Storytime

Sometimes, just sometimes, when I know I should be writing and I even know what I want to write, I find it damned difficult to start. I mean where exactly should I begin? With this word, this phrase, this moment, with this action or perhaps over here? And yes, I know we are told to simply write and before you know it you'll be in knee deep and problem solved....however.... Remember those workshops you did where the tutor/ speaker/ author would start a writing exercise with those words 'I remember...'. That's because we all do, remember that is. Something, no matter how close or distant, there is always some memory that catches us off guard and before we know it, we are putting it (and all its emotional baggage) down on paper. Often used when facing the dreaded blank page...writers block...or simply a way to find a way in. Last week at Storytime I was giving the usual 'hints' to what the day's theme would be. In this case it was ducks, and I talked abo...

As writers we know that inspiration is everywhere. All we have to do is open our eyes, use our senses (all of them) and listen. However, with everything else that we do in our lives, sometimes, sometimes the ability to notice what is out there in the world disappears. For the month of February I was inspired by Tony Tulloch , (very nice person as well as a fantastic photographer) and decided that I would take a photograph for each day. Take a photograph of something that had grabbed my attention. The one above was taken on one of those very humid mornings, before the sun had broken through the fog. Some days were easier than others. Something, somewhere jumped out at me. Such as the photo below. The sign was there on the way to work one morning, gone that afternoon. Which of course raised the question...was he found? I made the decision to simply snap using my small point-and-shoot camera. There would be no major thought involved, no setting up of the scene, no waiting for t...

Facts are some of the most interesting (and useless) pieces of information. A CAT HAS 32 MUSCLES IN EACH EAR As I said, interesting but what good does it do us?...and of course we all know someone that will dredge up facts at a quiet dinner amongst friends or at a party. Throw them at us and then sulk when we don't give thunderous applause for now knowing the scintillating fact that- A JELLYFISH IS 95 PERCENT WATER . But sometimes when faced with a blank page, when a case of the dreaded writers block strikes, facts can be a starting point for a piece of writing. Could be a short story, a poem, even the basis of a novel. All you need is a fact that intrigues you, that sets you thinking 'what if'. EVERY PERSON HAS A UNIQUE TONGUE PRINT Hmm, the mind begins to swirl....a detective story where the tongue print is the key to finding the killer? Could they cut off a tongue in the same way they burn the fingers of victims - making it harder to identify a body? Do i...