What Does it Mean to Write and Blog During a Pandemic?
I have been planing this website for a long time (and later added the blog during the pandemic). Before launching EdgeofStory.com, I had written four short stories and my entire Newspapers of Vision Series (I had to rewrite the entire thing though). But, I wasn’t expecting everything to be shaken up by the Coronavirus pandemic. When school was canceled in mid-March, I was half expecting we would return. We didn’t.
With quarantine, I needed to do something that I found fun and relaxing. So I spent the majority of my time creating the website. I launched it in early April. But, I still had a lot of work to do. I had to keep writing so that I could upload consistently. Luckily, the pandemic let me do that.
During the summer I kept at writing and added the blog to the website in the middle of the pandemic. I worked hard to develop a large backlog of content. That backlog now includes both short stories and non-fiction for the blog. This means the majority of my posts are scheduled ahead of time. The main reason for this is because of the school year. Being in school now, I haven’t been able to write as often. So, it has mainly been thanks to my backlog that you can read all of my writing.
Overall, writing during the pandemic has been a strange and surreal experience.
Disease in my Writing
I will say that this virus has affected me. It has affected us all. As a teenager, I know the pandemic will shape my outlook. This is a time my children ask me about. But, I think the pandemic has also affected my writing. Specimen and The Ivory Tower both, more or less, center around disease. (Specimen was written before the pandemic so make of it what you will.) Even the Useful and the Obsolete, which will be the next short story to come out, contains a disease. It may be that disease will be a running theme in my works.
Conclusion
The pandemic has been a harsh and terrible thing, it’s hurt so many people. I just hope that my writing has been able to help some of you escape from the horror that is 2020. I wish the best for all of you.
