Tag: writing inspiration

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A Lockdown, Perfect!

carolyncordon

Well, a writer lockdown with writer friends is always a time when good writing has happened in the past, for me. We meet up at our favourite hotel, and all write more of our chosen work, perfect!

Plants as inspiration?

I’m writing a novel at the moment, well that’s the idea anyway. But to be honest, I’m doing a lot more thinking about writing this novel, than actually writing it. If I was at a writer lockdown, I’d be inspired by the others, and get more of that novel written, I think.

But this is not a writer related lockdown, it’s a six day lockdown for all of South Australia, to hopefully halt the spread of the Covid virus. This is a totally different thing. But a lockdown is a lockdown, and if I have to spend six days at home, what to do? Well, I can swap that around and actually spend the six days of Covid lockdown that the government has brought on, and do my best to use those six days actually writing this novel!

I can’t go out anywhere much, and my writing group venue will be closed, and even though the group will be holding an online meeting, I won’t have to spend that time in travel, to get there and back. So I tell myself, Hey, get writing Carolyn! I know my main character, and various other characters in that novel would like a bit of action happening. It must be boring for them, stuck inside my head …

So that’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to do my best to use these six days of lockdown, and I’m going to write more of my novel! There, done – and tomorrow, I will do my best to spend at least a couple of hours writing more of the novel, and increase my word count further!

covid 19, inspiration, poetry

Lines While in Lock Down

carolyncordon

My time has been spent at home, most of the time, I’ve only been going out to visit my Mum on some Fridays, when usually, pre-Covid-19, I visited her almost every Friday. a phone call has filled in for the visit, but it’s definitely not the same. No hugs with a phone call … But when I am able to visit her, that usual hug is even more precious …

So I’m staying at home, not doing as much moving around as I know I should, and could do, if my mind did the right thing by my body, and was able to convince me to do it … But my mind is busy doing other things, so I can’t be too hard on myself. I have a writing project, which I’ve spoken about quite a bit on this blog, and on Social Media, to get more interest in it, and so improve the project enormously.

That project is to create a book, an anthology, containing words written about this Covid-19 crisis we are all going through, in our various ways. So I’ve been collecting the words sent to me, having written some of my own to go in there too, but my own creative writing has been going slower. Yesterday I decided I might mend that, and wrote a Haiku. But I decided if I was going to put my Haiku into the anthology, I should have more than just the one Haiku poem, so earlier today, I wrote some more.

I’m not sure if they’re good Haiku, or the best I’m capable of, but they’re Haiku, and they cover some of my thoughts about Covid-19. I thought before I put them into the “Plague Invasion – Creative Writing Responses to Covid-19” Anthology, I’d share them here first, to show some of my own ideas about it all, and to give ideas to any readers who pop by, to think on what they may write, and submit their words to me – up to three poems of up to thirty lines, and/or up to three pieces of prose of 2,000 words in total.

Sent them to me here (kittycordo@gmail.com), with “Plague Invasion submission” in the subject line.

So here are my Haiku responses to Covid-19, on this occasion I have stuck to the westernised 5 7 5 syllable count for the Haiku, there are other acceptable formats elsewhere:

Kitchen greenery

The herbs coming along well –

Food security?

*****************************

Giving cyber hugs –

Safe perhaps, but not as good …

I’m missing my friends.

*****************************

Medical visit –

Outing, and safety challenge.

Doc’s mask hides his smile.

*****************************

My window view, birds 

swish themselves clean in bird bath.

Stuck home, not alone …

*****************************

Some of my herbs growing in kitchen.
Just me, the TV and my laptop …

If you are inspired by my words here, please think about getting involved. All contributors whose work is accepted will receive a free copy of the book (postage and handling must be paid for, if not an Australian resident). I hope you’re feeling inspired by this, and want to take part. The book will be launched in early 2021, if things go well. further details will be announced on this blogsite, when known.

Thank you, I look forward to reading your Covid-19 submission!

Cozy Mystery, writing exercise, writing prompts

What Comes Next?

carolyncordon

So February is over now. I no longer ‘have to’ post a new writing prompt on this writer blog of mine, and instead I will be actually writing some prose of my own, primarily. Sure, some poetry will be written, because I can’t help myself. I’m addicted to those stripped back words, I admit it!

I will be doing the weekly writing prompt thing that I’ve written about previously though, so new writing ideas will still be emanating from this blog, as well as other writing related things. It would be good if I can get a decent bit of my first Cosy Murder Mystery story written, so I can post an excerpt of it here … 

I learned a number of useful things in February, as I posted the daily writing prompts, and responded to them myself. I learned that having a daily program of writing, every single day, makes it a habit, and the writing simply comes along, because that’s what I now do after breakfast, every day.

I also learned that if you post every day, you definitely increase the number of readers you get to your blog! I sort of knew that, and now have the proof, right there in my blog stats. And I’m getting more likes, and a couple more people are writing a comment here and there, in response to what I’ve written, or the fact that I’ve written something.

Connections are always good, for writers! People interested in the written word, who like what you’ve written, great! And I’ve been expanding what I write, exploring things, doing new things, and that’s gone well too.

I’ve found also, that having prompts, leads to the feeling that what I will be writing has some kind of purpose, and so I put more of my attention into getting it right, as well as getting it written. 

And putting the word out about the writing prompts made it feel like it was something I had to do, so I kept it up, easily, it was just what I had to do in the morning, once I’d finished having my breakfast. Get up from the table, go to laptop, switch it on, and post the writing prompt. Done.

Yes, I’ve enjoyed this, but my next writing mission is to actually get a much larger prose piece written, an actual book, in fact a series of books. And once that first book in the series is written, time to get onto (or back onto) the second book in the series. And get feedback on the first book, edit in response to feedback, and then work at getting it published, another form of writing-related fun!

And then theres that new poetry collection … I have nearly seventy poems for it, I think, and I have a few of the prompts from February that didn’t end up with poems written, so I’ll have to get that all done. A job for later on today, I think. I have time for that right now, so I’ll get it done, right now.

I am going to post a new writing promt still, but it will be happening only once a week, probably on Monday, so this isn’t the end really, it’s the beginning of something easier, and less of a ‘burden’. Not that it was actually a burden to do these prompts, I enjoyed it. But my prose didn’t happen, when I want it to get going … Poetry/prose. Prose/poetry … I can do both, if I give myself the necessary time for both, which is why the once a week prompts are happening instead of daily ones. All good!