One Of Those Days!

It’s been one of those days! I decided early on that it was going to be a ‘writing’ day. So, armed with a mug of tea, some chocolate biscuits, my computer and my notebook, I set off down the garden to my ‘Studio’, my place of inspiration and creativity – or, at least, that’s what I tell friends. At this point I feel I must pause and tell you a little about my ‘Studio’. My wife and friends, despite being told otherwise, will insist on calling it a shed. As the more discerning amongst you can see it is more than just a shed! It is my pride and joy. Built with my own fair hands it has a roof of cedar wood shingles, is fully insulated, including a double glazed window (another story for another day) and its own electricity supply. I was inspired to build it after reading a great book called, ‘Sheds’ by David Styles & Jeannie Styles. Enough about sheds, I digress, back to my day.

As I settled in my comfy armchair, surrounded by my books and various writing implements, I was ready to write. That’s where the problem began. I couldn’t decide what to write. Should I try and finish one of the two short stories that I started writing last week? I’ve not posted on my other blog for a while, should I start there? I recently read an interesting article about ‘flash fiction’, maybe I could have a go at that? Then there’s the new eMag that I’ve just subscribed to ‘Words With Jam’ – they had some interesting writing competitions I could try. At this point I made the fatal mistake of deciding to surf the web to find inspiration. Two hours and many visited blogs and websites later I wasn’t any closer to writing but I did find some great new blogs! One of the most interesting was ’73 Ways To Become A Better Writer’ by Mary Jaksch. Here are just a few of my favourites:

• Get the pen and fingers moving
• Read, think, read, write, ponder, write – and read some more (I’ve certainly done a lot of the reading, thinking & pondering today)
• Tell everyone “I’m a writer.”

At the end of the post she asks for further suggestions and the list has now grown to almost 100.

All in all an interesting day. What did I achieve? Well I had a great day seemingly doing nothing. However it was the reading and the pondering that helped me in the end because it prompted me to start a new blog – this one. My other blog is about education and learning in the 21st Century (up until a year ago I was a primary head teacher and I have been using my retirement, writing about what I was comfortable with.) This new blog is going to be about whatever comes into my days  and into my head. Let me know what you think.