Should the Pandemic Shape the Settings of Our Novels?

Photos courtesy of Pille-Riin Priske on Unsplash

One of the dilemmas authors face if we write contemporary fiction or begin our speculative stories in a present-day setting, is whether or not we should refer to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

I’m developing a couple of novels at the moment. I’ve been working forever on a way-too-complex time travel romantic thriller and I’ve recently started playing with an idea for a contemporary, amateur sleuth mystery series. My plan is to do the back-end work on both and run with whichever idea takes over. My problem is that both stories begin in the ‘present day’. 

Do I acknowledge the pandemic or not?

There are different thoughts on this. 

I read on one forum that Amazon was taking down books that were focused on Covid-19. I tried to find evidence of this on Amazon's website but I couldn't find any prohibitions. In the early days of the pandemic Amazon was flooded with a wide range of dubious products claiming to cure the virus, which they subsequently took down from sale. They have also removed some nonfiction books of dubious merit, some of which have been reinstated. 

I honestly don't see how they could object to the pandemic acting as a backdrop to contemporary fiction but their bots do odd things at times. Mind you, I recently had a seasoned reviewer friend say they had a review removed from Amazon and the only reason they could think of was that they mentioned the lockdown in the review. 

Bottom line: If you have a book in mind and you are not sure if the theme is okay then I'd contact Amazon directly and check.

A stronger reason to avoid referencing the pandemic in our fiction is because people often want to escape life's problems when they read. I think it would depend on the reader and the level of realism they crave, but lighter reads have done well since the pandemic began.

I think that my friends who write fantasy are in a good position as they don't have to choose. Werewolves don't get Covid... although they could conceivably get parvo. Hey, there's a plot idea! 

But I digress. After thinking this through I decided to leave out any mention of Covid from my books. It seemed much simpler to ignore the mess the world was in and have fun in my writing bubble. 

But then I saw this two-star review posted on another forum. 

It makes me giggle – and groan – every time I read it.

My favourite line: 

The author apparently wrote the book before the pandemic and made the assumption that summer 2020 would be just like other summers…

I mean really, what a terrible author. I know many writers are brilliant creative people but this one missed it, right? If they wrote a book in 2018 or 2019 why wouldn’t they know life would be totally disrupted in 2020? Fancy not being able to predict that a global pandemic would disrupt the world at some future date. Epic fail!

In truth this is both hilarious and sad. Funny that someone would blame an author for not being able to predict the future, and disappointing that this two-star rating could affect the author’s ability to sell their book in the future.

Crazy, huh?

Did you see that 19 people thought the review was helpful?

All groans aside, it did make me realise that some people can’t see past the current world circumstances. The impact of Covid-19 on the psyche of some folk is so profound that they can’t embrace an imaginary world that doesn’t acknowledge the virus. 

The question is, what do we do about this?

• When we are writing new books

• When we’ve already written a book that refers specifically to 2020

• When we get an irrational review like this

If we have a work in progress we might: 

• Continue to set the book in the present but include a forward note explaining why we left Covid-19 out of the story

• Set the book in a specific year – say 2019

• Do nothing - refuse to waste our energy on the minority that might not ‘get’ our work

If we’ve already published a book that mentions 2020, we could try similar things:

• Rewrite the whole book (Noooooo!)

• Change the dates in the book to less contentious ones 

• Including a forward note as above

• However most traditional publishers would be unlikely to re-format books and put out a second edition unless there was a very good reason

• Do nothing

If we get a review that shows *cough* a lack of insight like this one, all the conventional wisdom says: Do. Not. Reply. I guess it’s an opportunity to further develop the thick skin we need as authors (as if we don’t have enough of those opportunities 😆). 

So back to my novels. I think I’m going to stick with my original plan to exclude the pandemic from my stories. The forward note idea sounds good to me, but I’d love to hear what you think. Is this a good plan?

How are you approaching writing contemporary settings in 2020?

Have you ever received a crazy review like this? I'd love to hear what it said 😎. 

What would you do if you received a review like this? 

