How I Spent My Summer Lockdown

Being a writer almost always means feeling guilty about carving out time alone with a blank page of paper or a white computer screen. At the same time, being a writer means almost always feeling guilty for not creating time dedicated to empty paper/laptop.

And the corona virus crisis hit, and in March we went into lockdown….

I finally filled our balcony with planter boxes of flowers and herbs. We have more bees and pollinators than I’ve seen in years. Nature is loving this “Stop everything” business! And I got down to serious construction of Book #4, a collection of short stories.

This was lockdown, so it’s not like I could go anywhere else, right? Wasn’t the Universe handing me exactly the time and space I needed to write my next book? I took my pages or laptop out the balcony and went to work.

I don’t know about you other writers out there, but the Muse makes me toil for months on end before she grants me an audience. I write every day, drudge work, one word after the next for my daily quota. Trust me: this is not inspired writing. It’s showing up and doing the job. I spent a few months planting my ass in front of my computer or my pages to revise, thinking, “What the hell ever made me think this will be any good?”

I stayed committed to the writing, because past experience has taught me that it eventually (seldom right away, but, always, always, eventually) gets rewarded.

And one morning I was eager to get back to it. Half a day passed before I noticed how much time had gone by. I began to dream plot twists. The writing stopped being drudgery and even contained occasional flashes of inspiration.

Now, half a year later, I’m getting ready to publish. This is my corona virus book; I could even title it, How I Spent My Summer Lockdown.

I’m going to title it something else. I’ll keep you posted on when the new ten stories are ready to meet the world.

NOTES: Text and  Photos © Jadi Campbell 2020. To see Uwe’s  photos and pics from our trips go to viewpics.de.

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19 thoughts on “How I Spent My Summer Lockdown”

  1. Congratulations! And even though I only write blog posts and not whole books, I know exactly what you mean about the muse, and how one must just write even if it feels like drudgery – until it doesn’t.
    Looking forward to your stories!
    Allison

    1. Yes – when the Muse finally consents to appear it so makes all the slogging worthwhile…. I will look forward to what you think of my stories, Allison

  2. Nice balcony space! You’re doing great work both writing and planting, keep it up!

    1. Thanks Trey! I confess to ‘house envy’ whenever I visit you and Barbara in your beautiful home and yard. You did an amazing job of transforming what I recall as starting as a small space! The little bit of Nature on our balcony really keeps me sane. I have discovered that observing the bees and pollinators feels like gazing at a fish tank. It’s slightly hypnotic

  3. As much as I don’t like this happening in our winter, I think summer would be worse. I love being outside in summer.

    1. Paula, my last book came out a few days after my mother-in-law passed away and I was too busy elsewhere to really be able to savor the birth of that book. I am very much looking forward to this one

  4. I can’t wait to read your new book! In fact, if you’re looking for reviewers, feel free to send me an eARC. Good luck with the rest of your project (and the rest of the lockdown).

    1. Barb I would be thrilled to send you the book – I will look into eARC and be in touch! Stay safe, stay healthy, are you still on that queiet island?

    1. Thanks Kim, this is my first year with really proper flower pots. Funny (haha?) how the corona virus crisis has brought certain chores into focus

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