How-tos
As a fervent advocate of DIY as philosophy of life, I love the “how to” mentality. Yes, because “how to” is a question you can always ask: you can learn “how to” do something, as well as understand “how to” face a certain situation.
My dad’s favorite motto is “Look at the shape of things.” It started when 13-year-old Me asked him what the purpose of a certain tool was. He encouraged me to understand it on my own: Look at its shape, he told me. Why should a human need to create such a thing?
So, while fixing my bike with him, I also learned “how to” approach any issue in life. How do I build this table? How do I use this screwdriver? But also: Why should a human do/say such a thing? Why should a human behave like that?
While I don’t always necessarily like the answers to those questions, asking them helps me rationalize and deal with the issue at hand with a clear head.
How does this help me with the current Covid-19 emergency?
I had just gone full time freelance, when suddenly the whole world came to a stop and I lost most of my recently acquired customers. What a great start! Not to mention that I had a trip planned, which got cancelled. Basically, most of my plans for 2020, dutifully and bullet-pointedly prepared on New Year’s Eve, were belly-up by March.
So: how to live through this pandemic?
The things I (normally) do for a living are the things I love most doing, and are all words related: I’m a creative and content writer; I’m an editor; I’m a translator; I’m a story-teller. So I guess I’ll keep doing all those things, even if I’m not getting much money in return at the moment.
I have time to resume some of my neglected writing.
I can’t tell stories to children inside a bookshop anymore, but I can record videos and upload them on YouTube.
I can use my experience as an editor to explain “how to” write a book during these wretched times.
That’s what I’m going to use Medium for: a “how to” guide to writing your book in the times of Covid-19. I’m posting the same content in Italian on my personal blog. I hope you enjoy it.
