My fellow writers and poets.
WordPress has become saturated, positively inundated, with overnight blogs with one main point of discussion: COVID-19.
Meanwhile, I have noticed a sharp decline in your releases. I’m not calling anyone out, I am merely pointing out.
You guys, I’m begging you, do not stop creating. Do stop from releasing. What you have to say is still relevant now IF NOT MORE SO. Think about it from a reader’s perspective. Would you want your regular readers saturated in the despair of the current state, or would you offer them some respite?
I know. I know. Who coaches the coach? Who counsels the counselor? Many of you are down, uncertain, and frankly, uninspired. I get it. But those, too, are your words to claim and express. Let people know they aren’t the only ones.
I’m bummed out by the lack of engagement. I’m bummed out by the lack of work from such an inspiring group of folks…please continue to release. Even if what you have to say is down and uncertain. That’s part of the human experience too.
I recently made the decision to discontinue all submissions for publication as, from a business and a productivity standpoint, it would be a waste of time as so many publishers are deferring or withdrawing all publication efforts. But I tell you what, I’ll still be posting my nonsense. I need to. I have to.
If I read one more startup blog about COVID-19 I’m going to Hulk-out and start throwing things. I need the work of my fellows to keep me inspired.
Please keep going.
PS – I recently placed “The Kiss” back on AWC. Talk about Hulking out (I was pissed). I got a nod from a publisher and boom, f*cking COVID-19. “Intuition” is still pending. I’m certain I know the outcome of that one too but until I’m given official word, “Intuition” will remain off AWC.
With Love,
Christina Schmidt, MA
armedwithcoffee.com
What? There’s a virus out there?!
Good reminder though. We’ve all been given some time to work on our writing (among other things) and that time should not be wasted in fear and uncertainty.
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Agreed. This is the time to dig deep. Not for the excess of time but for what this time represents in terms of experience.
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That’s a fair point. I just hope writers take any time they write to relay their experiences.
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Loved this!
While you”re at it please check out my new blog page.
https://vatsshah781358368.wordpress.com/
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Thank you, and I will!
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Please do! and you truly have some amazing content!
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This is a great piece…
Thank you
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Whatever we have to say is still relevant..thank you
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Now more than ever. Thanks, Macrine.
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I admit, I have stopped writing. Occasionally, I will write up a rant or two, but I have stopped work on my current novel. With all the stress of having to go to work each day, keep my patients, staff and myself safe, and the sleep disrupting nightmares, it is difficult to use my imagination to create.
When not working, I have a constant pit in my stomach.
When I sit to write, that pit widens and deepens.
I wonder – What’s the point? No one buys and reads my stuff anyway. And even though that has never been my driving force to create, to use my gift to tell stories, at the same time, with the illness and death, and fear of illness and death, permeating the world, I keep asking that same question.
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Perfectly sound point and equally sound experience. My reflections were not meant to be exclusionary, more my reaction to a decrease in activity from the writing community here on WordPress and an increase in COVID-19 startup blogs, often regurgitating facts. As someone who comes from a mental health background, I know this reaction is a reflection to control information because many feel out of control of the situation. Even so, the onslaught is reinforcing the helplessness. My point is, keep it going. Offer a reprieve to others with what you can, while you can, and not just for the sake of others but for the self too. Even if our stories or poems reflect COVID and the current state of things, it’s still honest to the human experience, releasing those thoughts and feelings are as necessary as anything else. I suspect you write much for the reasons that many of us do – to get it out. Get the thought out, get the feeling out. Whatever it is that currently thrills us or devastates us. I’m published, by a legit publisher and everything – shall I tell you how well my sales are? I could but I would only embarrass myself. My point is, Short Story, you have something, a gift. Just in your comment to me I felt gripped by what you had to say. Your gift, and how you share it, and how often you share it, will vary from time to time, don’t quit on your gift. And thank you for your contributions to this nation’s current crisis, as well as your artistic gift. You’re serving up so much good, it will return to you in time.
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Thank you Christina, and your post and response are both wonderful.
Best wishes, stay safe and healthy,
Joe
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Very kind of you, Short Story 🙂
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I’m guilty of having started writing a COVID-19 Diary – Life Under the Cloud and publishing it on WordPress.
At the start of 2020, I had two writing goals. Getting novel number one into print, and finishing my second novel, a murder mystery spoof, by the end of April.
