Living with Covid (in the house)

 

December 2020

Day 1

“Sorry, guys, but the test has come back positive”. The words felt like a hammer blow.

Covid-19 had just arrived home.

Worldwide, 2020 has already been an annus horribilis. Coronavirus has swept through every single country, regardless of GDP or religion. As an English language teacher, I was one of the first ones to be made aware of the devastation wreaked by this most unwelcome visitor. My school, like all the others in the UK, closed down in late March.

Yet, deep within my psyche (and I only came to this conclusion after reading and re-reading the text from my landlord to both my housemate and me letting us know that he’d contracted the virus) was the thought that all this was happening somewhere else. How reality-defying must one be before reality imposes itself? Sometimes in the most unaccommodating of circumstances.

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Urban Diary During Lockdown

The cool, orange spring sun is slowly sinking, leaving one side of Stamford Street in the shade and the other one caressed by an auburn glow. I stop on the corner of Hatfields, get off my bicycle and lean against the wall.

It has now been more than four weeks since I last saw the rush-hour crowd moving up and down this road, either on their way to or from Waterloo Underground Station. The Covid-19-caused lockdown has rendered the hustle-bustle silent.

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Top Tips for Editing Your Writing During the Time of COVID-19

There’s a beautiful scene in High Fidelity, Stephen Frears’ 2000’s film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel, that I never tire of watching. Facing the camera, Rob Gordon, the character played superbly by John Cusack, shares his top tips in making the ultimate mixtape:

“The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don’t wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.”

The making of a book, regardless of its future standing in literature’s canon, is equally hard to do and it also takes ages to complete.

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Writing in the Time of COVID-19

A deserted Long Acre, Covent Garden, London

In my previous column, I wrote about freeing up our creativity while self-isolating. This one will deal with what happens when we’ve managed to complete that much-longed-for first draft.

Imagine your name IS NOT Steve. Or Martha. Imagine you are the editor of a prestigious publication. And now imagine a freelance writer submitting a piece addressed to Editor-in-Chief Steve. Or Martha.

Yeah. You, aspiring writer, cocked up big time.

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