Pandemic stories have always entertained us with heart-pumping suspense and horror. But experiencing a pandemic firsthand has inspired many novel ideas throughout genres.
COVID-19 served as the setting for my most recent work, One Thing Better, presently being courted to agents for representation. A feel-good romance, the story wasn’t about “the end of the world” but rather surviving a difficult time together. And novel ideas on COVID-19 keep formulating, even after I’ve written my own.
As the dark veil of quarantine slowly lifted, the long-term effects of the pandemic should be considered in plot development, characters, and novel ideas generally. Whether you’re searching for just the right novel premise to get going again or how to incorporate all this madness in your work-in-progress, here are some things that could be important, either as subtle background notes or complete plots.
Less handshaking, hugs, and general touching might seem a sad footnote to this crisis. I always got a little teary watching those commercials where kind, friendly people would give out free hugs in the park.
BUT there’s an upside to more touching control. Remember when someone held your hand too long on a handshake or got too touchy-feely? Perhaps more boundaries would prevent those awkward feelings, especially for women.
Regardless, physical contact between coworkers, strangers, and other outside-your-own-home acquaintances will be reduced or eliminated, so how might that play into your story or main character?
A deeper thought… what would the lack of human contact do to someone? Tears came to my eyes when watching the latest Coronavirus episode of the Apple TV show Mythic Quest when the boss, Ian, showed up at his lead programmer, Poppy’s apartment, to give her a hug that she desperately needed. We should all consider the gravity of human contact.
Germaphobes aren’t crazy. In the past, people opening doors with their shirt sleeves or dousing their hands in sanitizer every few minutes seemed extreme. Not anymore. We’ve all become a little more OCD after this. I went through my entire stash of Bath and Body Works sanitizers. And still, I keep them everywhere–in the cars, my purse, and pockets.
If your character’s a germaphobe, perhaps he or she loves this new, more sanitized world. If not, is your character the type to take precautions or throw caution to the wind?
An uptick in healthier practices generally is a definite positive to all the madness. We’ve all been to a public restroom and were shocked when we realized someone didn’t wash their hands before leaving. Egads! Perhaps now, everyone will diligently practice simple hand-washing. They’ll also, perhaps, be more conscientious about flu shots and other vaccines. How might this affect your character?
A long-overdue, greater appreciation for medical professionals, first responders, and all essential workers mark another positive outcome. I expect many awesome hero stories will come out of this. If your character falls into one of these categories, consider the positive and negative effects and how your character reacts.
Hoarding is the new black. Okay, I get that sounds funny, but you know what I mean. Perhaps a logical downside to the madness is that people will go to extremes to ensure they have private stashes of items that have been more scarce since the pandemic. Toilet paper. Meats. Cleaners. Medical supplies. Canned goods. I hoarded my favorite coffee creamers when those became hard to find.
Of course, it’s always good to prepare and think ahead, but there’s a fine line, too. Where does your character fall on the hoarding spectrum? What would your character make sure he or she had a supply of? What lengths might someone go to?
Online, well, everything. Big business is rethinking its need for large, open offices when people have proven to work well at home. Studies have even shown that people are way more productive working out of their home offices. So, what does that mean going forward? More telecommuting?
My husband’s office had just renovated everything to a trendy open-concept workspace. Now, three years later, they’re closing the office altogether–they don’t need it.
Consider education. While more online options are now available for students–a good thing–their social lives were shaken for nearly two years. No prom. No football games or theater performances. No awkward encounters with a crush at the lockers. With all social interactions reduced to phones and computers, teens were especially affected.
How might a greater online life affect your characters? What novel ideas arise from a damaged social life?
A greater appreciation for home life has developed since spending more time there. The uptick in board games, pet adoptions, yard work, home improvement, home cooking, crafting, reading (hopefully), and so on means that we’re taking better care of what we have, and we’re probably doing a lot of things we should’ve been doing before, maybe.
My daughter and I created our own Bob Ross paintings. To make masks, people broke out their sewing machines (I did, too, but it did not go well). My daughter planted a veggie and herb garden. I did more cooking–I learned to spatchcock a chicken and made my own broth.
What about your characters? What have they done with their time at home?
The flip side to a greater home life has its negatives. With TV and video games, kids could be more brain-dead. So can parents–the days often ran together. Weekends didn’t matter anymore. Being stuck at home can be incredibly lonely for people. It can also make us less inclined to go out, even when we’re able. When we’re not used to driving every day, we may feel rusty or nervous about it. What might some negatives be for your characters?
Here’s a great Q&A covering many aspects of the pandemic that could be useful for novel ideas.
Here are a few, perhaps, less obvious ideas that could happen and might be fun to consider for your plots:
- Becoming germaphobes now means children could lack exposure to many things making them more susceptible to allergies, viruses, and so on. Science fiction stories could use the coronavirus as a springboard to more significant consequences like this. During my stint as a preschool director (years ago), some children were afraid of the rain. I can’t imagine what they’re afraid of now!
