The world is a different place now than it was when I wrote my last blog entry. We’re now living through a worldwide viral pandemic caused by the Coronavirus designated COVID-19. I predict this will become a lingering threat for months, not weeks. Even after we’re past the apex for new cases and patient mortality begins to decline, we will all still be living with the specter of a secondary outbreak.

But I’m here to talk about writing.

With all the people housebound now, trying to shelter in place, avoid contamination/inoculation by this virus, and trying to ride the pandemic out at home, people need entertainment. They can only work from home so much. Some people, due to the nature of their jobs, can’t work from home. And if they’re not designated as “essential workers”, they’re at home, all sense of normalcy and control stripped away from them, stuck in a kind of limbo. Not a good thing. If there’s one thing I learned in my military days was the importance of keeping people busy. Don’t let them think too much. Give them something to focus on, rather than what’s going on around them. That’s how you avoid depression and panic.

The world needs art, and artists, now more than ever before.

They need music, books, TV shows, movies. They need to be entertained. They need to be engrossed. They need to be diverted, temporarily removed from the circumstances of their lives, and ushered into another world, another realm, another reality for a while. When you think about it, the Arts become a mental and emotional balm. Our work becomes a mood enhancer, or at least a stress reducer.

That’s the job, man. That’s the responsibility we artists have. Whether we’re actors, dancers, directors, writers, musicians, painters, sculptors, or whatever else, we all aspire for our work to awe, inspire, transform, or at least entertain. We want to communicate with others through our chosen medium. Have a conversation. Make a statement. Or in some cases, merely pose an important question.

In these times of angst, uncertainty, and anxiety, people need us. They need the work that only we can produce. They need the (temporary) escape. True, all their problems will not miraculously disappear just by watching one of our shows or in my case, reading one of my novels. But that’s not the point. It helps a little, maybe brightens their day, and that my friends, IS the point. And those of us with ability have a responsibility to rise to the occasion. We must harness our talents and channel them to help alleviate, in some small way, other people’s fears and despair.

We need more art in the world now than ever before. It is a tremendous responsibility we artists have. I am editing my next novel, and i am developing a new feature film screenplay that deals with some of the current events going on in our world. I believe am up to the challenge.

I hope you are, too.