BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Alaska You'd think I'd have plenty of time to write ...

And I do ... unfortunately, my brain is running around in my head like a hamster on a treadmill. I've started several different articles, but they all seem so very trivial compared to all that is going on across the world today. Are other editors having the same trouble? It's certainly not writer's block. It's more that I want to write about feelings, actions, reactions ... how this virus is affecting my family, my town, my state.

But writing about any of that goes against the "timelessness" of the articles we are supposed to be publishing on BellaOnline. If someone were to read them a year from now, they'd know exactly when that article was written. So, I continue to struggle. I'll get something up, but my heart is not in "Visit Old-Town Ninilchik in Spring" or "April Gray Whale Watching Tours". Sigh.

Hi Deb
I struggled with the 'timelessness' in articles too right now, so I broke the golden rule and included it with my articles. It's difficult to find the motivation to write about a place when there are no people in it to create that ambiance. I also believe that Covid will attach itself to every time aspect of our lives and already is timeless on its own. For years, we will use Covid as a marker, and say, "do you remember when?"

I'd say go for it, write about it, it's an epic event. And as the Alaska editor, we need to hear your thoughts to keep us connected. To me, that is about culture as much as a cave in a basin or a log cabin that housed early settlers.

On another note, I think the virus has affected my Canadian Culture site, my newsletter didn't update on its own( as it normally does) and my article won't post in the #1 spot even after I reset it three times on my editor picklist.

I carry on, there are no wrongs unless someone points them out.

Hi All,

What I've been doing is discussing the pandemic and its effects in my weekly newsletters. That way my film reviews are still "timeless" but I am not ignoring the elephant in the room.