Well, it looks like we won’t be seeing each other any time soon, but perhaps this enforced isolation will give us more time for creative writing. According to Chantal, Shakespeare wrote King Lear during quarantine from the plague. Whether that’s true or not, let’s stick to it and not waste the opportunity!
Feeling stuck on our current assignment title: Sticky Stuff?
Okay, so, what things are sticky?
Sellotape, duct tape and glue, of course. Superglue is famous for sticking things you didn’t intend to stick together. Wallpaper paste is particularly hard for inexperienced decorators to use correctly, which can produce comic results. Perhaps you have a memory of using one of these in childhood, or doing DIY as an adult, which could spark a story or poem.
Then there are various foodstuffs: toffee, syrup, honey, treacle, bubble gum, even candy floss, marzipan or glace cherries, although many other foods can leave sticky fingers which could cause a problem as a basis for your story.
Looking at the natural world for inspiration, there are spider-webs, geckos’ feet, goosegrass, Venus flytraps, and various animals which cling to things, as limpets do, for example. One of these could be a good metaphor for a poem about human relationships.
Or perhaps you would prefer something awkward and hard to handle, metaphorically sticky – a sticky situation. Remember, your story or poem doesn’t have to be about sticky stuff – it only needs to include something sticky, or someone sticking something. If a character sticks a stamp on the crucial letter, or licks their sticky fingers after spreading marmalade on their morning toast, they can get on with whatever’s happening in the story without needing to work in a glue factory or be an amateur beekeeper.
I hope you’ll all give this assignment a try, and don’t assume there won’t be that dreaded moment when I ask, “What writing have you done in the last two weeks?” because I WILL be asking you on Facebook on 7 April, anyway – and it’s no good claiming you were away on holiday!
Stick with your writing – Island Writers will be back as soon as we can.