Then COVD-19 began getting in the way. Like you, I have stopped all submissions, and I haven’t touched my WIP for over a month. I’m writing about 1000 words a day, but I just can’t seem to focus on the WIP.
Writing in a comedic vane is my comfort zone, but finding my funny in the current climate, has been a challenge. That said, thanks to WordPress’s Discover Prompts, I have published a few lighter-hearted posts over the last week.
Thanks for sharing your post. It’s been a wake-up call for me. I might blame COVID-19 for many things, but it’s not going to steal my creativity. Instead of writing about life under the cloud, I should be trying to write my way out from under it.
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Tessa, “Instead of writing about life under the cloud, I should be trying to write my way out from under it.” I love this. And I love the courage of your thoughts and your willingness to share them. I’m guessing you have a stellar WIP. You will give it the attention it needs in time; we all put our work down for a rest now and then. Goodness knows. Thank you, again, for your reflections. They lended much needed perspective.
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Tessa, thank you for the share and more importantly, your thoughts. I truly appreciated your perspective. Well said and well done.
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I’m finding the opposite – While I thought I would have all kinds of time to write now, it seems a lot of my fellow bloggers have, too! I am beginning to have to delete more blogs without reading them, or I will NEVER get to my own writing.
I post once a week, and I will never post something just to be posting. If I have nothing to say, I say nothing. (That hasn’t happened yet, though. 😉 )
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So true, I just responded similarly to another comment. Time is truly consumed. In my private correspondence with fellow authors and poets, the “down” feeling negatively influencing work and blog production was felt more so at the beginning of all this. But yes, perfectly true. But if this is where one’s energy is then that is where it needs to be. I hope my fellows in the literary arts will remember their blogs in time. Although I will say a lot of poets are still sharing. I agree, NEVER post just to post. Thanks for commenting!
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I’ve noticed a dropoff in publications and felt it was related to COVID-19. Perhaps, some writers and poets are too distracted to write and others tend to pour all of their creativity into writing about the virus. I write mostly poetry and prefer to keep it upbeat. I tend to avoid posts relevant to the virus because it’s enough to see it constantly in the news.
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Perfectly true. A lot of distraction to be sure. Also, a healthy dose of what you indicated. I reach my fill of COVID news daily and I don’t want to see more of it, creatively speaking, than I have to. Perhaps that’s selfish. The human experience is the human experience. A poem about the virus is not less relevant than anything else posted. My angst is more to do with information regurgitation with pop-up COVID blogs. People trying to control their fears by repeating information or people trying to capitalizing on blog numbers by feeding into the fears of others.
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I totally agree. It seems people want to get on the bandwagon for the wrong reasons.
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I BET you have a wonderful perspective, so… In short. What can you intensely do now, with what you have and are experiencing now, NOW??!! Can you you wrote about THAT?
Can you write about that?
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…. love love love the crickets.
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Hi Jordan, crickets weren’t intended on my end I assure you. I do try to get back to all comments but even I admit this was a hell of a week. My filming schedule for my YouTube channel was a bit intense these past several day – even for me – and as I know you can appreciate, Scorpios thrive on intensity. A very intense intensity (haha) as it were but I am ultimately very happy to do it. I released an All Energies just this morning.
Hope all is well for you, Jordan and thanks for sharing your stories. I can tell you’ve lived a rich life requiring not-so-easy decisions yet propelling forward nonetheless. And your last point was probably the best summary of my post, what can you do with what you have now? What experiences do you have to work with? What sparks you, no matter how small? I am struggling with these things in my own way right now. I intend to elaborate further in an upcoming blog. As always, thank you for your insights and contributions. I hope this upcoming weekend finds you well!
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Full-on understood, Christina.Your schedule is yours and only yours, and amen to it being a helluva week. My apologies for impatient pushy. That was uncalled for.
I hope this weekend finds you well as well!
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Hi CHristina, Thank you. Wonderful perspective of yours, and I resonate with it.
You’re welcome for my considerations. Moving fast, 🙂 , I just don’t like to waste trouble, turn into it to face it really, and just wanted to make sure I picked the actual or fictional fly in the ointment out. Better to err on the respectful, reciprocal, “make sure” side to keep comms clear and unfettered. I appreciate no harm, no foul.
Have a great weekend as well!
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Great post. We need to create now more than ever, and move on from this awful time.
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