Storytime

My writing group has a different member hosting each month, which is a great way of running a group. There is variety, different perspectives etc. I was the host for our January meeting. January and November/ December meetings are different to our usual monthly meetings. The end of year one is a celebration of all that has been achieved. We look back on the year, reminisce over goals met and unmet, celebrate the successes and the near misses. Our January meeting is the one where we try to focus on what we would like to achieve for the upcoming year. Some members already have their goals planned and waiting to be achieved. Others, like myself, have no bloody idea...   The year is a blank page and I have to think on what I would like to do for the year. What I want to work on, continue with, experiment with etc... Often in January we do a goal setting exercise or three. This year I wanted to begin the year on a positive and (hopefully) beneficial vibe. I wanted us to

School holidays at work means lots of folks...lots of kids on console games and computers, lots of adults with lots of DVD's because 'there's nothing decent on the telly'. For us it also means school holiday programs. The January ones are always a hit/ miss. Folks are either away and numbers are low, or no one goes away and we have hordes. It doesn't really matter as long as we are providing something for someone. This year I am running a new program -  a Tinies Hands On...which incorporates the regular reading of stories and singing of songs but with an arty crafty ending. The hardest part of this is dealing with adult interpretation. We have to focus on the journey, it's not the end product that matters. So if, after reading a book about the sea and singing row row row your boat, if we attempt to make a fish.....it really doesn't matter what the fish ends up looking like. It could have five tails....seven fins or no fins...it could have two e

Sometimes, when I want to write but have no real idea what, I like to have a word or phrase and see where it leads. A good way to jumpstart the writing process. Sometimes the word or phrase can be innocuous, other times fully cliched and even loaded with meaning. It's up to the interpretation then. Or where you can be taken. Often an image is a good way to start. This popped up in my FB memories the other day...our brand new tank. With all the shrubby bits and bobs cut down around it. It's totally different now...full of fruit trees (and a bit of a jungle at the moment) but the brown has turned lush with greenery. I find it interesting to see how different the ending/ or even the idea is from the initial thought. Often we go on a tangent. Weave this way and that...loop back on memories....have ideas that spark off from the initial thought. At the moment I'm working on a poem with the inspiration of summer. I don't do summer well (I melt and can never

Einstein is quoted as saying 'If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?' I have a cluttered desk, both at home and at work. There are periods at work when my desk is clear...not many I grant you. Just when there are a few weeks with no children's programs, we are already planning for next year's as well as various regular programs and any new ones we are launching. So there are various (I run 1 Storytime, 2 Tinies a week, one Tinies will now be half songs and books, half craft project...I also do the first time parents groups every 6 weeks,  monthly Explorers Club and the new Creative Kids group...not to mention school holiday programs that pop up). So basically that is a lot of ideas whirling around...and prototypes and notes and books and crafts etc etc... I do try to keep it to a 'chaotic' sense of control, mainly to appease co-workers who feel the need to CLEAN UP MY DESK. Frankly I want more space, more

To start the new year - 2019 - I thought I would share my A - Z of Writing. ACCOUNTABILITY Yep, there is no one else to blame. No matter what is happening around you or to you...if you want to write you will. Whether it's a few minutes here, ten minutes there...there is always some precious minutes you can use. It all depends on you. So before you blame anyone else for having NO TIME, look at yourself first. Too much phone, internet, television...put that time into your words. BALANCE Follows on from the above. There has to be a balance between family, friends, work and what life throws at us. But once again, we can moan and groan about it all..or do something about it. At times we will want to write, at other times we won't...accept it without the guilt and move on. CRITIQUE Find that perfect reader (or readers).  Someone you trust to tell you the truth. It's lovely if family/ friends tell you that 'it's the best thing I've ever read'. Great