6 Resources for Writers During the Era of Social Distancing

Thursday, March 19, 2020
From the Smithsonian
There's no doubt about it.  We are writers living in "interesting" times.  I'm almost ashamed to admit that when my first activity was cancelled last week, I did a little dance.  

Not that social distancing is working out as expected.  So far it means that my extroverts are clingy and crabby because they don't get to go anywhere. Me? I’m wondering where the social distance is.  It doesn’t help that I’ve got a huge Friday deadline.

But we might as well take advantage of being stuck at home.  If you are reading this, I’m going to assume that you’ve got online access. 

Free Books on Social Justice  
For the next two weeks, ten Haymarket e-books are available for free.  If you are interested in social justice, the books range from Ecosocialism by Michael Lowy to Disposable Domestics by Grace Chang.  You can see the whole list here.   

Classic Titles
Prefer a classic like Chaucer or Chekov or Chomsky?  Check out this list of 800 free ebooks at Open Culture. 

12 Museums with Virtual Tours.  Travel and Leisure has a post about video museum tours online.  Possibilities include the Guggenheim in NYC, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, Florence’s Uffizi Gallery.  Check out the full list here.  

Even More Museums.
MCN or the Museum Computer Network has a fantastic list of online resources.  Me? I’m looking forward to poking through the virtual Smithsonian and NASA.

MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) Learning. 
If you want to take a writing class, look here on WOW.  But if you want to learn about International Women’s Health and Human Rights, Understanding the Brain, or Science and Cooking, check out this 54 course list at Business Insider.  

More MOOCs.
Coursera is my go-to location for MOOCs.  I’ve taken classes on Egyptology, Ancient Rome, Astrobiology and evolution.  Check out the full list here.  

Critter Cams.
Maybe you don’t want to think that hard and you just want to gaze a pandas or whales. Travel and Leisure comes through once again with a post on zoos with live camera feeds. 


Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to meet this deadline.  I found a class I have to take and there are museums and books and animals that need my attention.

--SueBE
Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 25 books for young readers.  To find out more about her writing, visit her blog, One Writer's Journey.  Sue is also the instructor for  Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults. The next session begins  May 4th, 2020. 

3 comments:

Sioux Roslawski said...

Sue--Certainly, with my regular "work" going "electronic," I have no excuse not to get some serious writing done.

I remember one year when my third graders were fascinated by an "eagle cam." We watched the eaglets break out of their eggs, we were there as their fuzz transformed to feathers, and so on.

One of the critter cams sounds calming right now.

Angela Mackintosh said...

Sue ~ Thank you for this wonderful list! I just checked out the Van Gogh and Dali museums, and I'm viewing the Beluga Whale live webcam. :)

Trying to work with everyone home (and in my case, one needing 24/7 care) is definitely "interesting." Good luck on your Friday deadline!

Sue Bradford Edwards said...

I'm defintely into the critter cams too. But I also really like the MOOCs because I can immerse myself in something like Chemistry and Food Science which got a funny look from my husband. "Is there anything you won't take?" Accounting. Taxidermy.

I really like the critter cams too! One more section to rough out and then I'll do a hard copy edit tomorrow. Thanks for the kind comments and good wishes!
--SueBE

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