Suggestion: Think small

So many of us are self-isolating right now — a perfect condition for writing, right?

Wrong. Almost every writer I know is telling me that writing is especially hard for them right now. Some are educating their children at home, and some are trying to juggle work life and home life in the same four walls.

Aside from this, many of us are preoccupied by the news and by concerns for loved ones. I feel like writing takes my whole heart — and my heart is on sister, who is a nurse on the front lines of the epidemic, and on my family, who I have to keep safe and comforted.

If I get a single sentence written down, I feel pretty good about it — and it occurs to me that this is the key to successfully writing through a pandemic.

Today, I challenge you to think small. Check in with yourself by writing a single sentence that expresses something essential about your day. Obviously, if you feel like writing more, go for it! String a few sentences together and you can really start to get somewhere — in prose or in poetry, for art’s sake or for your spirit’s.

If you like your one true sentence, make an appointment with yourself to write another one tomorrow. Maybe you’ll end up with a diary of sorts from this unusual time in our culture. Or maybe that sentence will be a launching pad for more writing to come. After all, getting started is the key to creating, and some days it feels like the hardest part.