Susan J Bruce, aka Sue Jeffrey, spent her childhood reading, drawing, and collecting stray animals. Now she’s grown up, she does the same kinds of things. Susan has worked for many years as a veterinarian, and writes stories of suspense, love and overcoming for all ages - usually with animal cameos. Susan also loves to paint animals. Susan won the ‘Short’ section of the inaugural Stories of Life writing competition and won the 'Unpublished Manuscript' section of the 2018 Caleb prize. Susan is the editor of 'If They Could Talk: Bible Stories Told By the Animals' (Morning Star Publishing) and her stories and poems have appeared in multiple anthologies. Her e-book, 'Ruthless The Killer: A Short Story' is available on Amazon.com. You can check out some of Susan’s art work on her website https://www.susanjbruce.com/animal-art .

Book Review: Writing Vivid Settings

Review by Jeanette O'Hagan

Book

Title: Writing Vivid Settings: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors (Writer's Craft Book 10)

Author: Rayne Hall

Blurb:

 "Do you want your readers to feel like they're really there—in the place where the story happens?

Whether you want to enrich stark prose with atmospheric detail, add vibrancy to a dull piece or curb waffling descriptions, this guide can help. Learn how to make your settings intense, realistic, and intriguing.

This is the tenth book in Rayne Hall's acclaimed Writer's Craft series."

Available as Kindle, Print, Audiotape.
Published December 27th 2014 by Rayne Hall

You can find it here.

Author

Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction, some of it quirky, most of it dark. She has also written a number of best selling books on writing craft, including  Writing Fight Scenes, The Word-Loss Diet, Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novel, Twitter for Writers, Writing Deep Point of View etc.

After living in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, a small Victorian seaside town in southern England, and she now lives in Bulgaria. Rayne holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Over three decades, she has worked in the publishing industry as a trainee, investigative journalist, feature writer, magazine editor, production editor, page designer, concept editor for non-fiction book series, anthology editor, editorial consultant and more.

Contact Rayne Hall on Twitter
@RayneHall follows back writers and readers. http://twitter.com/RayneHall

Jeanette's Comments

This is another gem from Rayne Hall and ranks along aside my all-time favourite of hers, The Word Loss Diet.

In Writing Vivid Settings, Hall breaks down different ways of including the setting into scene without bogging down the pace or producing long slabs of description that the reader duly skips. She looks at ways on including smells, sounds, light, colour, weather, telling details, similes, symbols and discusses the use of effective word choices. She explores how to research and to include the setting through the senses of the point-of-view character.

Hall then applies all these techniques to the challenges of writing specific scenes - such as the opening scene, climaxes, action scenes, at night, etc. with plenty of examples. She also demonstrates many of the techniques in a flash fiction at the end of the book.

As with her other books in the For Writers series, Hall gives many examples, tips on things to avoid and exercises to follow at the end of each chapter. She suggests building up a Setting Description Bank by journalling actual places you visit on a regular basis.

Modern fiction is often sparse of description and modern readers often skip lengthy paragraphs of heavy with description. Still, giving a sense of place through judicious description will make a more immersive and engaging novel. For fantasy and historical genres, setting is particularly important.  However, these techniques can apply for fiction of all kinds as well as creative non-fiction.

While not a particular fan of her dark fantasy, I can highly recommend Rayne Hall's Writing Vivid Settings.

Jeanette spun tales in the world of Nardva since the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. Many involve courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic. Others are set in Nardva’s future and include space stations, plasma rifles, bio-tech, and/or cyborgs. 

The last four years have been a whirlwind, with the publication of her Under the Mountain series (Heart of the Mountain, Blood Crystal, Stone of the Sea and Shadow Crystals, Caverns of the Deep) and her debut novel, Akrad's Children (in the Akrad's Legacy series),  as well as short stories and poems in over twenty anthologies. 

Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and a Master of Arts (Writing). She loves reading, painting, travel, catching up for coffee with friends, pondering the meaning of life. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.

You can find her on various social media, including here:

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