Global pandemics and the end of the world, Armageddon stories have been around for a long time. The 2020 pandemic (which now threatens 2021 as well) was forecasted in earlier literature like Dean Koontz’s 1981 novel, The Eyes of Darkness, which predicted a 2020 Wuhan-400 biological weapon. And then there’s the psychic, Sylvia Browne’s 2008 book (co-written with Lindsay Harrison), End of Days: Predictions, prophecies and conspiracy theories about the end of the world, which spoke of a pandemic of a pneumonia-like illness in 2020. It’s one thing to forecast the doomsday, but do we need to re-write it?

The pandemic, sadly, has inspired an alarming number of Armageddon type novels to the point that it appears that writers are cashing in on the pandemic trend. The quirky bookstore sign that reads, “The apocalyptic and dystopian sections have been moved to current affairs”, is no longer a joke. We’re not only living through the apocalypse, we’re writing it, over and over again. It begs the question: shouldn’t we be writing something more positive? Something to alleviate the angst of multiple lockdowns and the threat to our lives, our livelihoods and all that we hold dear?

As our mental health continues to be bombarded with lengthy isolation, more than the average introvert usually tolerates, we need to break out of this conundrum of depression and doomsday theories and write for and about a more positive future.

Where do we start? First of all, we need to reassess what’s really important in our lives. In 1952, Norman Vincent Peale published a remarkable book that has more than stood the test of time. The Power of Positive Thinking sold well in spite of the negative reviews it initially received. But its message was clear and remains valid today: a permanent optimistic attitude can and does provide one with higher satisfaction and a better quality of life.

That being said, it stands to reason that should we continue to write negative doomsday stories, we’re merely generating the overpowerful negative energies that are invading the population. There was a time when these Armageddon themed stories only attracted a marginal number of the population. Now, given the current Covid pandemic and growing unrest around the world, the fear-mongering end-of-the-world dissertations are flooding the market. Some of these works are well written, most are not.

If we, as writers, want to bombard our readers with negative thoughts and views, then we are going in the right direction with all these doomsday stories. However, should we not also consider it a gift to share some positive thoughts, some uplifting stories, too? If we don’t use the power of the written word to generate positivity in the human race as a whole, are we not dooming both ourselves, our humanity and the entire art of writing?

Perhaps one of the happiest novelists of all time was P.G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse (1881-1975), the much-loved author of the Jeeves and Wooster series, was a British comedic novelist whose primary goal was to write stories that made people happy. And he was good at it. We should follow his example. Perhaps we don’t have the archaic class system to make fun of in the twenty-first century, but there are certainly a number of key political figures who would make good fodder for the funny side of life.

But, like anything else, writing funny stories isn’t easy. Though, you might be surprised to discover that it’s more uplifting than writing more doomsday stories. We have enough negativity around us every day. Perhaps it’s time for us writers to step up to the plate and create something downright funny. And positively entertaining!