Team Creative

Thanks to Writers Workshop member, Sue Wright, for allowing me to share this piece.

Starting the week with Monday Morning Motivation, a free-write prompt of “This week I need…”, my pencil diverged from the prompt. My brain was foggy from too much screen time the day before, watching the track cycling at the Commonwealth Games and then the final of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022. When the final whistle blew and I watched the Lionesses celebrate, I could hardly process the emotions I was experiencing. I found it difficult to sleep, thinking of the impact of the tournament, and The England team’s part in it. Picking up my pencil on Monday morning to write about writing, I thought of the parallels with football.

On face value, football and writing may appear to have little in common. Writing can seem to be a solitary game, as we hunch over our laptops, scribble in our notebooks, snatch time with our words when family members are asleep. But many of us will be coached by the person who runs workshops and sets us tasks to fire our imagination and develop our skills, who recognises the individual talents we have. We read writing manuals written by those who have been there before us. Editors help us fine tune our work, hone our skills.

As a writer I am a member of a team. Technology makes a team experience more accessible to those who may have previously been denied entry enables us to connect with other players around the world. The pundits and players talk of the legacy of the women’s football tournament, the inspiration the players and their results will give to girls and women, and boys, around the world. We can’t all be the player of the tournament earning a big publishing contract or winning the Brooker Prize. But those that do act as role models, become mentors, fund bursaries for those who may not have the same opportunities. We can share the disappointments and rejections, find comfort in each other. We can take inspiration from the success of those around us. We can all have dreams.

By Sue Wright