This is a strange season, is it not? We’re all holed up in our houses. Many of us are bored. Most of us are restless. And yet, it can be very challenging to focus long enough to get much writing done.

If you weren’t doing your schooling at home prior to the nationwide measures being put into place, you’re likely doing it now. That’s a huge adjustment for anyone, especially if additional family members are suddenly at your elbow, and especially if you or your loved ones are directly impacted by COVID-19.

People are sick and others are out of a job, and we’re supposed to write?

With bad news hammering away on the television, and popping up on every web page we surf, it can be very difficult to focus. That has certainly been the case for me.

A couple weeks back I made a decision. Come hell or high water, I’d stick as closely to my writing schedule as possible. Even with my kids suddenly home all day, even with my office commandeered for distance learning, even with the publishing industry tipped upside down, and even though it had become quite clear I was going to miss my self-imposed deadline.

In the middle of the chaos, I craved normalcy.

So, I committed to working every day while my kids did their schooling, but I decided not to work on the weekends. With every day looking exactly like the next one, I needed to set Saturday and Sunday aside for reading and relaxation with family. This, I decided, would be the answer to all my problems.

Every day that week, I showed up. Sat down at my laptop at 8am and got to work. It was slow going. Trudging uphill. My mind wandered. My phone vibrated with notifications. I found myself reading the news.

And still, I made progress. Scenes were written. They were thin scenes, but I could fill them out later. The important thing is that my story was moving forward and new settings were being discovered.

My hard-fought discipline had yielded results.

And then came Saturday. Saturday was to be one of my two days off, remember? I wasn’t supposed to write, and yet, I woke up ready to go. Not just ready, but excited. I had a scene in my head and I couldn’t wait to get it down on paper.

And so you know what I did?

I sat down and I wrote.

It was fantastic. I adored every moment in my story, a feeling I really hadn’t had all week. It was, BY FAR, the most productive two hours I’d had in a long time.

And it never would have happened if I’d rigidly stuck to the plan I’d laid out.

We’re living during strange days, friends. It’s not the first time humanity has had to persevere through worldwide tragedy and confusion, but it’s the first time for many of us. And it’s going to take some adjusting if we’re to find any way at all to be productive.

And though scheduling has worked for me in the past, and though I’m going to do my best to continue to fight for those hours during the week, I’m not willing to let the urge to write fly by right now.

These moments are too infrequent in today’s world. Too hard to summon on our own.

When that urge comes, I’m going to sit down and take advantage of all the energy it brings.

And I wanted to hop on here today to tell you it’s okay to do the same. The schedule that worked for you before the world got sick, may not work for you now.

It’s perfectly okay for you to grab an inspired hour here and an inspired hour there. If you’re good to respect those moments, you’ll continue to move your story forward.

Tell me, how have you been faring during this unsettling season? Have you managed to write at all? Any tips or tricks you’d like to share with the rest of us?

Shannon Dittemore is an author and speaker. Her books include the Angel Eyes trilogy, a supernatural foray into the realm of angels and demons, as well as the fantastical adventure novel Winter, White and Wicked. Its sequel, Rebel, Brave and Brutal is due out January 10, 2023.

Shannon’s stories feature strong female leads grappling with fear and faith as they venture into the wilds of the unknown. She’s often wondered if she’s writing her own quest for bravery again and again.

It’s a choice she values highly. Bravery. And she’s never more inspired than when young people ball up their fist and punch fear in the face.

To that end, Shannon takes great joy in working with young writers, both in person and online at Go Teen Writers, an instructional blog recognized by Writer’s Digest four years running as a “101 Best Websites for Writers” selection.

For more about Shannon and her books, please visit her websiteInstagramFacebookTwitter, and Pinterest.