tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post7549170217547583407..comments2024-02-17T17:59:25.010+10:00Comments on Christian Writers Downunder: Should the Pandemic Shape the Settings of Our Novels?Jeanette O'Haganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11057798704247611224noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-80335807932342262462020-09-23T19:15:10.909+10:002020-09-23T19:15:10.909+10:00Mark my words...
There will be a rom-com movie cal...Mark my words...<br />There will be a rom-com movie called "The Lockdown"<br />Story is as follows:<br />In a last-ditch effort to save their failing relationship, Brett and Amy book a Caribbean cruise, only to have their holiday cut short by Covid-19...and now must spend two whole weeks in lockdown together.<br /><br />I'm not saying I want to write it, or that it will be any good: I'm just saying watch this space.<br /><br />... And copyright to Jo Sarah Stanford.<br />😁Jo Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07545110963684632667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-73487166038639388632020-09-04T13:57:18.979+10:002020-09-04T13:57:18.979+10:00I'm writing a story set a few years in the fut...I'm writing a story set a few years in the future. The pandemic is mentioned as a reason why a) the government is broke, and b) people have accepted the government is heavy-handed with law and order. That's all.Julia Archerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09045982720040438196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-14430066536990451802020-09-02T23:37:16.417+10:002020-09-02T23:37:16.417+10:00I'm writing a story set a few years in the fut...I'm writing a story set a few years in the future. The pandemic is mentioned as a reason a) the government is broke, and b) people have accepted the government is heavy-handed with law and order. That's all.Julia Archerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09045982720040438196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-43199288101920774462020-09-02T15:22:44.572+10:002020-09-02T15:22:44.572+10:00Maybe this is a little like bible references. If y...Maybe this is a little like bible references. If you are going to use them they must be a necessary part of the plot. If we are writing in 2020, the pandamic needs to be included, but the plot needs to include it as well. Jo Wanmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08601438922741057908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-70385867489054335282020-08-31T21:15:52.179+10:002020-08-31T21:15:52.179+10:00Good point, Jeanette.Good point, Jeanette.Ray Woodrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16286792743672095181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-69463515643629257642020-08-31T20:32:54.905+10:002020-08-31T20:32:54.905+10:00Thanks Sue, I sympathise with that poor author who...Thanks Sue, I sympathise with that poor author who was called out for not being a prophet at the time of writing :) It's an unexpected problem for sure, and your advice pretty well covers it, I think. Perhaps in the not so distant future, authors may be able to mention Covid lockdown lifestyles as a backdrop to anything set in 2020. I've come across several post September 11th novels since 2001 which do this well, without making a big issue of it, if it isn't concerned with the main plot. Paula Vincehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02079952414990463270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-82521908764858376112020-08-31T14:07:30.844+10:002020-08-31T14:07:30.844+10:00A positively purposeful use of parentheses, Mazzy ...A positively purposeful use of parentheses, Mazzy :). Yes you are right, we need to look for creative solutions to dilemmas like this. Just as well we are creative people :)Susan J Brucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01020859162801279149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-57964951629084486462020-08-31T14:01:02.138+10:002020-08-31T14:01:02.138+10:00You didn’t come across callous in attitude, Jeanet...You didn’t come across callous in attitude, Jeanette. Is it a case if we go there, we go there properly? I’m sure people will appreciate novels dealing with such things but some people want to avoid thinking of those things too. One of my favourite old war movies is Mrs Miniver. It deals with a family with WW2 as a backdrop. It’s a beautiful film that deals with what it meant to be living in Britain under the shadow of the war.. But is there a difference between writing a canine cozy mystery and a women’s fiction where her spouse is hospitalised with Covid? I don’t know. I’m just thinking out loud. I find it fascinating that lots of the superhero comics were birthed around that time.Susan J Brucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01020859162801279149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-4901932519011131102020-08-31T12:15:19.406+10:002020-08-31T12:15:19.406+10:00Btw, I didn't mean to sound callous in my atti...Btw, I didn't mean to sound callous in my attitude. But I do think that, once all this is over, people will appreciate books etc written remembering these times, even remembering the horrors some endured, the losses. I can't handle the 'turn a blind eye' stance.Jeanette Grant-Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07691677119939194892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-89454101879031097102020-08-31T11:26:20.487+10:002020-08-31T11:26:20.487+10:00Excellent thoughts, Sue. (And as per my flagrant u...Excellent thoughts, Sue. (And as per my flagrant use of parentheses whilst posting the CWD Facebook Group link, it is truly absurd to expect authors to accurately predict future happenings - 'normal' or otherwise.)<br /><br />Given the challenges associated with writing and publishing a 'contemporary' novel, it's a wonder anyone dares. When delays meant the time frame of my manuscript's setting drifted from yesterdays to yesteryears, I realised that, while I needed to keep what was factually contemporary for that time, I also needed to write and edit a story that was not freeze-framed in time, but had longevity built into its message and presentation. While things like pandemics might influence/challenge the nitty gritty of setting and 'permitted activities', I'd like to think most readers are savvy and astute enough to focus on the big picture items that make a story great - voice, plot, theme, emotion, the characters and their journeys/development, and quality writing that aids and abets these.<br /><br />Now that we know what true-to-life trials 2020 has thrown up, we can incorporate sensitivity to that in our future writing endeavours and come up with innovative speculative complications. Or decide to leave the planet.<br /><br />On another note, as I've still to write my blurb, I could suggest that one of my characters endured 'lockdown' for years, sans world-wide pandemic. ;p Mazzy Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03945841786696357456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-41166962423938872372020-08-31T10:22:47.288+10:002020-08-31T10:22:47.288+10:00I've changed my present-tense novel to 2019 -...I've changed my present-tense novel to 2019 - well, I could have begun it then - but I think it's silly. In a few decades, assuming all goes well, people will be really interested to hear about the pandemic and how people coped and felt. These days, many readers love war stories. Similar thing.Jeanette Grant-Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07691677119939194892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-66160722212466118892020-08-31T09:50:24.268+10:002020-08-31T09:50:24.268+10:00Thanks Ray, I don’t think any of us could foresee ...Thanks Ray, I don’t think any of us could foresee 2020. Truth is stranger than fiction. I agree, I’d avoid whole story rewrites if at all possible.Susan J Brucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01020859162801279149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-17884498326512655122020-08-31T08:43:21.333+10:002020-08-31T08:43:21.333+10:00Good thoughts, Sue, I thinks authors should write ...Good thoughts, Sue, I thinks authors should write what they want to and, yes, we need to develop thickness of skin. If it requires a whole story rewrite then, no, keep it as it is (unless you really like to rewrite stories.) I have included in one of my stories a pandemic-like illness but it only affects one town and I wrote that a while ago. I don't think it was prophetic and I certainly didn't foresee 2020. God bless.Ray Woodrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16286792743672095181noreply@blogger.com