This is exercise 2.4 from week two of “Start Writing Fiction’, an online Open University course that I began last week.
Trying to picture the worst place for you to try to write can help you realise what your best venue might be.
Imagine two different venues for writing – one that seems most suited to you, and one that you would find bizarre or too difficult. Write a paragraph describing two writers at work, one in each of the venues.
Post your paragraph as a comment below for discussion and read and discuss what your fellow writers have posted. Showing your work to others and discussing it is an important part of the writing process.
Here is my piece.
Bill looked up from his notebook, the cheap plastic pen poised above its ruled lines. Glancing out the scratched, rain streaked window, he saw Mr Singh’s newsagents and the Kwik-Tan shop come into view as the number 569 rounded the corner. Bill braced, ready for the violent jolt of its wheels dropping, firstly down to the left, then, rapidly, upwards to his right, then left again before steadying. The 569 did this every day he took the journey into town. A forty-five minute ride over an ever-growing series of potholes on increasingly uneven tarmac. Forty-five minutes to himself and his writing. Just Bill, his notebook and his fellow passengers, many who found themselves, unknowingly, committed to its pages. Pages filled with a rich array of characters, always changing and varied; pages covered in errant pen strokes caused by the unexpected potholes of the 569’s journey.
Ben lifted his eyes above the top of his glasses and looked across to the bed. More specifically, to the woman reclining on its silk sheets. Studying her languid form, he smiled as she became aware of his attention and met his gaze. He blew her a kiss, mouthed “143” and, rewarded by a beautiful, sexy smile returned his attention to his laptop. Ben had been struggling with how to get his heroine, secret agent Maisie Rae, out of a particularly tricky dilemma and, these brief exchanges with his wife always inspired him. Masie Rae was able to overcome over powering odds and defeat her nemesis.
Gavin Dimmock. Writer. 