5 Ways to Adapt a Writer’s Mindset During a Quarantine
How do we, at home, make sense or money during the Coronavirus?
While it seems like the threats of our social normalcy continue to pile up, we should try not to dwell on the unknown. This will allow us to avoid operating under the influence of fear. As we exit, what the Institute for Heath Metrics is saying, a “peak week” for New York, we can battle along with our medical warriors under our roofs while abiding by social distancing measures by connecting into the social media hive mind.
If you’ve seen the stills of all the empty ghost city centers you might feel a little concerned for the safety of our global health. There has, however, been a recent spike in social media activity, according to a study by influencer agency, Obviously. From 260 campaigns, 7.5 million Instagram users and 2,152 TikTok users, they observed a 76% increase in daily accumulated likes on ad posts over a two week span.
When I read that statistic, a light bulb went off. Some of us who were laid off as non essential workers, now were strongly encouraged to stay home and watch our bank accounts dwindle while not being able to collect a paycheck from no fault of our own. I had been feeling a looming sense of fear of not fulfilling that cash flow. Job hunting has become a challenge. How do you make money when you can’t leave the house?
Content Writing is something I became familiar with only a few years ago and no time has ever been better to search the Internet in a meaningful way and produce some new insight, whether its for entertainment or journalistic purposes. Of course, this is not an immediate pay off but it is a start and an investment into our own futures. The more work you put into it, the more output you will see. But the trick is to do it consistently and like you would at an office.
I’d always pushed off content writing in favor of devoting my time to writing passion projects. Since I had bartending to fall back on, I reasoned with myself to forgo content writing because I solely wanted to write my passion projects. This pandemic has allowed me to rethink my focus and now I see that I should have been writing those articles all along. It’s okay though, I am not hard on myself for those missed opportunities. I have awoken to a whole new approach in my pursuit of writing. I can go to work every day at home and all I need is a pen and paper, in any form. Now is a time for writers. And that can be any of us who want to work.
Not everyone realizes that they want to be a writer. In times like these, however, it can be a very powerful tool. It can be our means to add value and therefore earn money. What are all your voices saying who feel like they have no platform during economic and health hardships? Being a writer is a state of being so that we can critically approach the world in front of us. In times like these, it can be very difficult to harness that vast attention span problem. But when we finally settle it can be helpful to pick a topic or niche, tether it to reality with some real life data and ponder our inner voice.
That being said, why not climb the spike in social media usage but on the content creating end? Perhaps we can encourage good content to arise that will help us transition into a well thought out future. This pandemic event has affected us all in such varied ways, the only way we can fight misinformation is by taking an active role in our own pursuit of knowledge and sharing our personal experiences.
For those of us who are new to any niche, we must be careful to tread lightly in subjects we know little about. However, once we all build our respective portfolios in topics that we are well versed in, suddenly our voices are carried by the truths we speak. This is a clear path to connecting with people in new ways. Instead of being passive in what we experience, we can actively seek out topics of interest and in turn have some control over our experiences, simply by wondering and learning new subjects. Who knows what curiosities you might have? Let your mind wander about the history of that topic. Sometimes you might find that you have some interesting insight with what others have already uncovered.
When you learn about something or think you have an idea or concept you want to share, write about it. Your thoughts will only get you so far, but when you critically work it out in a complete article then your ideas begins to take shape and form. Here are 5 ways to adapt a writer’s mindset during a global pandemic.
- Awaken your brain’s hunger for knowledge.
We certainly have a lot of time to think during our quarantining days. I have found that exploring subjects I am interested in has kept the cabin fever at bay. The more you read, whether its novels, articles, news or copy, the more you expand your expertise. The more you write about what you are reading, the more you commit to your knowledge banks. And the more quips you have at your next family holiday dinner.
2. Find your Niche
What subjects interests you in your daydreaming voice? Whatever it is, narrowing down the infinite amount of choices that we have available to us on the Internet is essential in order to overcome the paralyzing nature of the writer’s dilemma, “what should I write about?”. You know yourself and your capabilities. Select a finite amount of niches for you to explore. You should commit to living in those niches for as long as it takes for you to feel a mastery of it. By choosing to learn about a new niche, you are taking your first steps toward controlling your edge in this ever-changing world.
3. Research with Your Own Questions
When you are reading about a new niche, you might notice questions racing in your mind about what you are reading. Let that guide your search through understanding this subject matter. Give yourself the freedom to express your understanding of your niches in your own voice. No one has a voice like yours, you might uncover a question no one else has thought of yet. But you will only find that out the deeper you dig. And those methods and approaches may very well resonate with more people than you know. We must be careful of maintaining due diligence, however, and consider other expert opinions while we provide evidence and proof for all of our claims along the way.
4. Take Breaks!
This is a global crisis. You need to let off steam consistently in order to cope with such a rough reality. When you start to awaken to the world’s many nuanced aspects of corruption, it can be difficult to not become immediately despondent with hopelessness. But allowing yourself to break down if you need to is okay! As long as you remember when you come back that there is a world of resources and support available to you via the Internet. Just because you have to stay home doesn’t mean you can’t take charge from your couch. Try to feed yourself a decent meal. Keep your health up as best you can, it is one of the few things we can attempt to control to battle the virus.
5. Be Bold, Be Confident and Submit your Work
Some of us are scarily unemployed. But now is no time to panic. Thinking calmly through a crisis can allow you to see more of your options. This way, you can feel like you are taking steps to help your situation be elevated. Search for publications related the topics you are interested in and submit your work! Not all of us have the option to stay at home, however. The essential workers are braving the front lines and holding us together at the seams. Your voices are important, too. Consider through your exhaustion to record your experiences of working in a time like now. We are all in this together. As we cultivate a habit of sharing our voices with one another, hopefully we can piece together the big picture and find commonality with our fellow humans bit by bit, voice by voice, bird by bird. And maybe make a few bucks while we’re at it.
