In a series of interviews on experiences of being or getting home and the sense of time and momentum during the virus crisis and lockdown, I spoke with Jack, a young writer.
During lockdown, Jack created an audio book version of his stories, Shit*Happens, and had his first published articles with The Focus and Medium. ‘I’m juggling writing and delivering my physics teaching online. I was sent to work from home during the lockdown as an at risk person with a suppressed immune system.’
‘Writing got me through surgery last year and it’s been useful in lockdown too. If you are sick of not travelling, not doing things you want to do, you can make a character, write a story and then they can do those things that you can’t.… My second stage surgery has been delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 crisis.’
‘Time has seemed to blend into one big mass. It’s hard to determine whether weeks or months have passed. The big pause, though, really happened for me before lockdown, it happened last year when I got really ill and spent long periods of time in hospital. I was trapped inside and unable to do the things I wanted to do. I wanted something good to come out of that and so I wrote my first novel, Causa.’
'During lockdown, I’ve written a number of articles for The Focus, which is encouraging out-of-work or furloughed journalists to submit work, and the profits go to the NHS. When you send off your manuscript and get a lot of rejections you start to think maybe I’m just no good at writing, I’m wasting my time, but The Focus editor has been very encouraging about my work.'
You can find Jack’s writing here.