More than Writers

It’s 10.15 pm and I’ve just driven back from a meeting in church. My church is 15 miles from home, I have stayed on the main roads but bumped over some potholes that need filling, been blinded by oncoming full-beam headlights, overtaken by faster cars, held up by roadworks and had some stretches where driving has been along straight roads at a reasonably fast pace with my lights on full-beam and I have felt totally in control. I never get that feeling when I am going somewhere new because I am desperately trying to avoid losing my way. My journey is much like my first drafts of a novel. I am not a person who carefully plans the plot line so I feel my way.  Sometimes when I start to write I have a rough idea of where I’m going, but more often I begin with only the vaguest of thoughts and a great deal of prayer. I have no knowledge of where the story is going and do not know the route I will take. I trust in God. It’s hazardous, but exciting. I write sporadically when I have ti...

  Photo Credit: Soichi Watanabe    Having had a break over Christmas and the new year, my mind felt as though it was ready for a stretch. For no particular reason, I found myself pondering the number three. What is it about three, and about the way things so often group themselves in threes? Is three a magic number? In writing terms, perhaps it is. “He was tall, dark and handsome” has more impact than “He was tall and dark”. The number three is the smallest odd prime number and the smallest number that can create a pattern. You can’t plait two strands, but you can plait three. Two’s company, and three’s a crowd. You need three legs to hold up a piece of furniture, though only two to hold up a person. You need three elements to measure space: height, width and depth. When gardening, plants make a more effective statement when they are grouped in threes. There is a particular emphasis in messages that come in threes. Caesar declared, “Veni, vidi, vici” — “I ...

    My favourite scripture  at the moment  is Deuteronomy 31:8, which promises, "The LORD himself   goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do  not be discouraged”. I need  to hear   that right now, because finally , after thinking about it for a couple of years I have a rough draft for a   children’s book.  It’s aimed at  two- to five-year-olds , and f eatures Myka the dog .  I’m not a doggy person, but the book ’ s origins are in the time my son kindly left hi s dog with me to look after while he swanned off on holiday.  The character of Myka provides  lots   of potential for  cheeky fun,  but also  to  model overcoming challenges .  My mum   has done the  illustrations  and they  are sensational . B ut  now I have the first draft,  I  find myself  uncertain about how to  proceed ....