Hey friends,
Welcome to (or welcome back to) Writing Prompts &, the series where I give you a writing prompt from one of the many writing classes I’ve taken and the zero draft it inspired.
All zero drafts were written within a 10-15 minute time frame and are untouched. No edits. You are getting the real deal zero draft.
What’s this week’s writing prompt?
A Bit of Context
This writing prompt was given and written about during the early days of the stay at home order. It was April 2020. We had been on a stay at home order due to Covid-19 since Mid-March, and no one knew what the future looked like.
How long would we be quarantined? How long would we have to stay at home? Was this the end of days?
I was lucky enough to be an introvert with job security. During this time, I was still teaching, and because of all the upheaval and uncertainty, a large part of my day as a newly online educator was to survive and to check in with my students to see how they were doing in the midst of all the chaos.
The following response to the writing prompt given is based on that experience as an introvert who didn’t mind staying home. (It is also written with a bit of sarcasm in the face of all that was going on. Nothing like a little gallows humor!) But I also realize that my circumstance was not the norm.
Many of my students were forced to continue working jobs outside of their homes as they were now the breadwinners of their families since their parents or guardians lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
I still can’t believe any of this happened during our lifetime, and the ripple effect of this historic health event will be felt for decades to come.
Writing Prompt: Create a survival guide for the stay at home order.
This is what I wrote.
Survival Guide for Stay at Home Order
- A caffeinated beverage: Preferably coke. Coke zero works, too. Orange vanilla? Even better.
- A cat: They give just enough affection to make you feel loved. They also poop in a box. Social distance win.
- Some sort of technology: Not to call people, but to watch the same episodes of Barefoot Contessa on repeat.
- Wine: But limoncello is equally delicious and makes you feel like you’re summering in Florence. See also: aperol spritz (Alcohol also lends to your Ina Garten fever dream since now you cook every fucking night. Every. Fucking. Night.
- Frozen Pizza: For the night when there’s not enough wine in the world to inspire you to cook.
- An introvert’s attitude: Staying inside is hard. Ha! Who am I kidding? No, it’s not. I haven’t even been on my doorstep or worn shoes in four weeks. Channel your inner Beth March.
- Advil: Because hearing people bitch about their boredom is going to give you a migraine.
Final Thoughts
Well, that’s it for now folks.
What were your survival guides during the early days of the pandemic?
It’s nice to be on the other side of it now, but I’ll never fully wash away the anxiety that came with such an incredibly life changing, historic event. The impact it had on our world was something I never imagined we would experience. But I’m sure that’s what they said in 1919 epidemic.
Until next time. Stay safe.
Robyn Neilsen 