- Online dating could be the primary way people meet from now on… a funny twist since taking out classified ads to meet someone years ago was once considered “desperate.” Meeting up with strangers might decrease, while online dating environments could increase. Has there ever been an online dating bar? Or speed dating? Regardless, dating’s hard enough without the pandemic effects. How do you find love during a pandemic? How do you express that love? This could open the door for many innovative plot lines.
- A downturn in premarital affairs, maybe? A positive side effect of being at home all the time means fewer secrets between spouses. This could drive many marriages to the brink of divorce, or it might bring them closer together if they grow to appreciate each other in a new light. It’s an intriguing premise to use the pandemic as a starting point for ending or rekindling relationships.
- Comfy-cozy is so hot right now. *Smirk* High fashion should take a plummeting nosedive in the wake of all this staying at home. People’ll get used to wearing Yoga pants and jammies all day, making a return to suits, skirts, and heels difficult. In my lifetime, we’ve become steadily less dressy anyway. What might this mean for your character?
- Get ready for the wave of coronavirus babies! With couples stuck at home, it’s logical to assume that they, well, fill the time together. We could have a baby boom in a few months. It happened with Hurricane Isabelle many years ago. We were without power for over a week in most communities on the Virginia coast, and as a result, nine months later, hospital delivery rooms were super-busy with Isabelle babies.
The COVID-19 Pandemic can play a role in contemporary stories without taking the lead. Or it can serve as a premise to kickstart your novel ideas.
To recap and expand, here are some of my coffee-fueled novel ideas on the small stories behind the big one:
- Quarantine Stories: Think The Shining. Close-quarters, limited supplies, an uncertain future–being quarantined, or hell, just being stuck at home can exasperate all sorts of problems. Course, that doesn’t mean your story has to go psycho. Love stories, mysteries, family dramas, comedies–you can do anything with a group of people stuck together.
- Hospital/First Responder Stories: Heroes on the front lines of this crazy time in history all have stories of their own. Focusing on these amazing people for characters with the coronavirus as background could make for awesome stories. Maybe a nurse, new to the job and unsure whether she’s made the right choice going into medicine, now faces a pandemic that even seasoned nurses struggle to cope. Will she step up or bow out? Or a cop who is newly retired choosing to come back to work to help his fellow officers, even if it puts him at risk. Or a team of retired cops–oh, that sounds fun… A doctor dealing with his own anxiety disorder treating highly anxious patients. Endless possibilities.
- Airport/Cruise Ships/Travel Stories: For some travelers, getting home has been the big story. Not only have these poor souls feared getting sick, but they’ve also faced terrible obstacles simply getting back home. Some cruise ships are still at sea, unable to dock–who knows when those tired vacationers’ll be on land again. Think Planes, Trains, & Automobiles. Good stories can surely come from that chaos.
A little bit smaller now…. Here are a few of my smaller-scale novel ideas:
- A budding romance that can’t blossom because of social distancing.
- A rage murder committed because someone’s not social distancing; I did hear a story about people coughing on other people just to move up further in line at the grocery store. Another about a woman going postal and licking items in the grocery store–the store had to throw out that merchandise.
- The lengths someone might go to for toilet paper.
- How being home all the time means we pay attention to our neighbors more… and they’re watching us, too.
- People with OCD are shaking their heads at the rest of us. Who’s crazy now? For once, people who obsess about germs fit right in. Yesterday, when I went to Publix, an employee sprayed down my entire cart right in front of me before I could use it. I could see a character like Adrian Monk loving this pandemic world. No shaking hands. No hugs. No touching. Not everyone would hate it.
- What about criminals? Have they had to change their MO because people are home all the time? Are they stealing different things?
- Bored teenagers… Oh, my gosh, the bored teens. I have one. She’s playing video games right now. Teens could sneak out at night to meet-up with other teens, causing all sorts of trouble. More online environments are getting hacked; bad words displayed over virtual boardrooms. Sounds like bored (and smart) teens to me. What other hijinks could teens get into that could make good stories? Or even, what good things could they get into? Planting gardens, errands for elderly neighbors, creating fun, outdoors social media games with their friends.
- Small businesses have been forced to reinvent themselves through all this, if they haven’t been shutdown altogether. What about a new business on the cusp of opening when all of this unfolds? What might someone do to save his business? A determined entrepreneur could transform his business into something completely unexpected.
- A huge event being cancelled after months, maybe years, of blood, sweat, tears, money thanks to the coronavirus could the catalyst for a great story. Weddings, conferences, concerts, dream vacations, graduations, proms, sporting events, anniversary celebrations, awards shows, book tours (I wish), the Olympics. Just when you think you’ve got everything figured out, on track, planned and perfected, along comes a pandemic to screw things up. What did Langston Hughes say about a dream deferred?
You get the idea. A pandemic story doesn’t have to be a traditional pandemic story, if that makes sense. Using the pandemic as setting rather than plot could be the background for anything.
If you have any thoughts on how the aftermath of the coronavirus will affect your writing or novel ideas featuring it, please share below. For more writing prompts and motivation, check out my blog!
