Writing in a COVID free world

[dirtyriceking]

If an ostensibly present reality set story did NOT mention Caronavirus, would it take you out of the story or could you easily suspend your disbelief? My possible stories wouldn't lose anything from avoiding it, though arguably they'd gain nothing from avoiding it.

 

[LupusDei]

If an ostensibly present reality set story did NOT mention Caronavirus, would it take you out of the story or could you easily suspend your disbelief? My possible stories wouldn't lose anything from avoiding it, though arguably they'd gain nothing from avoiding it.

I personally don't think you need an excuse nor explanation for not mentioning COVID-19 in your story. Fiction is fiction.

Last year's normal is still last year's normal. Setting a story up to end of 2019, or undated setting that could be read as taking place before, say February 2020 would naturally avoid it completely.

2019's normal even still easily could be 2022 or 2023 normal again (with over a dozen different COVID-19 vaccines to choose from), or close enough, or there could be just subtle changes that aren't discussed much or emphasized because it's just how things are, and coronavirus itself is mostly history. Exploring or even ambushing readers with such reality altering consequences, especially seemingly 'unforeseen' ones (like increasing prevalence of home nudism) could be fun to a degree.

If you absolutely need to set up the story in necessarily a specific version of reality where coronavirus does happen as experienced, and in between April 2020 and, say February 2022 (for an totally arbitrary 'end-of-pandemic' date), and still absolutely don't want it to influence your narrative, probably some rather little affected locations where it could easily be just somewhere in the background 'out there' could be explored, and/or your characters might live a life secluded enough to lockdowns and travel restrictions be irrelevant and direct threats of infection minimal and so the entire ruckus inconsequential for them.

Likewise, in a long epic tale that goes through the time you can make your characters to avoid direct impact or flat out skip over with a jump in the timeline declaring the period uninteresting in their personal lives.

However, complete and continued ignoring of it completely would rather effectively set your world as an alternative reality; then, any story going ahead of the writing or even concept creation date unavoidably is anyway.

 

[sirhugs]

Of the five stories I have posted in COVID times, all of which had at least a partial present days setting, only one mentions COVID, and they all have done well.

Heck, my Nude Day story is explicitly set in 2020, doesn't mention COVID, and features a parade, a beach party, and a communal jail. but all involved had fun.

The nice thing about fiction is that we can manipulate reality to suit the story's needs.

Might I suggest that this question is better suited to the Author's Hangout, where you might get better uptake on the conversation?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Of the five stories I have posted in COVID times, all of which had at least a partial present days setting, only one mentions COVID, and they all have done well.

Heck, my Nude Day story is explicitly set in 2020, doesn't mention COVID, and features a parade, a beach party, and a communal jail. but all involved had fun.

The nice thing about fiction is that we can manipulate reality to suit the story's needs.

Might I suggest that this question is better suited to the Author's Hangout, where you might get better uptake on the conversation?

This.

To echo sirhugs, I’ve had eight stories published this year. Four had absolutely no mention of COVID or any other disease. One was post-apocalyptic, set in a post-plague world. One was set in the midst of a far worse epidemic than COVID. A seventh was submitted for the Love the One You’re With contest, deliberately aimed at COVID-times romance and number eight was my Nude Day contest entry, set in a hospital just coming out of COVID. So, half and half and I am happy with the way they all were received.

To some degree, a bit of trouble helps a story work, I think, like a drop of vinegar or something when cooking. It allows the characters to be better developed, among other things. Otherwise, you wind up with cotton candy - insubstantial sweetness.

 

[jaF0]

If an ostensibly present reality set story did NOT mention Caronavirus, would it take you out of the story or could you easily suspend your disbelief? My possible stories wouldn't lose anything from avoiding it, though arguably they'd gain nothing from avoiding it.

So, if somebody reads the story 10 years from now .... ?????


I never mention dates or any type of event that could lead a reader to assume a date.

 

[Carnevil9]

So, if somebody reads the story 10 years from now .... ?????


I never mention dates or any type of event that could lead a reader to assume a date.

I agree with this. I try to write in ambiguous dates and locations so that anyone, anywhere could relate to the story. Except for the occasional "period piece" of course.

