Author Topic: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?  (Read 3789 times)

Lorri Moulton

Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« on: March 29, 2020, 03:02:47 AM »
I was working on a few things...but suddenly, none of them have much appeal.  Instead, I've decided to write a spin-off to my short stories about a young couple living on a farm in the early 1900s.  I guess nostalgia seems like a happy place to be right now.

Has anyone else felt like a change since all this happened?

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 

TimothyEllis

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Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2020, 03:04:20 AM »
I've put off writing an urban fantasy idea until things settle down.

But I've 2 other books to write as well, so it hasn't derailed me in any way.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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CaptnAndy

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Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2020, 03:19:19 AM »
I start my mornings with coffee and a couple of hours on the net taking the pulse of current events, politics, technology, and business before starting work on the current writing project. I spent most of last year working on the final book in my Alt History Trilogy, ‘After The Contact’. By December, I was almost ready to send the draft to my beta readers, hoping to publish it early in the new year.
Then, the stories about the Virus in China started to appear, and I recognized, at 76, I am in the most vulnerable target group. A new story line came into my subconscious, and I couldn’t let it go.
On January 15th, I gave up, and started writing what has become
‘After The Virus Apocalypse’, which is fiction today, but...
What if a bio-weapon escapes after mutating and the cure no longer works. Suppose it mutates again while infecting the initial victims, goes dormant if the victim -recovers, and returns, without symptoms, to be contagious again before killing the weakened host.
I published it on March 17th, and started writing another story set in the same worst case conditions. 
After The Virus Depression follows a young couple from vastly different backgrounds, who find love, and then are torn apart by events beyond their control, in a world that is out of control.
When I read Heinlein's Stranger in a strange land, I Grokked, and the die was cast.
       Many of my books are science fiction and don’t include steam punk, fantasy, time travel, magic, elves or faeries.
       As a naval and military history buff, I also have written several books that feature warships, aircraft, airships, spacecraft, and military action.
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Bill Hiatt

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Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2020, 01:11:50 AM »
The pandemic hasn't changed what I want to write, but it's lowered my productivity. I find myself compulsively checking the news.


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Hopscotch

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2020, 01:45:19 AM »
Makes me think I ought to try writing something especially worth the reading to leave behind in case I don't make it through this thing.
. .
 

TimothyEllis

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Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2020, 01:48:47 AM »
Makes me think I ought to try writing something especially worth the reading to leave behind in case I don't make it through this thing.

I've been thinking of writing a short story to end my universe with, and have it sit there in case I do get this and it threatens to take me off.

The last thing I want to do is leave my fans hanging.

Alas, already working on 3 other books. Don't want to think about a 4th unless it writes itself in a day or 2.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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Anarchist

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2020, 02:16:30 AM »
Nope. My publishing calendar, including titles, is already set for the next two years.

The current CV panic is a mere blip. Nobody will give it a second thought in two years. By that time, I want my brands' respective catalogs to have grown on schedule. More products, more customers, more subscribers, more revenue.
"The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.” – Thomas Sowell

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LilyBLily

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2020, 02:34:30 AM »
I'm in revision hell, so am not starting any new projects until probably June.
 

Vidya

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2020, 02:49:44 AM »
Tim (and everyone), not to sound morbid, but this might be a good time to bequeath someone you trust the right to continue writing in your world should anything happen to you.

Anarchist, I hope you’re right that the current CV panic is a mere blip, but I think most people will indeed remember it even in two years. It’s disrupted all our lives too much for us to forget soon.
 

Vidya

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2020, 02:59:52 AM »
Also, Tim, have you made any arrangements as to who will run this forum should anything happen to you? I think and hope you will stay safe, but in these times, I think it’s a reasonable question.
 

TimothyEllis

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Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #10 on: March 30, 2020, 03:17:04 AM »
Also, Tim, have you made any arrangements as to who will run this forum should anything happen to you? I think and hope you will stay safe, but in these times, I think it’s a reasonable question.

