Of all the things I thought I’d have to consider when trying to finish the story I’m working on, figuring out how to keep writing during a lockdown wasn’t one of them. I live in the UK where, in case you don’t live here or aren’t aware, we had an emergency broadcast from our Prime Minister last night. Everyone has to stay home, public places are being closed, police will be breaking up gatherings if necessary. My mum commented afterwards that it felt like a scene from a film. Cue: series of shots showing families gathered around their televisions for urgent announcements from world leaders.

In a way, this looks like good news for writers. Forced to stay home—all day, unless your work is too important to spare you—with all social plans cancelled. What else is there to do but write? But of course, the situation being what it is, it’s not quite that simple. News updates are frequently distracting and confusing, if not outright distressing, and the complete disruption of routine can make it hard to know what to do with your day. I’m not going to pretend I’ve got any answers here. Since I can’t think about anything else at the moment though, these are some of the ways I’m trying to stay creative during the lockdown.

Staying Sane in Lockdown

I’ll be honest, I have been known to go several days without actually leaving home. Choosing not to go outside is, however, very different to knowing you’re not allowed to go outside. There’s this pervasive feeling of unease now. I have anxiety issues anyway, so before I can even think about writing, I’ve had to work out how to maintain some kind of emotional equilibrium.

I’m meditating every morning, or trying to. I had managed to really fix it as a habit, and then I fell off the wagon a bit last month, but I’m making an effort to get back into it. Sometimes ten minutes of meditating is more like ten minutes of thinking about how weird everything is, but the effort is there!

Exercise is obviously tricky, although we’re allowed to go out for one walk a day, but I’m also taking some time each morning to do some stretches. I’m spending a lot more time sat down during the day than I normally would, and I’m definitely feeling it. Yoga with Adriene on YouTube is great, with simple instructions and videos to target any issues you might have.

Maintaining some form of social connection helps too, whether that’s checking in on social media or making contact with friends more directly. We’re all having to get more creative about how we hang out with each other without leaving our houses, and putting the extra effort in to keep track of how everyone is doing.

Lockdown Writing

I’m in a pretty fortunate position when it comes to writing at home. I don’t have kids, so I’m not having to work out how to homeschool children or just keep them from going stir-crazy. I don’t currently have a full-time job, which is a bit of a mixed blessing, but does mean I’ve got next to nothing that has to be done on any particular day. Contrary to when I wrote my post on making time to write, what I have now is an overabundance of time.

If I want to get anything useful done at the moment, I need to enforce some kind of routine on myself. Breakfast at a reasonable time, do some French on Duolingo while I eat, get dressed, then write for an hour and a half. I’ve already noticed that not eating breakfast, or sitting down to scroll through Twitter in my pajamas for ‘just five minutes’ before getting dressed, can result in the whole day slipping away from me. I don’t know why it works that way but, for me at least, it does. I also schedule some time for job hunting, for taking online courses and for my freelance work, but I like to get writing done first thing, when I’m at my most focused.

It would be great if having this abundance of time led to an outpouring of creativity. Unfortunately, even when I’m disciplined about my routine, I’m having a hard time getting in the zone. I don’t think that’s unusual at the moment, and my ‘solution’, such as it is, is to just be okay with that. If you can make some time for writing, and make sure you show up for it, you’ve done what you can. There’s enough to worry about without also worrying that you’re not making the most of the opportunity to write.

How Are You Holding Up?

I hope you and the people you love are well, and staying safe. If you have any tips for getting in the mindset for creative work, please share them in the comments.