👨‍🎓 School Days: The Prisoner - Evolution of an Idea

Developing a scene

This was the first assignment I submitted for Open University when I switched over to distance learning in 2020. This was from my first Creative Writing module with them, so while this unfolded, I was working pretty much full-time, getting my kids alternating weekends, and reading ahead for the Literature module… all with the late first year of Covid-19 playing out all around. Fun times…

Here you get a freewrite based on a suggested theme (we had many to choose from and I picked a bunch of keys - just punching out words and letting them tumble onto the page to see what happens - then the development of the freewrite into something more coherent. The third part is the reflective commentary to demonstrate that the work was produced with an understanding of technique (and not just a lucky combination of words kicked out at random).

Freewrite

Misplaced the damn keys again. Not in my work trouser pockets, not in my jeans or trackies from earlier. Have I been out today? Are they in my coat? My leather jacket? A hoodie? Did I leave them in the front door? Jangling. Locker key. Six tiny padlock keys from the old indoor market stall. Front door, back door, back gate padlock. Keep the druggies and burglars from having a go. Why did the council put huge glass panes in the back doors – the most vulnerable spot? I feel sure someone is going to put that glass through. Probably my neighbour, actually. My brother’s door key. He’s so kind, lets me use his place instead of waiting on the train platform. There’s a man who’s got my back. The thought of me waiting in the cold for my kids to be dropped off seems as depressing to him as it is to me. He wants to give my ex less satisfaction than even I do. And that’s saying something. Speaking of her, one of the keyrings, a mutilated Lego Batman, bought for me by her mother in much happier times. Batman’s cape is tattered and frayed. His facial features have worn away. Like the story of Batman himself, if you extrapolate it, I suppose – Bruce Wayne is erased, only the suit remains. But this Batman also has no legs, and no hands. No kicking or punching for that one. I got a Funko Pop Batman keychain to replace him, back when I had the business. But I couldn’t let Lego Batman go. It was a nice gift. Funko Batman’s not well, either. Only his head is left, and his white eyes have been rubbed blind. But his soft, squarish head feels good against my thumb.