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Free writing: here’s what I wrote

Spring in London – 6 April 2020

Hello from London where the streets are quiet – no sirens, no laughter, just lonely telephone calls taking their exercise in the sunshine. No shortage of sunshine either, soft and fresh, with a moon that gets bigger each night.

We’re all still indoors, households everywhere living separate ways of life, but hearing each other more loudly. It’s disconcerting – we’re together but apart, each of us caught up in new ways and in not knowing what’s next, while every day the media is full of trauma and courage.

Routine, they say – that’s what we need – so I do still try to get to my desk, to remind myself about the book I’m trying to write. The biggest help is the free writing sessions we do each week.

Last week we had a few more creative prompts from Saraswathi Sukumar. These ones really got me thinking. They weren’t the easiest to write but that can be helpful, and my responses, exactly as they were written, are below. Hope they’ll entertain, and may even inspire you to have a go.

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Free writing: some new prompts

Shadow – London, in lockdown – late March 2020

Good morning, on a sunny Saturday in London.

Here are some more free writing prompts as optional mind distraction. Nothing needs to be perfect or polished – it’s about letting the mind flow without constant stopping to tidy things up.

This week’s suggestions, which again come courtesy of the generous Saraswathi Sukumar, should take your mind along brand new paths. I hope they might inspire you to have a go.

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Free writing: the words we doodled (1)

Blossom – London 2020 (photograph by Sonia Jallane)

Hello from me in London, where the pavements are almost empty, and birds chorus from every tree they can find. It’s bizarre.

I hope that wherever you are there are snatches of peace in the midst of this new reality. Perhaps these pieces will help – a poem, and some more free writing responses to last week’s word doodle suggestion. Huge thanks to the authors (all copyright on these pieces is theirs).

First up is a poem set in London.

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