Tuesday 14 April 2020

"The life of the ebony clock went out" -- April 15

That quote is from "The Masque of the Red Death", which is a weird story written by Edgar Allen Poe.  It makes one think of some aspects of the coronavirus, and maybe if you are looking for inspiration, you could read this story.  It is available to read online (just google the title) or you can hear it read on youtube!

Question of the day: If you were to change one thing about one room in your house, what would it be?  I would (and I am going to) change my office wall colour.  It is green now and I think I will change it to a kind of gold colour.

Warm-up:  Let's get the creative juices flowing!  Set a timer for two to five minutes (you pick how long).  When the timer starts ticking, you start writing.  You can write anything.  You can write "I can't think of anything to write about" but keep writing until the time is elapsed.

If you're stuck and can't think of an idea for your coronavirus film, it might help to read the news.  I thought the story of the bus driver from Chicago (I think it was Chicago, or maybe Detroit) who died of COVID19 might make a good and tragic story.  A lady coughed on him as he drove his bus and he wrote to the newspaper and said how scared he was and how he wished people would be more caring about other people and then unfortunately, the poor man got sick and died.  He left behind six children and his wife.  There are so many different stories of the people who are sick and also of the nurses and doctors and grocery store clerks and other people who have to go to work and are afraid they might get sick but know that the rest of us are depending on them.

You can also use your own experiences of being isolated, or missing out on school or having to babysit while your parents work, or anything of that sort.  Sometimes a metaphor can help (like the ebony clock in "The Masque of the Red Death") -- to what could you compare the virus?  Even a fairy tale plot could give you a start.  Good luck!  If you pitch an idea and then get a better one, just let me know.

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