My Aha! Moment

I’m having an aha! moment. I was celebrating the completion of the first draft of my work in progress—all 400 pages of it, in record time—when it hit me: The speed with which I wrote it wouldn’t have possible without the pandemic. Ugh. I know what you’re thinking. How can there be anything good about this pandemic? File it under the heading of “there’s a silver lining for every cloud.”

To put this in perspective: My previous novel was three years in the writing and has yet to see publication. My current work in progress I wrote in 4 months. I had begun to believe I was slowing down with age, but it turns out it wasn’t my age that was the issue. It was all the distractions in my pre-pandemic life. Writers by nature are not the most social creatures, and I’m no exception. But I live in New York City, the crossroads of the world, so in pre-pandemic times I frequently heard from friends and acquaintances from afar who’d call to say, “I’m going to be in New York and I’d love to get together with you.” Much as I might have enjoyed those visits, there were times I fantasized about moving to a remote wilderness or an Arctic substation so I could get some damn work done.

Flash forward to present day: I hadn’t company in over a year before my godsons came for brunch on Easter of this year. Sandy and I rarely eat out much less meet friends at a restaurant for lunch or dinner. Pandemic-related restrictions have eased recently, but during the winter months it was outdoor dining only. Sorry, but slurping noodles at a sidewalk table while bundled in a down jacket and knit cap is not my idea of an enjoyable meal. No one I know who lives outside NYC has traveled here in recent months, or if they have I didn’t hear from them. This left me with more hours in my work week than I could have dreamed of prior to the pandemic. I took advantage of it, needless to say.

Another thing I realized: creative energy, like a potted plant, needs room to grow. I touched on this in a previous post, but I was reminded of it while I was finishing my first draft in record time. It’s not just socializing that can be drain on one’s creative energy. It’s all the hours spent on social media and emailing. I recently listened to a podcast titled “A World Without Email.” Sounds like a futuristic prediction, doesn’t it? But it turns out to mean something else. It poses the question, how can I restructure my daily life so I’m not at my computer or on a device endlessly tap-tap-tapping?

Regarding the phrase time suck, I used to think only in terms of getting lost in some digital rabbit hole. Now I see the broader interpretation. It’s not just about the hours wasted on time sucks. It’s about the hours I’m NOT spending daydreaming, which is essential to the creative process. Recently, I made some changes in my life to create more space on my mental hard drive. I decided to embrace the silver lining of the pandemic and run with it. I also took stock of the stuff I was doing that was non-essential.

I trimmed where it was needed it made all the difference. Now I have time to woolgather. To see shapes in the clouds as I watch them go by. To smell the roses. To write a book.