As I said in another thread, I'll be here at least another 29 years.  Grin

But I will give that some more thought for different scenarios.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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Arches

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #11 on: March 30, 2020, 03:20:39 AM »
The pandemic hasn't changed what I want to write, but it's lowered my productivity. I find myself compulsively checking the news.

Amen, brother, but when I do manage to write, I find it to be a wonderful alternative to the steady downbeat of depressing news.
 

Shoe

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2020, 04:11:03 AM »
It’s disrupted all our lives too much for us to forget soon.

It will sit "hugely" in our collective memories for years to come. In my lifetime, the only comparable events I can think of are the Cuban missile crisis and 9/11, times when the world seemed to stop and fear dominated nightly dinner conversation.

The missile crisis and 9/11 seemed to (if only briefly) unite the country in common cause. I'm not sure where this pandemic will take us in that regard. Today, Dr. Fauci said up to 200,000 Americans could die. That's unfathomable. The current count stands at 1588. In WWII terms, slightly more than that (2000) died at Pearl Harbor. We know how that all turned out. Over 400,000 Americans died. Well before the end of that war Americans seemed united. Imagine what the death total would have been if they hadn't.

My life has been timestamp in other ways (JFK assassination, Apollo moon landing, Ali-Frazer in the Fight of the Century, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 2008 Recession, those first days of Shock & Awe during the Iraq invasion), but none of them, including the missile crisis or 9/11, will trump (sorry) the potential significance of this pandemic.

(For the record, I do strongly doubt Fauci's numbers.)
Martin Luther King: "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
 

Simon Haynes

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2020, 04:36:43 PM »
Instead of trying to write, I'm playing computer games and gardening.

I write comedy, mostly, and dire global emergencies do not foster the funnies.  I had a similar situation a few years back when my personal life took a turn for the grim. I don't bother fighting it, because anything I write now won't match up to the rest of my stuff.

On the plus side, one of my novels is a finalist in the Aurealis Awards (Australia's premier award for speculative fiction).  I snuck into the horror category with A Riddle in Bronze.

 
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TimothyEllis

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Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2020, 04:42:49 PM »
Instead of trying to write, I'm playing computer games and gardening.

I write comedy, mostly, and dire global emergencies do not foster the funnies.  I had a similar situation a few years back when my personal life took a turn for the grim. I don't bother fighting it, because anything I write now won't match up to the rest of my stuff.

On the plus side, one of my novels is a finalist in the Aurealis Awards (Australia's premier award for speculative fiction).  I snuck into the horror category with A Riddle in Bronze.

I dont know, there is plenty funny about people fighting over toilet paper. About people forced to remove items from their trolley at the checkout, and the next person picks them up,  buys them for them and gives them over, and the whole thing going down the line to the horror of the checkout person. Not to mention those at the end of the line ducking off to get extras since they dont need them, and then getting the first person wait while they go through checkout themselves. So someone who needs 12, but can only have 2, gets their twelve, and the whole thing becomes high farce.  grint

I didn't know Australia had any book awards. But with only 5% of my income here, I doubt I'd even get a look in on it.

Congrats on making finalist.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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Pemry Janes

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #15 on: March 30, 2020, 06:48:23 PM »
I'm not changing what I write, but this situation has changed my idea for a future story.
Genre: Fantasy
 

Simon Haynes

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #16 on: March 30, 2020, 06:58:45 PM »
Instead of trying to write, I'm playing computer games and gardening.

I write comedy, mostly, and dire global emergencies do not foster the funnies.  I had a similar situation a few years back when my personal life took a turn for the grim. I don't bother fighting it, because anything I write now won't match up to the rest of my stuff.

On the plus side, one of my novels is a finalist in the Aurealis Awards (Australia's premier award for speculative fiction).  I snuck into the horror category with A Riddle in Bronze.

I dont know, there is plenty funny about people fighting over toilet paper. About people forced to remove items from their trolley at the checkout, and the next person picks them up,  buys them for them and gives them over, and the whole thing going down the line to the horror of the checkout person. Not to mention those at the end of the line ducking off to get extras since they dont need them, and then getting the first person wait while they go through checkout themselves. So someone who needs 12, but can only have 2, gets their twelve, and the whole thing becomes high farce.  grint

I didn't know Australia had any book awards. But with only 5% of my income here, I doubt I'd even get a look in on it.

