This time, the inspiration is a big one – a whole city, in fact.
My partner and I were in London to watch a play this week; we watched a matinée performance and when we came out it was after five and there were hundreds of people trailing out of offices and so on.
Rather than fight our way through all the crowds, we slowly ambled to Trafalgar Square where we admired the extremely tall Christmas tree, listened to the carol singers, and spent a moment at a tribute for Nelson Mandela. The fact that the tribute was near Nelson’s Column only occurred to me after I was home.
Fountain at Trafalgar Square, with Nelson’s column to the right, two of the lions visible.
London is a place of contrasts, and it is the contrasts which fuel my imagination.
Take the army of workers making their way home – they are blind to the city around them as they pass the tourists with their cameras and excited faces. All of them walk by the homeless in their sleeping bags.
Or look at the varied architecture – from neo classical Georgian buildings to glass skyscrapers, to a reimagined Tudor theatre.
I remember being at Shakespeare’s Globe once, seated right up in the upper gallery, waiting for a performance to start. It was dark, and looking up I could see the Tate Modern lit up in pink. I loved that moment – it was as though I was looking through a portal in time between the past and the future.
And that’s another reason London inspires me: it’s familiar and yet ever-changing. Every time I look around, something new has been created.
I wrote a list of words on my way home, sitting on the train, words that captured the essence of the day, the sights I’d seen, the play I’d watched. I have fuel for many a tale from that list.
So when you are running low on inspiration, visit your cities; they can fill you up again.
Happy writing,
EJ
🙂
Becoming a writer 