As a contemporary YA writer, I& #39;m really struggling to work on my current project which is set a couple years from now. I& #39;m having trouble wrapping my mind around the long term impact of all of this on our world and our teens.

The story isn& #39;t about the pandemic at all, but I don& #39;t think there& #39;s an authentic way to write a story set in the near future of this world w/o understanding that the characters lived through this.

I& #39;m trying to consider the impact at various levels: the practical way it will change schools/families/societies as well as the psychological/emotional toll it will take. Makes me feel like I& #39;m trying to write sci-fi.

So instead I tweet.

But for real, at this point, to write a story set in 2021 or 2022 that ignores the coronavirus pandemic is like writing a story set in 1946 or 1947 that ignores WWII. Even if that& #39;s not what the story is about, it changes everything.