Week 189 – Up to stuff!

Sorry not to have posted properly yesterday; I was out and I’ll tell you why in a moment.

I was going to download the app for my phone so I could at least do a proper apology post but it wanted to know everything about me and I don’t install apps like that so you just got the scrawl that I could manage…

So – yesterday I went to London with friends to watch a tv show being filmed. We were due to leave about 10pm but it ended up somewhat later: I didn’t actually get home until about 2am, and I uploaded my very brief post getting a burger about 10 minutes away from Waterloo!

The show is going to be on TV next Sunday so I will be carefully watching to see if we catch sight of ourselves. It will be fun to see how much is edited out too.

There were comedians, singers, dancers and a magician, as well as an amazing young pianist – and the tickets were free which was an extra bonus 🙂

I love going up to London. One of my favourite places is the South Bank, and my favourite theatres are clustered between there and Covent Garden, so it was a pleasure to be back.

Anyway, this is all a big diversionary tactic to say although I’ve been up to stuff, that stuff has not been the whodunnit.

On the other hand, I’ve edited some poetry, I’ve been to writing group, I’ve been reading, so at least part of the week was creative.  I am going to accept that and work harder this week to get on with the whodunnit and not lose my flow.

I am going to leave it there for today.  As next Sunday is Easter Sunday and I’ll be away, I hope to post on Saturday instead but if not, it’ll be Monday.  And if it’s Monday, have a happy Easter!

Happy writing,

EJ

🙂

 

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Week 121.5 – London Calling…

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

🙂

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