 

[dirtyriceking]

Thanks all. JaFo had the solution I'd most apt to use.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

You are of course free to do anything and I wish you well with it.

I myself think this plague is one of those world-view-altering things which everybody will be arranging timelines around. Others in my life include the assassination of JFK, the shuttle disaster and 9/11. Been there, never forget it. We’re we in the 50s right now, trying to write without having one’s world effected by WW2 would be most difficult. But, as I said, half of mine ignored COVID entirely. My point is that I wouldn’t be worried about it, one way or the other.

Good luck.

 

[jaF0]

I never even think of those events and in a few years I won't think about this so-called event either.

 

[Wilson Spalding]

Always fresh...

So, if somebody reads the story 10 years from now .... ?????


I never mention dates or any type of event that could lead a reader to assume a date.

The evergreen principle: no matter when you watch it, it's could be "now."

As for no COVID, I've got the same challenge: I'm in the middle of a series where there was no COVID in the world. Lately, I've put non-COVID disclaimers in the beginning so people can use the story as an escape.

I get it, though. COVID considerations are totally valid. People often want to read something that applies to the reality they're in right then. In 10 years, these stories will a time-capsule of sorts...

 

[Carnevil9]

Re: COVID in stories, yes, I tend to write assuming that COVID will eventually be just a distasteful memory. But not all historical events fade away like that.

Just think about cell phones: All the classic film noir movies (Bogart, Cagney, et al) would make ZERO SENSE in a world with cell phones. So sometimes, the world does change. And any story written before that change automatically becomes a historical oddity and has to be viewed as a period piece.

 

[sirhugs]

Re: COVID in stories, yes, I tend to write assuming that COVID will eventually be just a distasteful memory. But not all historical events fade away like that.

Just think about cell phones: All the classic film noir movies (Bogart, Cagney, et al) would make ZERO SENSE in a world with cell phones. So sometimes, the world does change. And any story written before that change automatically becomes a historical oddity and has to be viewed as a period piece.

Even re-watching Buffy the Vampire slayer, which is only 20 years old, is weird- I mean, high schoolers without cell phones? I can believe in vampires and demons, but not in THAT.

 

[RetroFan]

I tend to write stories set in the past, and since COVID arrived have written stories set in 1955 and 1960 so no problem. I'm currently writing an aunt/nephew story set in Melbourne Australia, but have distinctly mentioned it takes place in 2019 to avoid COVID 19.

Last year I wrote a story series called 'Body Swap With Sister's Boyfriend' and did not specify the year, given cultural references and technology, it could be any year from about 2017-2019. However, given the lack of a specific year but set in the present day, it now looks dated considering the events that take place within the story.

 

[Sign54]

Setting it in the late 10’s(or even January 2020) is a good way to work around it quite easily. You also could set it in let’s say, 2022 or 2023 and put in some minor changes that are likely.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

First of all what we write here is fiction, not historical documentation. Second what we write about is sex, between two people or more. If you include the virus ramification, don't you limit your options?

And any reader in the future who thinks about the virus while reading a story submitted in 2020, is reading the wrong books.

 

[SimonDoom]

It would only be a problem if my story made a point of setting itself in the summer of 2020. But I wouldn't do that (except for the Lockdown story I'm still working on, in which COVID is a plot driver).

Most erotic stories have no specific time setting, for good reason. You want a reader 10 years from now to read it and imagine it's set in that time.

 

[Wilson Spalding]

It would only be a problem if my story made a point of setting itself in the summer of 2020. But I wouldn't do that (except for the Lockdown story I'm still working on, in which COVID is a plot driver).

Most erotic stories have no specific time setting, for good reason. You want a reader 10 years from now to read it and imagine it's set in that time.

Well said.

The "evergreen principle" keeps it fresh, hopefully, no matter when it has an audience. There are different degrees of this and some parts are harder to avoid than others, like using a phone. Plenty of great erotica written in the 80s and 90s, but cell phone use was totally different back then – and that's just in how people communicate, much less the camera potential in exhibition and voyeur stories.

Evergreens aside, though, there is a segment that wants to read a COVID-impacted story because people are living COVID-impacted lives. The audience is out there. We just have to write with the knowledge that at some point, these stories are going to be time capsules.

