Urban Diary During Lockdown

The cool, orange spring sun is slowly sinking, leaving one side of Stamford Street in the shade and the other one caressed by an auburn glow. I stop on the corner of Hatfields, get off my bicycle and lean against the wall.

It has now been more than four weeks since I last saw the rush-hour crowd moving up and down this road, either on their way to or from Waterloo Underground Station. The Covid-19-caused lockdown has rendered the hustle-bustle silent.

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Top Tips for Editing Your Writing During the Time of COVID-19

There’s a beautiful scene in High Fidelity, Stephen Frears’ 2000’s film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel, that I never tire of watching. Facing the camera, Rob Gordon, the character played superbly by John Cusack, shares his top tips in making the ultimate mixtape:

“The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don’t wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.”

The making of a book, regardless of its future standing in literature’s canon, is equally hard to do and it also takes ages to complete.

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Writing in the Time of COVID-19

The reporter, staff writer and non-fiction author Deneen L Brown has an invaluable piece of advice for writers. She says “The hardest thing about the beginning is the blank screen. Writing is like scraping off a piece of yourself, people can see beneath your skin.”

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