'Leaving Lockdown and Hope for The Writer' by Immy Moore
Image by Yannick Pulver from Unsplash
Lockdown was a strange period of staying home and trying to find a new hobby to fill the day. Personally, I tried painting and puzzles – I wasn’t very good at either – even though I already had a hobby which was a large part of my life: writing. I’ve been writing for a very long time, but lockdown brought on a huge case of writer’s block because I was seeing the same thing every day and my allowed hour of daily exercise wasn’t very inspirational. From March to July, I was stumped when it came to writing, which is why I wrote very little (aside from a few words in a daily game of scrabble).
So, when lockdown ended, I was extremely hopeful for my writing. I could finally leave the house for more than an hour and interact with my friends and new people. University was starting soon, so I was prepared and excited for a fresh stream of new ideas, which come from new experiences.
Writers need inspiration, it’s obvious but it’s true – one can’t write without new ideas. Being stuck in one place for too long isn’t good for anyone, let alone the writer, so when allowed to see the world again, one must be hopeful for what we are going to write. The ideas in lockdown which may have been fleeting or deemed pointless suddenly become interesting, or something we’d never even considered springs to life, and you can’t stop working on it until it’s finished.
Some may think that writers only need a pen and paper to start writing, but we need so much more: interaction with people, the chance to explore our surroundings, and to witness something new. Lockdown was a tire clamp on the wheel of a writer’s car, but now we’ve been released and can go anywhere! There is hope for the writer post-lockdown and I’m looking forward to writing more and for inspiration to flow.
Edited by Conrad Gardner