Writing to Help Yourself Part 6 – Lockdown

Welcome to Writing to Help Yourself, the monthly blog I write for other writers, in order that we can explore the power of writing to help us with life events and the challenges we face.

For those who prefer to watch and listen, I have also recorded this blog post as a video on my YouTube channel, which you can access by clicking below.

As an author and poet, I find escapism and distraction in both reading and writing, and I always say that we are immensely lucky as writers to have our writing to help us explore and sometimes resolve life’s difficulties.

Each month, I choose a different life event to focus on and you can read previous blog posts by clicking here.  Now that we have gone back into lockdown in the UK, I am going to postpone what I had planned to focus on this month and focus on one of the biggest challenges we are collectively dealing with at the moment – Coronavirus. 

With so many worries flying around about health, separation from loved ones, money and the economy to name but a few, it’s little wonder that mental health issues are on the rise.

Hopefully, some therapy and release can be found by engaging with one or more of the following writing prompts.

The prompts will enable an exploration how Coronavirus is affecting us, as well as offering focus on getting beyond the situation we are all in.

• Take the three words, ‘it will pass,’ and free write. See which direction the words take you in.
• Write about the contrast between lockdown in the Spring approaching Summer, and lockdown in the Autumn approaching Winter.
• Write a piece about everything you will never take for granted again, post Coronavirus. What do you miss the most? This would work really well as a poem.
• Write on the theme of ‘togetherness.’ What does it mean to you?
• Try this powerful personification exercise. Write a piece of prose or poetry as if you are Coronavirus.  What is your aim? What have you done? What do you fear?  What might defeat you?
• Plan your dream holiday for when this is all over. Look at flights, accommodation, places you will visit, the weather, what you will do, who you will go with, what you will take with you, etc.  Then write a page about what day two of your holiday will look like.  Write in present tense as though you are actually there. (Then set about a timescale to make it a reality!)

As always when I write a ‘Writing to Help Yourself’ post, I respond to one of the prompts myself, and this time I’ve chosen to write a sonnet (I love sonnets!) in response to ‘it will pass…’

It Will Pass

 These worries, these woes, these problems you face,

this season, this reason, this time and place.

Soon you will find a brand new tomorrow,

the echoes will fade of all your sorrow.

 

You will pass beyond this bearing of pain,

As nothing in life ever stays the same.

Sadness will fade, as from it you will part,

to learn from and leave a print on your heart.

 

You’ll find you’re not rooted here and now,

this present will become the past somehow.

Don’t wish all these precious weeks away,

but find a reason to enjoy today.

 

What is current will soon be left behind,

it’s truth and lessons still something to find.

I’d love to know what prompt you chose to respond to – perhaps you will have time to respond to them all!  Let me know in the comments box below..

If you would like to immerse yourself in a writing project throughout this lockdown period, I am offering another free 30- day YouTube mini course – ‘Write your Memoir in 30 Days.’ Click here for day one.

The daily videos have been underway since 1^st November, but you can access day one at any time and follow the course at whatever pace works for you.  The course will support you to write a memoir, whilst developing your writing talent, and will support you all the way from planning to publication.

If this second lockdown has offered you the gift of extra time and you would like to try one of my longer distance learning courses, you can request a free first session by clicking here and letting me know from the following options which one you would like me to send.

Write a Novel in a Year

Write your Life Story in a Year

Write a Collection of Poetry in a Year

Write a Collection of Short Stories in a Year

And if you would just like to escape into a story, visit here to check out the books I have released on Amazon this year!

Thanks, as always, for your interest in my work and for allowing me to support, motivate and inspire you in your writing.  If you haven’t already, you might be interested in joining my ‘keep in touch’ list and also receiving a free copy of ‘The 7 S.E.C.R.E.T.S to Achieving your Writing Dreams.

See you next month for more ‘Writing to Help Yourself.’  In the meantime take care, stay safe and keep writing.

With very best wishes,

Maria Frankland

Join me on Patreon.com, for...

Access to ten 'The Foundations of Writing' helpsheets.

A free signed paperback (after 6 months of being a patron.)

A monthly invite to submit questions and take part in the monthly writer's Q&A, where I will answer questions on any aspect of writing.