TO FEATURE THE CORONA VIRUS OR NOT!

When we first landed on the moon, would anyone think that we wouldn't really bother to do it again for 50 years? Or when the space shuttle program first started that there would still be no real people living in space outside of the ISS? Or when Dolly the sheep first happened that cloning would still not really be a thing (outside of insanely rich people and their pets)? I'm sure anyone who tried to write a story at those times that aligned with our current reality would be laughed at for underestimating how influential those events would be.

Seinfeld was super contemporary but it's still enjoyable because it has more to it than the time its set. I still think about the episode where they don't know what airport to pick someone up at, so they drive to the different NYC airports and wait at the gate for the person to arrive, they ask staff members the names of people on planes...This wouldn't even be an issue in the modern day, you can just look up flight delays online or send a text. Or even just get an Uber from the airport. The characters and how they react in situations are timeless, which is why things like @ModernSeinfeld can exist. There's also that one book that I can't recall the name of that had to be updated because Kids These Days wouldn't know what a "sanitary belt" is, but everything else in the book is pretty timeless.

I think it's still way too early to know, and any guess we can make on how the future will be has a decent chance of being totally wrong. Maybe we'll wear masks when we're sick like in Asia. Maybe Disney will continue to de-prioritize its parks in its portfolio. Maybe nothing will change at all! But overthinking it and stressing about making our stories "future proof" by predicting the future will only make you stressed out. It would be better to focus on characters/themes/situations that universal.

Simple rule: If it's relevant to your story, include it. If it isn't, ignore it.

Lil said:

Simple rule: If it's relevant to your story, include it. If it isn't, ignore it.

Click to expand...

It's not quite that simple, though. It might turn out to be relevant in the same way mobile phones have turned out to be relevant.

I think it's a good question.

I read certain time periods to get a sense of what life was like, for example wondering about life in the Regency - read Jane Austen. Works that are written contemporaneously are so valuable. If someone in the future picked up a book set in 2020 and...no reference to the pandemic, well, that would be quite a let down. A missed opportunity to tell what it was like to live through. It wouldn`t be so important if your book is set in the general modern world, but if you explicitly state 2020 my expectation would be to experience that very unique time in history.

Brat Farrar, a novel published in 1949, springs to mind. It has a backstory that should have included the Second World War, but doesn't. Characters take trips to France and go around doing civilian things right through the book, and there's no hint of rationing or austerity in sight. Maybe it's set before the war, but that's never stated either. It looks like the author just didn't want to write about it. I can't say I blame her. I think there'll be plenty of authors taking the same attitude about COVID-19, and plenty of readers who will like it that way.

On the other hand, the war produced a mini-genre of stories about evacuee children, sent to live with strangers in the countryside to escape the Blitz. Goodnight Mister Tom is one well-known example. Bedknobs and Broomsticks is another. What will children's literature take from the current pandemic? What adventures can a child protagonist have while schools are closed and they are expected to learn remotely? How will lockdown regulations hinder them or complicate their lives? I predict we'll see a wave of stories like this in years to come.