Congrats on making finalist.


The next Hal Spacejock novel was maybe sorta going to be something to do with climate change - that aged fast. I did think of Hal turning down a cargo of toilet paper as a side joke ("who would buy that much of the stuff?") but I'm not ready to write another Hal novel just yet. Also, I think toilet paper humour has had its day - a wash, you might say.

If I write anything, it won't have pandemics or viruses or any thinly-veiled satire on current events. That's usually the case for me.

 

sliderule

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #17 on: March 30, 2020, 08:06:46 PM »
Also, Tim, have you made any arrangements as to who will run this forum should anything happen to you? I think and hope you will stay safe, but in these times, I think it’s a reasonable question.

As I said in another thread, I'll be here at least another 29 years.  Grin

But I will give that some more thought for different scenarios.

Please do. Not to be grim or anything, but years ago I lost a good friend to a sudden death. No one suspected anything and he didn't show any outward signs of illness.

Just, one morning he got out of bed and dropped dead before he took a step. All of his family and friends were devastated by the sudden loss. He was still young. No one saw it coming.

Having contingency plans is always a good idea.
 

notthatamanda

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #18 on: March 30, 2020, 09:16:43 PM »
Instead of trying to write, I'm playing computer games and gardening.

I write comedy, mostly, and dire global emergencies do not foster the funnies.  I had a similar situation a few years back when my personal life took a turn for the grim. I don't bother fighting it, because anything I write now won't match up to the rest of my stuff.

On the plus side, one of my novels is a finalist in the Aurealis Awards (Australia's premier award for speculative fiction).  I snuck into the horror category with A Riddle in Bronze.

I dont know, there is plenty funny about people fighting over toilet paper. About people forced to remove items from their trolley at the checkout, and the next person picks them up,  buys them for them and gives them over, and the whole thing going down the line to the horror of the checkout person. Not to mention those at the end of the line ducking off to get extras since they dont need them, and then getting the first person wait while they go through checkout themselves. So someone who needs 12, but can only have 2, gets their twelve, and the whole thing becomes high farce.  grint

I didn't know Australia had any book awards. But with only 5% of my income here, I doubt I'd even get a look in on it.

Congrats on making finalist.


The next Hal Spacejock novel was maybe sorta going to be something to do with climate change - that aged fast. I did think of Hal turning down a cargo of toilet paper as a side joke ("who would buy that much of the stuff?") but I'm not ready to write another Hal novel just yet. Also, I think toilet paper humour has had its day - a wash, you might say.

If I write anything, it won't have pandemics or viruses or any thinly-veiled satire on current events. That's usually the case for me.
Congratulations on the award nomination! I will note the sequel to Riddle in Bronze does not need to mention plagues or toilet paper and some people really want to read it ASAP.
 
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Lynn

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #19 on: April 02, 2020, 12:24:39 PM »
My in progress work is humorous and my next up work is contemporary and is nearly half written but I can't imagine writing something with a contemporary setting right now because it all feels off and my next next up work involves a virus that killed half the population of earth and is coming back for a second run on humanity.

So yeah, I'm having trouble with all three right now and I'm thinking I might do some fantasy instead.
Don't rush me.
 
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Yorkie

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Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #20 on: June 11, 2020, 03:12:32 AM »
Well, these weird times have certainly made me ponder whether I should change direction with what I'm going to write next. Having just brought out my novel a couple of months ago - a historical romance set in mid-14th century England - I had made a decent start on the sequel (working title, "Pip 2" !). As most of you will already know, this era was full of wars, revolts, and good ole Black Death - all good plot-fodder. I'd intended to embroil my heroine in at least half of these, but now I'm not so sure. Personally I am stressed out and worn out with Covid 19, lockdown, having to disinfect the groceries, etc, and I yearn for some gentle, fun escapism. I gather in the 1930's Depression and the 1940's World War people felt much the same, and flocked to dances and cinemas to escape all the grimness for a while.

