When You Have No Idea What to Write…
…answer a writing prompt!
Look, I’d love to be writing a longer article right now, with a compelling narrative, a proper conclusion and a comprehensive list of sources. Really, I would.
But between my full-time job, my part-time degree, and the ongoing saga of trying to figure out exactly how many autoimmune diseases I actually have, I don’t have the time or the brainpower to expend on anything else.
So, how timely it was that today I came upon an article by Roz Warren, Writing Coach, with this easy peasy writing prompt to follow….
Do you have a nickname or shortened version of your name that your friends call you?
Everyone who knows me, calls me V. People used to call me Vickie Wire after the bassist in my favourite band (if you know, you know), but in my 20s I decided I wanted to go by my full name, Victoria, rather than Vickie.
Apparently four syllables was one too many for my friends to be bothered to pronounce, so they started calling me V instead and then it just took off.
What is your favorite animal?
I don’t have one! My whole office thinks I’m obsessed with cats, and fair play, I am, so my birthday gifs (yes, my workplace yes birthday gifs) are all cat-focused.
But I love dogs too! And rats. And otters. Basically any animal with a YouTube channel. I mean have you seen baby hippos?
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Controversial take — I’m not a huge fan of ice cream. I generally prefer sorbet, but my absolute favourite is lemon ice, which is a sort of ice cream-sorbet hybrid that’s sold exclusively from London ice cream vans.
Although sometimes something blue hits the spot. I don’t even know what flavour blue ice cream is — bubblegum? — I just love blue food. It speaks to my inner chaos.
If you were a fruit, which one would you be?
Man, I don’t even like eating fruit, now I have to be one? I’m gonna say kumquat because it’s an objectively funny word and I do like citrus flavours.
What is the color of the shirt you are wearing right now?
I never wear shirts, they don’t suit me. Right now I’m wearing a black long-sleeved top from Uniqlo and my favourite cardigan. It’s pink and red on top, leopard print on the bottom and has actual leopards on it too. It also has a creepy Illuminati eye design on one panel and is tied up with a black and white belt. It’s completely bonkers and I love it so much. It was really expensive, but it’s my soulmate.
What is the last item you gifted to someone, and why?
I gave my colleague a bag of sushi-themed cat treats today. For her cat to eat, not her. They look like little sushi rolls! She loves Japanese food and thought they were cute when I showed her the packet I got for my cat, so I bought some for her cat too.
Do you remember what you dreamt about last night? If yes, tell us!
I don’t. But I can tell you in my last notable dream, I had to travel back in time, tasked with sneaking onto the Titanic and stealing a painting that was haunted by the spirit of Charles II. I had to get off again before it sank too, it was quite intense.
What is the title of the last song you listened to?
According to Spotify, Bubblegum Bitch by Marina and the Diamonds. It’s a banger.
What is the last show you binged?
I don’t know if it counts as a binge as I just watched it over the two consecutive nights it was aired (yes, I still watch live TV), but The Push: Murder on the Cliff was fantastic.
It was an exceptionally well made but incredibly harrowing documentary about the murder of Fawziyah Javed in 2021. Over two 90 minute episodes, it follows the trial of her killer, her husband Kemal, right through to the verdict, inside the court.
It’s quite unusual, because you weren’t allowed to film inside criminal courts until very recently and I think it’s still highly restrictive. You’re not even allowed to sketch in British courts, sketch artists have to draw from memory after proceedings are over.
Fawziyah fell off a cliff and although she tragically died, she survived long enough to tell the first witnesses on the scene that her had husband pushed her.
The police admitted it would have been difficult to pursue a case against her killer without that declaration, because otherwise there was no one to contradict Kemal’s story that she slipped.
It’s shocking, because the filmmakers brought up the very salient point that many victims of domestic violence who died after falling from a height could well have been pushed by their abusive partners too. We’ll never know because they weren’t able to give testimony like Fawziyah.
What was the last movie you watched?
Moonfall. The Guardian’s review described it as so bad it’s good, which piqued my interest.
It’s full of plot holes and you don’t have to suspend disbelief so much as throw it out of the window, but I enjoyed it! Watch out for Fuzz Aldrin the cat, he’s the runaway star of the show. He even has a TikTok following!