 

[ChuckWolf]

People don't want to be reminded of Covid and are looking for an escape from stuff like that, especially since it'll make the story look dated in a few years (I hope).

Also, for erotic stories, Covid is kind of a boner-killer.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

It would only be a problem if my story made a point of setting itself in the summer of 2020. But I wouldn't do that (except for the Lockdown story I'm still working on, in which COVID is a plot driver).

Most erotic stories have no specific time setting, for good reason. You want a reader 10 years from now to read it and imagine it's set in that time.

People don't want to be reminded of Covid and are looking for an escape from stuff like that, especially since it'll make the story look dated in a few years (I hope).

Also, for erotic stories, Covid is kind of a boner-killer.

Kinda what I said... only I didn't use so many words doing it.

 

[YarikB]

Interesting discussion. To be honest, I didn't think about mentioning Coronavirus in my stories, but I wrote a story about pandemic (currently, I'm working with the guys from https://www.topwritersreview.com/reviews/apstudynotes/ and I'm glad that I can improve my skills and learn from others). I should say, the current situation in the world helped me as I knew what exactly people feel. But in general, the answer to your question depends only on you and on the genre you chose.

 

[AvroAnsonXIX]

It would only be a problem if my story made a point of setting itself in the summer of 2020. But I wouldn't do that (except for the Lockdown story I'm still working on, in which COVID is a plot driver).

Most erotic stories have no specific time setting, for good reason. You want a reader 10 years from now to read it and imagine it's set in that time.

I'm not disagreeing with the second paragraph and "most." But a significant minority of stories, and some of my favorites are "period pieces," where time does play an important part in the telling of the story.

JMHO the trick is knowing if the time period is part of the story -- "Summer of my German Soldier," or "The Grapes of Wrath," or "Ulysses" only make sense in their time periods -- and developing it. Or deciding that it isn't part of the story and minimizing or eliminating it.

So much of the "mainstream" has been "sanitized for nobody's protection," and whitewashed. Desi and Lucy, or Rob and Laura in separate beds and the like. I'm different*, I like erotica with some history to it. If we survive, COVID will be like a war or the Spanish Flu. If we don't it won't matter.

*Or so I have been told a time or two.

 

[Hypoxia]

Rather than a future without COVID, try a post-pandemic world parallel to the post-Spanish Flu world a century ago, with massive economic, social, artistic, and sexual upheavals -- a new Roaring Twenties, leading to a Bleak Thirties.

 

[RetroFan]

I'm from Australia, and we have a soap opera on TV called 'Home and Away' which is set north of Sydney, and it completely ignores the COVID 19 pandemic.

Lots of dramatic things happen in Home and Away (as to be expected from a soap opera) but never has there ever been COVID 19 referenced in the show. There's no characters wearing face masks or social distancing, no lockdowns, characters travelling freely on flights both in Australia and to overseas and in some episodes distinct dates in 2020 and 2021 are referenced, but no coronavirus at any stage.

 

[tinaharper]

I think covid-19 is just one of the many aspects of our lives and yes, a lot of people will agree that i have had a significant impact compared to other aspects, but i believe it is up to us on how much we let it control our lives. Experts agree that covid-19 is likely to have a long term impact. According to delloite the impact has been evident on both business and social lifestyle. But when it comes to literature, i am sure a lot of works in the near future will cover the pandemic and its impact, just like other pandemics were covered in the last century. A close look at the articles by eduhelphub also suggests that in the history of literature, remarkable epidemics like the spanish flu, black death, etc have had a prominent footprint. Now the question is, whether modern authors want to use covid-19 as a means to highlight the plight of humanity during the tough times, or to showcase our resilience and foster hope.

 

[Hypoxia]

Now the question is, whether modern authors want to use covid-19 as a means to highlight the plight of humanity during the tough times, or to showcase our resilience and foster hope.

And for LIT authors, the evaluation must be erotic. Paralleling the pandemic of a century ago and its consequences, that 'resilience' will see a libertine wave of social change, producing a generation to fight in the upcoming global wars. The 'hope' is that humanity doesn't self-destruct. Sexiness is a backdrop there.