Ethics of writing about this situation

[bringincrazyback]

So I'm writing a dystopian YA novel and the plot is still unfolding. Aspects of what's going on with the coronavirus crisis would slot right in (not stuff about the illness directly, but the effects it's having on society and behaviour) but I haven't attempted this yet as I'm getting the guilts about using such a horrendous situation for creative fodder. I'm just worried it'd be viewed as tasteless and exploitative/opportunistic. Added to which, I think the crisis is going to make the bottom drop right out of the current dystopian trend as I think people will want to cheer themselves up when they read, not subject themselves to more gloom. Maybe I will need to put off pitching or self-publishing this until sometime in the future!

Anyone else found themselves in a similar position with anything they are writing? Just curious.

I grew up in the 80s when there was tons of dystopian fiction and drama based around the fallout of a nuclear war - I don't think anyone found themselves the least bit guilty about writing about it and it was lapped up. If you choose aspects of the current situation skillfully enough then it will resonate with the audience.

I think children and YA fiction will need to react to the current situation. Do it! Be aware though, many publishers were refusing to look at anything dystopian because the market was flooded, and that was about 6m ago. A good story is a good story though...
Good luck!

What? No! Of course you should write about it. It's true, and truth is good literature.

Agree with every, I grew up in the 80s too - the threat of nuclear war made dystopian fiction more popular, rather than less. You will be writing abut feelings that the youngsters will now recognise.

I'm writing historical and it feels irrelevant all of a sudden. I don't know why.

I think this situation will inspire many people to write and the market will be flooded.

I keep a diary (on paper, not a blog), and for the last month it's felt like writing dystopian fiction even though I'm describing real events. "Day two of lockdown ..." and so forth.

Yes, Pelleas, the slush piles will be groaning.

Diaries will have good historical value, much better than blogs (which are performances rather than truth).

I'd carry on writing it. Inspiration needs to be used while you have it. If you find the market not receptive when you've finished, you can always hold it back for a while. Good luck

I don't think it's an ethical issue, primarily -- if you are writing for yourself, go right ahead, but if you want to be published, I don't think the market will absorb very much coronavirus-related fiction, and you risk looking passé very quickly. A friend of mine whose Brexit-related novel was snapped up for a lot of money last year and which is due to come out soon, says her agent is concerned, not just that this is a terrible time to launch a novel, but that it's suddenly become entirely irrelevant.

You'll draw on the entirety of your life and experience and writing, either consciously or unconsciously, explicitly in your writing or as 'colour'. Ethics might be a factor in some circumstances (HCP drawing on a patient's experiences) but not from COVID. Taste might be a different matter. Write away, OP. You can always edit later.

Interesting thoughts here, thanks peeps... I too grew up in the 80s and remember the nuclear fears and the plethora of literature that sprang up, in fact I think it's partly what sparked my interest in dystopia in the first place... interesting to get some thoughts on dystopia as a genre too as I've heard the same things about it becoming passé. It's genuinely a bit of a quandary as I've got so invested in my characters now and the story I have for them so far can't readily be transplanted out of a dystopian setting. Maybe I should just go with my gut for this one and not worry about publication prospects! I've done a lot of work on my characters and the relationships between them, and on developing a distinct writing style, so I'm hoping that if I can ally that to a strong enough story the end result will stand up well. Might sketch out some rough thoughts and see how well they would tie in with my general concept...

Reassuring to hear I'm not being tacky in wanting to write about all this, tbh, I was a bit worried about that.

It's a different world, OP, but www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/04/stay-in-your-cave-the-gruffalo-lends-a-claw-to-the-coronavirus-effort shows even existing characters aren't avoiding COVID, rather helping people through it. Humans use stories to understand their circumstances. Whether something is 'tacky' generally (but not always) isn't what is the subject, rather how it is used.

When writing I aim for intrinsic rewards rather than thinking about the market. That usually results in the best writing. If you are enjoying it keep going.

I just published a dystopian 2 weeks ago so I do have some experience of this, although my main genre is dark romance - so not YA.

When it became clear that the virus was really hitting, I switched up the reason. I did have a virus and changed it to a birth control gone wrong type thing.

I think this was a good call and glad that I did it. My readers primarily read for escape (even though it's darker - some people like to escape into darker places) so I think having something very "current" would have been a bad choice.

Also... sales haven't been as good. I publish frequently (at least once a month) and this one - the dystopian - didn't do as well. Sales kind of slumped across the board middle of march because everyone was so glued to the news and social media. Ranks were generally the same which indicates it was the whole market rather than individual books.

Thankfully sales and reads are recovering now - although this book has needed quite a bit more ad spend to get going.

In hindsight I wish I'd saved it for 2021. I have a sequel and a spin-off with covers and marketing already paid for, so I need to push on - but if I could go back I'd hold the release until this virus passes.

I've noticed a few people starting to market corona related stuff (love in lockdown etc)... seems like a gamble to me. It probably won't be long before we'll all know a victim. But the people taking the risks usually have a stable fan base and release regularly enough that one dud book isn't going to hurt.

If I was only publishing a book per quarter I wouldn't take the risk of doing anything virus / dystopian at the moment.

Hope that helps

Somebody is going to write about it, it might as well be you.
I'd imagine quite few books both fiction and non fiction will appear pretty soon.

People have always used real life events, including terrible ones, as inspiration for literature. Look at Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, the poetry of Wilfred Owen, etc. All turned horrifying world events into art.

And don’t worry about publishing. Write because the story interests you, not because it might get published one day. You can assess the market much better when you have a product that is ready to go (and I actually think there will be a market for literature which explores some of the themes of CV - I’d be interested in that!)

I follow a lot of editors and agents on Twitter and so many of them have said "Please don't send me anything on the corona virus."

Here's an example from Phil Patterson of Marjacq.

I actually think we will need books which look at this unflinchingly from a fresh perspective, and it is not unethical at all.

Not an ethics issue.

Just not v original.

Although I agree with @HollowTalk that maybe not a novel directly about this, but if it was tangentially about something like this, a way of looking askance at it, through looking at other stories, themes, that would be really interesting.