Author Thomas Duffy talks about creative writing during a pandemic

Stockboy Nation, The Separation and Social Work author Thomas Duffy shares his experience releasing a book during a pandemic and his tips to keep that creativity flowing!

As many writers have discovered, coping with everything going on during isolation/lockdown has proven to be very difficult.

When it comes to writing and honing your craft, it isn’t an easy time to be a writer. However tough, though, there are ways to write while in quarantine. The key is definitely trying to stay motivated and disciplined in your skillset. This can be accomplished by locking your problems away for a period of time. This is not in the literal sense, of course, but rather it’s the whole concept of forgetting everything going on and just letting your mind and words take you somewhere new and exciting.

Since things began this past March, I have published a fiction book and have another one on the way. In this post, I’ll explain the pros and cons of publishing certain books during a pandemic and how to stay focused while trying to write the “great American novel” or just something simple to keep your readers entertained.

I put out a new book titled STOCKBOY NATION this past June. It was anything but easy to publish a book during a global pandemic! At first, this book was supposed to be about the fight for higher wages for low-income workers. You can say I left that premise in the dust to work on something more timely. I decided to include the pandemic in my storyline for the book which is the sequel to the first book I wrote called STOCKBOY from 2013. This decision has been met with mixed opinions but I am proud of the book and for each good review I get, I feel it was worth it. The huge pro with releasing the book now is the relatability factor while some detractors have claimed it was too soon for such a book to be released. 

How STOCKBOY NATION came to be is very interesting. I combined ideas I was having with what was going on in quarantine during the pandemic with ideas I believed my character in the book would have. It all came together very well and I created a sequel that I am proud to say stands on its own as one of the first novels to document the pandemic and some of its aftermath on America. 

Staying positive is important! Any negativities you may have are better left being put into your novel albeit in small quantities. Just try to make sure you don’t let those negative ideas get too ugly that they could serve to undermine the ideals behind the story you are trying to tell. Nobody probably wants or needs a wholly negative story at this juncture in time. But, let’s face it–we are having our minds running away with us these days and some negative may actually be good as long as it’s well balanced with positives.

Check out Duffy’s reviews of Thomas Duffy’s work here

Writing genre novels is definitely the easiest way to go as they are somewhat formulaic and safe and as long as the writing is good and the plot twists are plentiful, they could be well received at a time like this.
Whatever you want to write, well, the key is to just do what’s in your heart. If you do that, nothing will let you down.

I have started my next book HEAVENLY which so far hasn’t touched on quarantine but may do so in later chapters. I managed to get up and write what was in my heart and tell a story that I wanted to tell with STOCKBOY NATION and am repeating the process with HEAVENLY. Writing about the pandemic or including it in your novel may be a good thing as it works as a coping mechanism. I believe anyone who does what they think is right through their art will find the rewards to be plentiful.

Thanks for reading and pick up a copy of STOCKBOY NATION today! HEAVENLY will be out early next year.