Though the mentions of Shakespeare writing King Lear in quarantine have mercifully decreased, it’s hard to shake the hustler’s mindset. With this vaccine rollout comes a nagging thought: when the pandemic ends, what will you have to show for it? What projects will you have done? Or—perversely— did you waste this opportunity? Here’s a little antidote for that nagging voice: The New York Times interviewed 75 artists about their experiences creating in a pandemic, and when asked “What’s one thing you made this year?” August: Osage Countyplaywright Tracy Letts had an unvarnished answer. I’ve made nothing. On four separate occasions, I arranged my schedule with [my wife] Carrie so I could have six uninterrupted hours a day to write. All four times, I emerged from my office after two or three weeks, rattled, defeated, feeling lousy about myself. My wife finally said, “Here’s what you have to do: read books, watch movies, cook dinner and take care of our boy.” That is what I’ve done. And while my family is my focus and my joy, from a creative standpoint, this year for me has been a dust storm. I’m normally involved in a number of creative endeavors, in different forms, but the theater is my lifeblood and I don’t know who I am without it. The plug getting pulled on “The Minutes” was truly devastating for me. I feel like a heel even saying that since so many people in this country and around the world are suffering as a result of this pandemic in ways I can’t even fathom. But it’s the simple truth. I can’t do the computer theater, it’s too depressing for me, and I’ve turned down a couple of on-camera jobs because I am just as scared of this virus as I was a year ago. Creatively, I’m lost. It’s why I’m doing this interview. I’m guessing there are some other artists who identify.