Among all the reasons to write about the pandemic, history is perhaps the best one to motivate us to pick up our pen and share our ideas and became a part of the global sentiment. We have become accustomed to the fast-paced tempo of our modern lives. We are caught so unprepared for the sudden slowdown that it causes anxiety when we ponder the uncertainties that lie ahead, but this doesn’t have to be the case. The slowing of our lives gives us ample time for introspection, reassessing our choices, and how we can grow wiser upon dealing with this COVID-19 crisis. In the past few weeks of your lockdown, you have seen many things that are unexpected, new, and even threatening. You don’t have to limit yourself to writing. If creating a video is more to your liking, why not create a video of your personal accounts?

How you plan to record your experience is up to you. The more source material the future can get, the better for them to compare notes for research. A journal, a blog, a film, a diary, a memoir, a poem are a few great examples that will make good sources. Each experience is unique and united by a common theme, and this makes each account valuable.

A picture paints a thousand words is an adage that may be clichéd, but it carries weight and it will remain that way for years to come. Take photographs of people, events, and situations. Build your story around it. Simple paragraphs or even short captions that accompany a compelling photograph will enable you to address the deepest truths in the fewest words as your photo narrates the details.

The wonders of communication technology have enabled everyone to tell their stories and be given the equal opportunity to be heard. Most of us are writing and producing work online, with social media channels as our potent platforms to broadcast our stories. This explosion can lead to an invitation of compiled works coming from different voices. These urgent voices paint a picture of how we deal with a formidable problem and how it stretches our emotional, mental, social, and physical capacities to the limit.

The pandemic touches everything. Think of future generations and what lies ahead. Think of the emotional toll that many of us are going through, the anxiety, and the fear. Your children and your grandchildren will ask you how you survived the pandemic and if you know of anyone who perished from it. You might look back with triggered emotions when you think about the factors that led to the evolution of this pandemic, and that is okay. You and your writing will serve as a documentation of the human drama, of doubts, and of triumphs. The future will look back and read about the parts that make up the whole through article pieces about the coronavirus and the dent it made on the sociopolitical and economic landscape. This is why we need to write about the pandemic.

Because when this all over, our lives will never be the same.