write. Working the average one, two, maybe three jobs to receive some form of supplemental income, maintaining an appetite (whenever you can find time to eat), making time to sleep some hours throughout the day or night, and stacked at the top of this list, making time for your writing. Whether that is jotting down notes whenever they spontaneously appear, continue writing a previous piece, creating a new writing piece, or revising a current or previous written piece. With the new quarantine implemented, you now have more free time than you could have asked for. Whether it is due to losing a job, working from home, or being temporarily laid off. You are now always home. While you spend your days staying indoors, constantly surrounded by the comfort of your own home, take advantage of the time you have and write. Here are some ways you can do just that if you do not already know.

1. Be Inspired By What You See

Inspiration is all around us. Lookout and watch the sky as it transcends blue to grey. Watch the pigeons on the street, or the telephone lines. Create a conversation that you imagine the two are having. Stare at the wall, in your room, and visualize something or someone coming out of it. What do they look like? What are their names? How do they sound? When it comes to needing inspiration, writers can take anything they hear, see, or smell, and transform it into something immaculate and immeasurable. Listen to the published writer, Bruce Taylors’s, words. “If you are having trouble getting started, look out the window. The whole world is a story, and every moment is a miracle.” There are countless stories to tell just by looking outside. So, take a look and see what story comes to mind.

2. Pinterest Writing Prompt

Another way to get the wheels turning inside your head is to go on Pinterest and search Writing Prompts. As a fellow writer, I often take this route whenever I find it challenging to think of something to write about. Trust me. You will have countless options to choose from, and take my word for it when I say that some of the concept prompts will blow your mind. You will think they were unthinkable.

3. Journal Your Quarantine Days

Journaling your days during quarantine could make for a great book in the near future. Even if it is not published, keeping a journal nearby, and scribbling your thoughts in it could make for a good habit. And you never know, you could look back in that journal and find something you wrote that will inspire something else to transpire. A book, poem, short story, flash fiction. You never know with a writer.

4. Finish The Book

Time is crucial. As a writer, you are always feeling rushed. Continuously cramming all tasks on your to-do-list so that you have time to write. Whether it is an unfinished book, short story, or a collection of poems. Now that time has stopped or rather has been given to you, take advantage of it. Finish the book or short story. Complete your poem collection. As the author of The Muse, Jessie Burton, once said: “Here’s the paradox: you will not be able to truly write your book unless you have written your book. GET. IT. OUT. YOUR. HEAD. Everything will probably change later—that’s fine. At this stage, accept deep imperfection.”

5. Be Inspired By Pictures

There is something about pictures that inspire. Whether it is a moment, a place, a scene, a person, or a wandering creature. You may not know the person (s). You may have never been to that place or seen that scene. Despite that, pictures inspire something within writers. It takes hold of us and rings a story out of us. Like a soaked washcloth rings out half the faucet while being twisted and pulled tightly. If you want inspiration and cannot seem to find it anywhere, no matter how many you have looked, the internet will not fail you. Just search for something on Google. Anything. You may have to scroll down a little, or a lot. Regardless, I promise you will find your inspiration that had gone astray.

6. Edit/Revise Past Pieces

No writer will ask someone to read their first draft of anything. It is only after the eighth or tenth revision that they will even consider having someone read over their work. As a writer, I always struggled to find time to edit or revise my completed pieces. Primarily because after I have finished writing a piece, I move onto the next one. A writer’s mind is brimming with ideas and stories waiting to be told. So, when a piece is finished, it is easy for me to move on to the next, as it will begin to spill onto the paper without hesitation. With the spare time you have, if you are not writing yet, begin editing or revising your finished writing pieces. You will get so much done and feel that much better about your already-finished work.

7. Write

“If you want to be a writer, write. Write and write and write. If you stop, start again. Save everything that you write. If you feel blocked, write through it until you feel your creative juices flowing again. Write. Writing is what makes a writer, nothing more and nothing less.” American author, Anne Rice’s, words speak volumes. If you call yourself a writer, then write. Do not wait for something extraordinary to happen to write. Write something extraordinary. Stop dreaming, talking, and wishing you were writing. Write!