Hello lovely people and thank you for a. opening this email and b. joining me for my weekly writing prompt. You may have noticed they have changed somewhat since I first started publishing them as they now include a blog post, short essay or article about a topic that interests me. If you want to add to the topic rather than respond to the writing prompt then please do so as I’d love to hear your perspective too.
If you are a writer and would like to try out the prompts, the article is my attempt to exercise my creative muscles and the prompt is created as a result of the topic I’m writing about. There are no rules about how to respond to a prompt, there is no right or wrong way to exercise your creative muscles so whatever works for you is good.
My new book The Music Master is currently on sale in the BIG Smashwords Summer Sale at just $1.25 use the code C59T9 at the checkout to benefit:
For those new to The Writing Shed, the weekly writing prompt is the core of my activity here on Substack. Paid members can also find an archive of courses I’ve created and access all past writing prompts, flash fiction, writing hints and tips, articles and essays in The Index.
So have fun, and enjoy your reading and writing.
We humans tend to think we are superior to anything else that exists in the world, indeed superior to the world itself. And yet, as is regularly demonstrated to the gardeners among us, nothing could be further from the truth.
The lovely Stevie and I have a garden and two allotments and over the last few weeks a mole has set up a home on one of the allotments, the local pigeon, dove and rook populations have discovered the bird feeders in the garden, and a small herd of bullocks decided it would be good fun to meet a fence head-on, wade through a stream and cause havoc in the allotments.
Cowgate, as it’s now known locally was, according to a fellow allotmenteer because the bullocks shouldn’t have been in that field anyway, and they had no water. As with all myths and legends, the truth was far more prosaic. It turns out they were bored, that the produce we were growing looked too good to miss and decided it would be a nice distraction from standing in a field eating grass all day. It turns out cows get bored, who’d have thought?
Of course, they came through directly opposite our most productive plot to munch on succulent cucumber, sweet corn, lettuce and beetroot tops, they trampled the peas and beans, asparagus, and potatoes. In their eagerness to explore they traipsed over strawberries, and squash mercifully leaving the onions which have been growing since Autumn, alone. Flower heads didn’t stand a chance and were rapidly consumed as they rubbed up against the recently constructed compost bins.
They did leave us several gifts of manure which was duly shovelled and added to the compost. It looked worse than it was and we were forced to pick some crops earlier than planned, but it all worked out in the end and the plot is slowly getting over the assault.
Curiously, although the herd of eleven cows roamed the whole site one plot was completely unaffected. It’s the one baited and sprayed to death and where the produce looks amazing. There is nary a bite from slug or snail; ants and aphids daren’t linger long, and I think Mr Mole migrated West to avoid being poisoned. It seems the cows recognised a poor choice to supplement their luxury meal, and if they won’t touch it, why do we?
After cowgate it was back to Mr Mole whose tunnels are wreaking havoc with newly planted veggies whose roots end up surrounded not by lovely rich compost, but air. Many of our gardening colleagues have resorted to canes and bottles to encourage him to move along which looks unsightly, so we’ll try appealing to his better nature with strong-smelling aromatherapy oils. I’ll let you know if it works.
Finally, those pesky rooks, pigeons and doves aren’t themselves a problem, but they have damaged the lavender hedge I was cultivating, bedding plants, geraniums and my herb garden, mostly because they land without paying attention to what might be in their way. To discourage them I’ve removed the majority of bird feeders and re-sited those remaining to areas less likely to get damaged. And finally, the local songbird population have figured out where they are.
The Prompt
Nature is omniscient. It is all around and everywhere and whether or not you live in the country or an urban area your life will be affected by it to some degree. Do you have a story about how nature reminded you it was there?
Please share your work in the comments below. Remember, you never know where today’s prompt may take you in the future!
Reflect
I include a reflection opportunity with every writing prompt because our writing always wells up from our inner landscape.
Sadly, I never met my mother-in-law, she died long before Stevie and I met but he often recalls the phrase she used when visiting him in Dorset ‘It’s a whole lot of nothing’. It was as if the only thing that existed for her was the urban environment. How do you experience the juxtaposition of the urban vs country?
As a coach, mentor, and counsellor I work with many people on different life paths. Some hope to write a best-selling book, while others want to be healthier and happier. Each person has a unique way of starting the inner work this requires. If you’re a writer who wants to manifest your writing hopes and dreams from the practical and pragmatic to the esoteric and spiritual, or who would like to clear any subconscious self-sabotage you may be experiencing, why not work with me? To find out more head over to my website by clicking the button below.
Missing in Action
This new section of the weekly newsletter is dedicated to all the words removed from dictionaries over the years. Words that define and describe our world, but which are deemed no longer necessary.
This edition is dedicated to the word ultracrepidarian. It was in the first dictionary and is no longer in general use, so this is a twist on the missing-in-action theme!
The Weekly Soulshine
Something to do in October …
Join me on a four-day writing retreat to uncover and write the hidden stories of your life. We’ll be at Othona West Dorset, one of the UK’s hidden retreat gems. Find out more and book on the Othona West Dorset website here: https://www.othonawestdorset.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?id=2246
The Weekly Writing Competition
This week’s contest is the Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers' Prize. It’s for anyone writing commercial romance from an under-represented background, including the disabled, who writes a great love story. It’s free to enter and you can find out more on their website here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/penguin-michael-joseph-undiscovered-writers-prize.
With love, light, and laughter
Linda
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On the subject of nature reminding you it’s there, here’s a short piece I penned a couple of years ago while watching the wildlife around our mobile home:
There are too many. We don't admit it but they are becoming quite intimidating. At first there were perhaps seven or eight, cute with the big eyes of babies. We watched them washing their long ears as they watched us, wary, not coming close. The tender shoots of the garden plants were a small sacrifice for the pleasure of feeding our visitors.
But now... how many are there? You see them, and so do I: an endless procession emerging from beneath the foundations of our house; a twilight army of occupation.
Today I felt the floor move, dipping, as though there was a hole under it. I lay down, my ear to the boards, and beneath me I could hear the shifting of soil, the scrabbling of long claws, the tunnelling, as of soldiers digging into an enemy stronghold.
Outside the lawn has become a minefield. Thin strands of grass hide holes the right size and depth to twist ankles. The path has collapsed. We are besieged and the foe grows stronger every day. Their ranks swell by the hour. We cannot win against them.
Not when they breed like rabbits.
My Partner, who is 66 years old, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease last year. We noticed that he was experiencing hallucinations, slow movement, disturbed sleep, and twitchy hands and legs when at rest. He had to stop taking pramipexole (Sifrol), carbidopa/levodopa, and 2 mg of biperiden because of side effects. Our family doctor recommended a PD-5 treatment from naturalherbscentre. com, which my husband has been undergoing for several months now. Exercise has been very beneficial. He has shown great improvement with the treatment thus far. He is more active now, does more, and feels less apathetic. He has more energy and can do more activities in a day than he did before. As far as tremors I observe a progress, he improved drastically. I thought I would share my husband's story in case it could be helpful, but ultimately you have to figure out what works best for you. Salutations and well wishes