So - should I instead try to put my characters in a less gory setting, and give them some more personal, intimate adventures, as in soap operas - or something even more whimsical like Agatha Christie's or Barbara Cartland's tales?  Or, by the time this sequel is finished (and lord knows when that will be - Covid is playing havoc with my writing schedule!) will people have put all this awfulness behind them and be ready to enjoy something meaty, that perhaps echos their own recent experiences with the pandemic?   :icon_think:  Anyone  know a soothsayer?

MonkeyWithAPen

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #21 on: June 11, 2020, 01:53:16 PM »
I have considered pivoting my entire brand. Not because of the crappy situation the world is in but because my sales aren't all that great right now and I go through this cycle of self-doubt every so often anyway when my sales tank. I'm sure the stress of the pandemic and the protests has had some impact, for sure. I'm more susceptible to those thoughts, but they aren't new.

But I am actually excited about my WIPs, it isn't what I'm working on that makes me want to switch. I love my ideas (and in fact the current WIP is somewhat of a pivot - it's romantic suspense when I normally write PNR), so even if I did eventually switch, it wouldn't be for at least a year when I finish the current series.
 

LilyBLily

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #22 on: June 11, 2020, 10:05:27 PM »
I think writing about plague times is perfectly fine. The reason I know about the emotional fatigue people suffered during WWII is that I read a novel in which it was portrayed--and I think I saw one movie, too, in which it was significant.

As for me, I'm waffling between a straight-up single title women's fiction novel about death and lost chances or a kind of magical realism novel about the same but with a choose-your-own-ending vibe. Like, "Did this really happen--or that?" It has nothing to do with the pandemic, although it could, especially if I go all experimental and mess with the time frames. Knowing that flashbacks are difficult to write as well as annoying to many readers, I've always eschewed writing them. 
 

Lorri Moulton

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #23 on: June 12, 2020, 02:49:25 AM »
I got a little done on the nostalgia story...then ended up going back to fairytales.  It's easier to be in a magical world right now.  :smilie_zauber:

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 

Hazard

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #24 on: June 16, 2020, 03:52:35 PM »
Before all this really became serious (when it was still news reports about other countries), I thought I found my writing focus, a grand space epic. After making some progress on that, the real life chaos triggered another tangent (started as a few notes in a back burner pile). I got it in my head to try a fantasy story like the novels I read years ago. A series without the end of the universe hanging over everyone's heads, with an interesting cast of likeable characters who don't all die. Don't over do the grimdark stuff. Will see where it goes. Maybe this is the one.
 

cecilia_writer

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #25 on: June 17, 2020, 02:31:33 AM »
I was halfway through one of my light-hearted mysteries when all this started, and I only managed to finish it because I stubbornly refused to be defeated - since then I have also finished one historical novel and almost finished another one that I hadn't intended to write at all, let alone just now. (I really enjoyed this latest one too - all I had to do was to sit at the computer and the words just flowed. Yes, I have re-read it and it still makes sense, amazingly)
Cecilia Peartree - Woman of Mystery
 
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Lorri Moulton

Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #26 on: July 29, 2020, 11:33:38 AM »
Finished my fairytale and working on the next one.   :smilie_zauber:

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 

R. C.

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Re: Has all this changed what you want to write at the moment?
« Reply #27 on: July 30, 2020, 07:46:01 AM »
In chaos and uncertainty, there is an opportunity. - R.C. Ducantlin

I fight hard to stay positive and forward looking.

Are times tough? Yes. But, you are reading this and this is something.

I went through everything I ever published and cleaned up the mess.  Some passages were total garbage, some are gems.  The clean-up effort has not increased sales one bit, but I feel better for the effort.

I sent off a Noir Short Story to the beta reader this morning.  Looking forward to the marketing.

I tuned my Photoshop skills and learned how to make video ADs.  That DID create sales and notices (likes).

Now, back to tweaking the ADs and outlining the next episode in the life and times of a crappy author.

Cheers,
R.C.