From my window

As part of the OpenLearn creative writing course I recently did, I completed an exercise in observation and sensory perception focused on my living room. I was not very pleased with it so I decided to do the exercise again. It was suggested that these exercises are repeated often anyway and I'm rather pleased with this result, which is basically observations from my living room window. Any constructive criticism would be welcome.

Between our building and the row of houses opposite, there is a small courtyard enclosed by brick walls at either end. A large circle of paving stones fills much of the right side while the left contains a hedgerow with a tree planted within in. There are two more trees are either end of the courtyard but from my viewpoint, only a few their leaves are visible, shaking in the gentle breeze.
The lawn has clearly been mowed as the many parallel lines running across it demonstrate. But this must have been done some time ago as a multitude of daisies are now scattered amongst the grass. A blackbird hops about near the hedgerow, its head flitting from side to side, as if nervous of some danger. It flaps into the air as a toddler bounds into the courtyard, followed by her mother pushing another, much younger child in a pushchair. The little girl is wearing a pretty floral summer dress and skips through the grass with joy. Her mother calls for her to keep on the path but she is determined to remain on the lawn. This reminds me of my own little girl and even of distant memories of wanting to walk on the grass as a child myself. Even now, the idea of strolling barefoot across that lawn seems appealing. It occurs to me that it could be the fresh scent as I catch a breath of this through the open window. Perhaps its simply more comfortable than walking on a paved surface.
The sky is perfectly blue, except for a white line drawn by an aeroplane. My daughter believes these to be rockets and thinks me silly for telling her otherwise. Birds fly across my view frequently. Some are seagulls, regularly seen by the river, which is just down the path to the right.
A young couple have just arrived carrying folded chairs and plates of food. They settle themselves on the lawn, the girl giggling as if breaking some rule. They eat and talk happily. I look away, aware that I am intruding on their privacy, despite it being a public place. It has not occurred to me to use this area before, except as a more pleasant route back from the supermarket. Perhaps we'll have a picnic down there one day and sit amongst the daisies and the fragrance of the grass and fresh air.

Moving on to Creative Writing

I have finally completed my second Open University module. I sent off my final assessment of AA100 (The Arts Past and Present), having actually enjoyed writing it. Clearly I am not adverse to writing essays, or I probably wouldn't be doing a degree, but it usually gets a little stressful towards the end. I squeeze in words to reach a reasonable word count. I rake through the textbook for anything I may have missed. But this essay was truly enjoyable. Perhaps it was simply because I found the subject interesting. Glastonbury, Stonehenge, symbolism, tradition...it was all very intriguing. But I think something was just going well for me. The words seemed to flow nicely rather than being forced. Lets hope this continues onto my next course!

Speaking of which, I have just have a quick browse through the OpenLearn Unit "Writing what you know", which is an adapted extract from the course I'll be starting in September; A215 (Creative Writing). It's interesting and has some very helpful exercises for improving sensory perception, observing the world around you and using memories. I tried out a couple of them and I plan to try more in a different location, perhaps tomorrow as I walk to church or if I take a walk along the river in the afternoon. 

I feel so enthusiastic about this. I'm going to buy a new notebook to start recording anything that might be good for my writing. It might even improve my blog! 

In other news, the Little Monster, with some help, is growing cress this week. So far, there's just some cress seeds scattered over some damp cotton wool in a little dish on our living room window sill but I'm hoping there'll be something to see tomorrow. She's very excited about growing something. It really makes me long for a garden where we could grow all manner of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Not to mention that I'd love to keep some chickens!