How to Write a Plague Journal

We live in interesting times. I'm breaking away from my series on Fear to provide some guidance on how to keep a diary of some sort during these days of stress and confinement. While I don't think anyone should be expected to write King Lear, as Shakespeare purportedly did, as they stay home, we all can take notes about the current situation. Reflecting on and writing about our experiences in a world of restrictions and losses can help to maintain mental health, provide a distraction, document this moment for history, and provide fodder for fiction.

Mental health. I don't think it's good to dwell upon those things that make us anxious, but it may help to put them into a list. Just writing down what we fear can contribute to a sense of control. For me, personally, this means just having a page at the back of the notebook where I can write down single words and short phrases that provide the contours of the nightmare landscape. I know that for me, this is calming. I suspect if I wrote all of these down in full sentences or tried to work through options at this time, it would be overwhelming. However, having dealt with other stressful circumstances in my life, I expect to see some of these get struck out or explored more fully as more information becomes available. I'll probably be adding to the list often, making it longer, just so some of the worries have a place to sit away from my active mind.

Once fears are listed, I'll leave them behind and work on something else. That will help me to avoid dwelling on them, and if you have a routine of watching movies or reading or talking to friends to distract you from your fear list, you might make plans to take such actions as soon as you finish your list. Right now, your habits are your friends. Writing about the things you like to do now provides a reminder of these possibilities when you need them most to provide balance. One thing I'm doing is observing nature. I can watch birds visit my feeder, but I can also write about it. Ultimately, I think it's good to document quotidian experiences, especially as we move to a new normal.

A plague diary can be a place where you can privately discuss things you're responding to emotionally. This could be an online post that delights or appalls you. You can dig into it and express your feelings. The same thing is true for new stories (which are probably good to confine to only a few times a day), political remarks, frustrations, successes, and observations.

A special note on observations – discovering something new or unusual is a kind of triumph. If you can develop the habit of seeing something you haven't seen before every day, you'll have a way to expand your world in the face of growing restrictions. Surprises add wondered to your life. When you are writing on a regular basis it becomes easier to notice these and to appreciate what they suggest about the world around you. “Puzzlements” provide the real treasure. There is a delight to keeping track of what you see and can’t explain. These are the things that open doors, but not right away. A puzzlement allows you to be a child for a while.

If you use a plague diary to distract yourself, you might want to have a series of questions to answer each day. Who did I speak to? What chores did I get done? How did I handle challenges — getting exercise, making sure there was enough food in the house, keeping peace in the family?

You can even make this kind of a game. For instance, you could create a cartoon that exemplifies the day or write a short poem or give each day a report card.

As bits and pieces of daily activity and amusements build up, you may (even inadvertently) find yourself documenting this moment in history. If you've ever had the chance to look at diaries of relatives kept during big moments like World War I or the fight for civil rights, you've probably appreciated the blending of the personal and the epic. One thing that almost always emerges is the growth of an individual against the backdrop of great events. Reading contemporary reactions,, sharing their concerns and gains and losses can become a way to connect generations and defined yourself within the story of humanity. Now, you may consciously shape the narrative around the coronavirus, but what you write is likely to be more resonant if it is more spontaneous. However, some people need some guardrails for writing. I'll suggest a few of them:

    •    Write at least one "day in the life." Consider writing one every week.
    •    Somewhere in today's entry, include not just the date, but a reference point is likely to matter. Commenting on what may turn out to be part of the big story can add value and perspective to everything else you put down that day.
    •    Make a habit of "before and after" entries. Something as simple as how I pick up the mail and handle it is different, but larger issues, like dealing with a routine medical problem, could help to dramatize how life is changed.
    •    Humor, reactions to announcements or changes in the circumstance, tough choices, good luck, emerging hopes and concerns, and anything else that matters to you is likely to matter to future readers who will probably empathize with your situation.
    •    Look at things on many levels, including individual, family, neighborhood, business, community, and nation. Also, don't hesitate to think in terms of needs fulfilled and unfilled. For you and for others. Maslow's hierarchy doesn't go away during challenging times, it becomes more vivid.
    •    Pay attention to firsts. The first time you get bad news. The first time you spend all day inside. The first time something frightens you. The first time you see something wonderful about yourself that you didn't suspect.
    •    The biggest experiences will take some processing. Noting these in your journal is just the first step. Revisit these. (You might want to underline or highlight experiences, choices, or projects that might reveal more with later assessments.)
    •    Pay attention to how other people's lives are impacted. There is an amazing amount to learn and document if you watch, and listen, and ask good questions.

As for fiction… Everything above can feed into future stories. But you might want to do a first draft of a character outside yourself in this setting, bringing the skills you already have for description and perspective to going beyond the facts and reaching for truth and beauty. Be sure to store up what might become valuable later on. I use as inspiration for that a story I heard about director of feature films who sent his crew out during a riot. He did not have a movie in mind for the images they captured, but he knew that he had one chance to get those pictures. Be ready for your chances, too.

Next week I'll be back with more Fear. You are also invited to look at the post I did on prompts for a course I'm teaching.