Storytime

In a whirl and a 'quick-do-it-before-you-change-your-mind' moment I signed up for a six week online poetry course with poet  Andy Jackson . I have read Andy's poetry and seen him perform several times, so when I saw this, very casual 'who would be interested in an online poetry course' I put my hand up. Then of course I had doubts. Lots of doubts. Then, before I could change my mind, payment and committed. Can I say, it was a FANTASTIC  way to start a year. It got me thinking about words. Got me thinking about topics and themes. How I construct poems. How I often use the easy way out. Why I write poetry. It's my way of trying to understand the world. Putting down how I feel, hopefully without the Hallmark sentimentality smwaltz. There are so many moments I attempt to capture. So many conversations with Miss Nine...often out there and crazy conversations.  Her view of life is as complex as it is innocent. Or the moment Miss Two stepped...

To the blog. Yep, two years ago this week I decided to put fingers to keyboard and send out into the ether my thoughts. And apparently I'm still thinking. Why did I begin? A friend of mine, Tiggy Johnson  , then editor of Page Seventeen magazine,   author, poet, writer, mother, wife, crafter...had been blogging for a while and I was interested in the process.  My first thought was how on earth could you write something new, hopefully something interesting, each week.... and something that somehow (and sometimes very tenuous) linked to the craft of writing. Surprisingly it has been easy (well up to now it has been). Because life is so varied, I find there are so many opportunities that can be written about. And since I am always struggling along with my writing, I find it good to put it out there. The rejections, the successes, the times I want to hit my head against a wall because nothing is working out like I thought it would. At times it ...