Fiction in the Pandemic

How do we create worlds when the real one is falling apart? I tackle that dilemma in today’s Boston Globe

Arts have long served as humanity’s means of processing reality. But as we reel from continued global crises, what stories are going to emerge from these odd and troubled times?

With so many of the arts hobbled by the pandemic, fiction should be thriving. Unlike any of the performing arts, writing is a solitary profession, one that does not require the physical presence of an audience. Even more than pursuits like painting and photography, which can require some collaboration, writing is best done in isolation. We have the ultimate “work from home” profession. But even as it is by nature removed from the world, much of fiction relies on realism, or some semblance of it. We call it “world building,” creating credibility for our characters and their lives. But what kind of world do we build now?

Read more here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/0...