Writing Fiction During A Pandemic: Should Your Story’s World Include The Current Reality?

I have a short and relevant one for you today.

I saw (virtually, of course) a lot of writers discussing whether their current works in progress set in the present should include the realities of today.

And everyone will have their answer according to their taste, current mental state, themes in the story, storylines as well as what they want to accomplish with their work.

For me, the answer is a big whopping no. Not only am not including anything c-word related in my current novel, but I also don’t plan to change what I write afterward. Unless it is a dystopian feature or sci-fi where the story would benefit from my real-world experience.

Here’s why:

I write to entertain. I write to escape. I write to make people laugh, to put a smile on their faces, give them hope and make sure they have faith in themselves, their lives, and the world.

It doesn’t mean my stories don’t or won’t include harrowing conflicts.

In fact, the current novel I’m editing has plenty of real-world issues. It’s a romantic comedy drama featuring ensemble characters. Among other things, it has:

• Loss of a loved one and grief
• A severe anxiety disorder
• Drug use
• Prejudice
• Feeling lost and hopeless in one’s career
• Professional screw-ups
• Blaming others for your mistakes
• Failing romantic relationships.
• Dysfunctional family relationships

Of course, because it is a romantic comedy, it also has:

• Happy endings
• Getting through loss and grief
• Recovery
• Making positive changes in one’s life
• Realistic self-evaluation and changing for the better
• Laughter, fun, partying
• New and strong friendships
• Reconnecting with old friends
• Enjoying life to the fullest
• Exciting romances

Now, I’d say it is fairly well-balanced. But despite being set in the real world, albeit a pre-pandemic one, notice what it doesn’t have:

• Cancer
• Alzheimer’s
• Abusive partners
• Sexism
• Racism
• Serial killers
• Heart disease
• Poverty
• …..

 

The list goes and on. My point? No one novel is going to reflect the world as is – whether you are talking about good or bad. It’s impossible.

It would be a depressing, mundane, and mostly boring  20-part series where each novel is 7000 pages long.

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That said, I’d like to underline once again that there is no one correct, absolute, universally valid answer to this question.

You have to make the right call for yourself, readers, and your story.

How am I going to write an R-rated romantic comedy with sex scenes featuring smart characters if my story is set during a pandemic? And as for writing about a post-pandemic world, we haven’t seen the end of this yet.

It would also beat my purpose of escaping and helping the readers escape with me.

While a lot of people are binging movies like Contagion, Outbreak, 28 Days Later, and Train to Busan, I’m avoiding those kinds of movies like the plague – despite having enjoyed Contagion and Outbreak being one of my 90s’ favorites. These are literally the last films I want to see right now.

The other day, I went in the completely opposite direction and watched A Thousand Words starring Eddie Murphy.

I laughed my ass off!

While some of its messages regarding family and relationships are on the nose, it is hilarious enough to make up for it.

And while the character shares none of our problems like not being able to touch people or going outside, I’d argue he has a worse problem:

He has 1000 words left to say or write. Once he says the 1000^th, he will die!

Imagine that! Can you think of a worse fate for a writer? Especially if it is a writer who also loves to talk, like myself?

Since that movie is set in the literary world due to the protagonist’s profession, expect a review from me for this blog’s Writing Characters in Movies section soon.

Until then, read and watch what makes you happy.

And if watching outbreak movies make you feel better, keep at it!

What about you? How’s the current situation affected your fiction?