What's it about?

This blog has a very specific purpose: it's a place to post prompts for creative writing during the time of the lockdown. Initially it was for the use of my writing group, as we cannot for the time being meet in person - but I want to open it up to anyone who'd like to have a go at creative writing. I very strongly believe that writing is good for you: while you're writing, you're off somewhere else - you've escaped! And that can only be a good thing during lockdown.

Do sign up to be notified by email when a new prompt is posted - usually on Thursdays - and I would love to hear how you're getting on in the comments. Have fun!

Friday 27 March 2020

View from a window

Well, last week's challenge, concerning an object, brought in some wonderful work from the Cheddar Writers. (That's not their official name. They started off as the Write Class, then they morphed into Riverside Writers (see here for a recent anthology of their work), because for several years we met at a very hospitable pub in Cheddar called the Riverside. The room we had there became a bit too small for us, so we recently moved to Cheddar Baptist Church, which has a lovely big airy room. Where, of course, we can't meet at the moment...)

We were all fascinated to read about a bohemian artist relative called Joy, who lived and continued to work well into her nineties and lived in a wonderful house in Salisbury by the river. The object was a diamond ring, which she passed on to Sally, the writer of the piece. There were also pieces about a music box, acquired many years ago on a childhood holiday to Sorrento; a journal from the 1930s, childhood games which included a glorious dressing up box, a chair passed on from a father, a dictionary which had belonged to a much-loved grandfather, and my own piece, about an old chocolate box which holds the letters and photos my father chose to save.

This week, we start from a picture. I'm very fond of doing this, as the group knows.

This picture is in the Tate collection, it's by Pierre Bonnard, and it shows a view from a window. I don't know where the view is of - somewhere on the south coast of France, perhaps? But I do know I'd love to be there right now.



So to the task. Here are a few options:

Simply describe what you see in the picture, and if you like, take it on from there. Imagine it's your room: why are you there? What do you feel about being there? Does this place have some particular significance for you? Are you waiting for something to happen - perhaps to meet someone for some significant reason?

Describe the view from one of your own windows. Let your thoughts wander: is it a view you're fond of? What does it mean to you? How do you feel, looking at it now, in the time of the virus, in this extraordinary situation?


Think of another view from another window, a view that was important to you. Why was it important? Where were you? What was happening in your life at that time?


As immediately above - but make it all up!


Have fun! (And if you've just dropped in and decide to have a go, it would be lovely to hear from you in the comments.)

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