The Power Of Nostalgia

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blogging, Blogging community, Childhood, Comics, Creativity, Dreams, Fantasy, Fun, hobbies, Subbuteo, writer's block

The last few weeks had been a bit odd for me. My creativity had been stifled. Sometimes life gets in the way, and I need to reset. Thankfully, I had some holiday due from work, so I used it to visit my brother in Cheshire. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

My brother surprised me when he got out his old Subbuteo set from his loft. I spent hours on end playing this tabletop soccer game in my bedroom as a teenager. Now, here I was again revisiting my youth. My brother beat me 1-0 in the game we played, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that we were kids again having fun.

On another day, we visited the town of Stockport. Here, I found a comic book store that stocked old copies of my favourite comics I’d read growing up. Normally, the comic book stores I visit are full of Marvel and DC Comic titles, as well as manga and other publications. They’re all great, but here for the first time ever I found titles such as ‘Buster’ and ‘Whizzer and Chips’ – firm British staples of my childhood that are sadly no longer published. Suddenly, I was transported back to Saturday mornings in the mid-80s when I’d run down the local shops and buy a big pile of comics and read through them again and again before school came round again on Monday.

I bought a few copies, and have been laughing my head off ever since.

Comics were so instrumental in me wanting to become a writer as they opened up endless worlds of storytelling and possibility to me. It was good to reminisce about this.

The result of all this is that the power of nostalgia has fuelled my creativity again. I’ve now got a pocketful of ideas for short stories that I’ve begun working on. Plus, I’ve also got a new tactic if I get writer’s block again.

If you’re creativity is lacking, remembering the hobbies you had a child could be one way to help you.

I hope you all have a great and creative week. ☺️

Discovery Prompts: Books

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blogging, Blogging community, Books, Childhood, Comics, Discovery Prompts, Novels, writing

Comic books were my first reads. As a kid in the 1980s, on Saturdays I’d run to the local store and buy Buster, Whizzer and Chips, The Beano, The Dandy and Whoopee. If I wanted more, then I’d have to do a lot of chores.

I’d spend ages reading and re-reading them becoming lost in the lives of the characters. For one reason or another they were all my best friends.

Well into my teenage years I’d spend ages in the local library or first- and second-hand book stores. Each book was a separate world or universe daring to be discovered. At this stage in life I developed a love of fantasy adventure stories. Books evoke emotions, develop rational thinking and, obviously, help you learn new things. There’s nothing more rewarding than gaining a fresh perspective on something that you thought you knew or how one phrase – one small phrase – used by an author sums up a feeling you’ve found so hard to describe.

As I’ve gotten older I still read a lot of fantasy novels and comic books. Hiking has become a big passion in my middle years, and so now I read a lot of travel books as well. Plus, as a parent there’s no greater joy than sharing the countless worlds that books have to offer with your children.

Discover Prompts Day 4: Street

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Childhood, creative writing, Discover Prompts, Poetry, Prose poetry, Street, writing, Writing prompts

This prose poem is called ‘Halfway Down Our Street’. The start of each sentence starts with a letter from the title to spell out the name of the poem.

Home was in the middle of our street,

An equal distance to the shops or park.

Life for eight year old me began on

Friday night after school when I couldn’t wait to

Wake up with a fistful of pocket money

And run til I reached the comic store.

Yeah!!!!

Darkness seemed far away as

Once afternoon came I’d play in the park

With my friends at soccer or tennis or a

New crazy creation that passed for fun back then.

Out and about, exploring by the stream

Until we heard our parents call us to

Return home for our dinner.

Saturday night was alright: chips and the A-Team.

Then I’d ask politely to go outside and play again

Right up until the moon popped up

Ending another day of uninterrupted fun.

Eight o’clock was bedtime as I shuffled up the stairs

To read comic books and dream of tomorrow.