Creative writing piece

London, an interesting place, able to change to a different scene by night. In the day you’re at the bus stop, maybe you’re going to work, going to see your mates or just fancy a little travel, the sight of the iconic red bus brings relief. Your means of transport is here, you step on and tap in, listening for that beep and looking for the green light. You look down the bus and there’s a seat right at the back, whilst sitting there on the way to your destination you look out each window, admiring the view. The trees are swaying, leaves are being carried away, you notice a wide variety of cultures walking down streets, coupled in love walking past, the sun brings out the scratches in the windows so brilliantly it’s like a piece of art.. Every thing is clear and then you hear the ibus system call out your stop so you press the red bell, listening for that signature ring to let the driver know you want to get off. The doors open and you step out and watch the red bus drive away, people just starting their journey whilst you end yours. Now one of the best things about the London buses apart from how frequently they come is that most routes now have a night bus operating, being on the night bus is the complete oppose of the day bus and sometimes you can’t help but feel sorry for the bus driver. I guess you could say that the driver pulled the short straw, working the graveyard shift, driving a bus in the gloomy hours of the night till the morning. All of a sudden the iconic bright red bus looks strangely dark, it creeps along looking almost black and white with the street lamps colouring it in. It’s all just so creepy. This time you’re at the stop on your own, now and then a car drives past, lights on full beam. You see your bus approaching, recognisable only by the destination banner on the front, as it approaches you become blinded in the big blur of the headlights. Once you step on you can’t help but notice that the driver looks soulless, he doesn’t even glance over at you. The oyster machine is broke, you walk down the bus and sit in the same seat, there’s only you and one other person on the lower deck and he has his headphones in. You’re sitting there at the back staring out the windows but is there really a need? It’s not like you can see anything. The only thing noticeable is the street lamps and how they pass by every 5 seconds. Yes you actually counted how many seconds between each street lamp, you are that bored. In the day it seemed as if an hour journey took 5 minutes but now it’s like you’ve been there for days, the clocks stopped. All of a sudden you hear your bus stop being called, you almost missed it though, you were almost in a trance.
You step off and feel a sigh of relief, you’re finally home ready to end the day and start a new one.


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2 responses to “Creative writing piece”

  1. Christopher Waugh Avatar

    This piece has some real strengths. There’s a real sense at times of literally being there on the bus. “the sight of the iconic red bus brings relief. Your means of transport is here, you step on and tap in, listening for that beep and looking for the green light.” is an example of this.

    Other times this is broken by your tendency to ‘editorialise’. This would be fine if you were writing an article as opposed to a descriptive piece. An example of this is: “London, an interesting place, able to change to a different scene by night. You can witness this by just observing the buses.” While this is a good sentiment, this piece will work best if we come to that conclusion ourselves, based on the quality of the description you like.

    This: “The trees are swaying, leaves are being carried away, you notice a wide variety of cultures walking down streets.” is moving in the right direction, however it speeds past many opportunities to genuinely describe what the view as you travel across London looks like. Can you expand on this – consider that you’re writing for someone who has never been on a London bus.

    CW

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