WHAM!
Lockdown was quite a shock to the system. Almost overnight, it took us away from our jobs, distanced us from our families and friends, and cancelled most of our hobbies.
It wasn’t easy, but human nature is resilient. So, after a while, we got used to these tiresome social restrictions and created different patterns of living for ourselves. Some of us even preferred our new, relaxed lifestyles, chilling at home in our PJs instead of struggling through the rush hour, and spending more time with the kids, with a cast-iron excuse not to visit our annoying in-laws. As for our creative writing… well, much as we loved it, we had to put that on the back burner until we got the other stuff sorted out.
Now, we’re crawling back towards normality… but wait. Isn’t there something we’ve overlooked? Has our writing been simmering on the back burner for so long, that it’s almost boiled away? It’s become something we used to do, instead of something we do?
It’s time for action: time to do something positive to get our creative urge back.
For writers of memoirs or family history, an afternoon spent looking through old photographs or a visit to a place that has links with the past could be a spur to get writing again. For playwrights (failing a theatre trip), watching a film we haven’t seen before could start us off again, or watching an old favourite, but with a critical eye for its construction.
For short story writers and poets, being an active member of a writers’ group gives accountability, a reason to actually do some writing instead of just feeling guilty that we haven’t. Island Writers meets at our house in Ryde twice a month to do short writing exercises, share our work and keep ourselves on track, and we set a new (optional) topic every two weeks. The current topic is Badges, and the next meeting is Tuesday 5th October, 7pm-9pm.
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is coming up in November – so for those of us who prefer to write novels, Nano Prep can help us get revved up and ready to write. It’s already started, but it’s not too late to catch up, or we can use it as guidance, but follow the steps at our own pace – the important thing is to get going.
Instead of tinkering around with an existing bit of writing, adding a word here and deleting a phrase there, let’s get started on a fresh piece. Any subject, any genre, any length. Try one of these:
- A journal entry – what you’ve done so far today.
- A story which starts, “The dragon was restless.”
- A list of reasons why your neighbour is a pain.
- A poem about cheese.
- A description of one item in the room you’re in.
- A memoir of something naughty you did as a child.
- A piece of dialogue between a posh person and someone who works for them.
Whatever we decide, it’s vital to remember that all new writing is good. If we’re not happy with it, we can edit it later, but first, let’s get some new writing down on paper.
Today.
