How The Pandemic Affected My Creativity
A response to Lindsay’s question
In 2019, I was playing in two bands and filling in on a third. I was writing almost daily on Medium and working on a novel. I was burning the creative oil.
Then a one-two sucker punch hit me. The Medium Partner Program change and the Great Interruption (Covid-19 pandemic.)
And let’s not forget massive social upheaval and an extremely derisive, stressful Presidential election in 2020. Neither of which fostered an environment conducive to creativity.
Medium decided to switch to read-time Partner Program payments slashing earning for creative writers like me who often post very short humor, microfiction, and poetry. I was disappointed, and I would be lying if I said it didn’t take a little of the wind out of my creative sails. Since I started writing on Medium, I had the feeling that getting paid decent money to write whatever I wanted couldn’t last, but it stung anyway.
Regardless, I soldiered on. Hoping it would somehow turn around.
In January of 2020, I released two collections (books) of stories from my previous two years on Medium. Then I turned my attention to finishing my novel. I had set a goal of finishing it by my 60th birthday on July 05. And it revived my creative spark and enjoyment for…
