Dear Geist,

Have you got some advice on writing personal material about the coronavirus, as it unfolds? I am a self-quarantined freelance journalist. I work for three hours every day, but there is plenty more to say about the work, as well as the ongoing 24-7 experience of living the work. Writing is what I do. But my years as a reporter aren't what I need. Information, statistics, new findings, commentary, horror stories, acts of courage, limitations of journalism—these are a few ingredients, which somehow belong together, but everything is pouring in so fast I can't get any traction. Help!

—Weylyn Mac, In Cyberspace

Dear Weylyn,

We advise you to stop writing. Really! Set aside the processes that make you a good journalist—methodical interviews, background research, drafts, revisions, fact-checks and other matters that you'll handle later. Now you want to abandon any notions of how to shape or even understand the material. Let stuff come flying in and give all your writing instincts to it. Jot down only enough notes to place each bit for you—some brief details, questions that come up, experienced and emotional responses to it, as notes for later. Feel rather than think. You can't know where this process will take you, but your willingness to allow formless material to accumulate and take shape, and to wait for it, is your gold.

—The Editors