Hi students, and the observant amongst you will notice we just have a video lesson trailer here, this week, rather than a full lesson. Sadly my antique but much loved desktop is ailing – and my not-entirely-successful attempts at green screen filming for this video, appear to have almost seen it off.

But the lesson is written, so here’s a summary, and if I disappear entirely for a short while in the future, then it is most likely to be a case of tech down in the lockdown. Wherever you are, I hope the situation improves and that you and yours fare well.

In this lesson I look at how writing about place can create expectations for your audience, with an example of writing set in a bar. I describe an anchor technique of writing about place, taking one detail and describing it in different locations to convey the passing of time or a journey.

We look at bluebells set in different places and list them. The bluebells in…………..(a place) and then use different verbs…… wave, blow, tinkle………to describe what the bluebells DO, depending on what you want the sentence to do. So for instance:

The bluebells

wave up the lane,

tinkle in the wood,

chime down the path,

riot under the oaks,

sprawl through the forest….

Have a go at this yourself, and you are most likely to find you’re writing poetry….

This is a warm up exercise and we go on to consider the spirit of a place and exits, entrances and thresholds, in both a literal and metaphorical way.

Here in the UK, we are experiencing a most insistent, vivid Spring in sharp contrast with the malign influence of coronavirus. Many of us seek solace and comfort in the natural world and creative output which depicts this.

And here’s an interesting article on this friend Andrew sent over: https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2020/04/nature-mental-health-alice-jones-rootbound-lucy-jones-losing-eden-issbel-hardman-natural-service

There is a summary of a live workshop I run on writing with a sense of place here, too.

May nature inspire and comfort you, and again, if you’d like to send this exercise over to me at Udemy, then you’re most welcome to https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-freelance-writing-course/.