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.
A few of my free writing efforts that I hope might inspire you to have a go
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.
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.
So It Goes – Travels in the Aran Isles, Xian and places in between by Nicolas Bouvier
This collection of essays begins with a river and the road beside it, that “winds without rhyme or reason where it could run straight” .
Together they set the compass for Nicolas Bouvier’s meander beside people and their places, with moments picked out like glistening pebbles.
In memory of a great friend and in honour of Shadow – even though not the Shadow.
Hello wherever you are,
Not so warm in London today. There are patches of sun, then northerly winds full of rain gust in. It’s cold, ruffly weather. Earlier I saw two police horses clip clopping slowly down the street … not bothered by the wind, but I’m sure they must love the lack of traffic.
Anyway … to the free writing, and a guest appearance on The Phraser – a piece that gives my writing soul great pleasure.
Blackbird – calm as could be – central London
Hello out there,
My best wishes to everyone around the world in various stages of lockdown. Thinking of you, and of those trying to get us through this time.
Life has changed so suddenly and so fast, that it’s hard to figure out exactly what is going on. Rather than pin all my hours on trying to understand, I thought I’d put up another blog or two in case anyone is in need of distraction.
Eothen – Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East by William Kinglake
My thanks to Eland Publishing for a copy of this book – parts of it I loved with a passion, other parts I wanted to tear out and jump on. But I never wanted to give up.
William Kinglake is so young and opinionated that it’s a shock to meet him, especially with two centuries of hindsight. It’s like meeting the worst of the British Empire in one person. His voice is brilliant, bizarre, unbelievable in places, and stunningly arrogant in others.
Wrapping up for Christmas
Thank you for looking in on The Phraser this past year.
2019 has been hectic, with much writing, but not all of it on the blog. In the background I am trying to write more fiction – some short pieces and possibly even a novel. I’m not sure whether the plan will come to anything, but I am enjoying the process, and I hope to be able to put more ‘creative writing’ on The Phraser next year.
Meanwhile, we have left London for a few weeks over Christmas. There will be plenty of family coming and going, which means lots of everything … but not much time for writing.
I hope that, wherever you are, there will be time to pause and to talk … and to be together.
Wishing everyone a happy end to the year, and all the best for 2020.
Hope to see you in January!
Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2019
An Affair of the Heart by Dilys Powell
I was sent this book by Eland Publishing.
It is not a book of stormy passion, despite the title, but one that meanders slowly around post-war Greece, returning almost two decades later to the point where it begins – Perachora.
