More than Writers

And it came to pass that a shy girl discovered the Internet, and there within was a chance to pursue writing with something called a Blog, which is to say a Weblog. And behold, the shy girl found that she could write about things that interested her. And, in the beginning, that included riveting things like nail varnish and whether the beans should actually ON the toast and whether sweetcorn is an abomination unto the Lord.  The shyest of the shy girls considered not that people would actually be reading the Blog and very quickly, she moved on from nail varnish, which she could never get to last for more than 16 minutes anyway, and she began to write about the deepest darkest questions of our time.  But I say unto thee that this is a lie because when she began to write about the solutions to the human condition, she found that she was rubbish at it. Indeed, her words were as dust. So, mainly, she stuck to her human condition and what the love of a good God could do about it. A...

     I’ve been dipping into the Winter Olympics, intrigued by some of the sports included. I still haven’t got my head round the intricacies of curling, and as for the luge doubles, I struggle to see how the person underneath can breath, let alone contribute to controlling the run! I'm amazed at the levels attained by some of the athletes, it is a world full of glory for some, disappointment for others. What they all have in common is a story of how they got the where they are, each one different but each with elements of sacrifice, singlemindedness, hard work and opportunity. When I tell you that back in September my son completed a 5k run, you may well be underwhelmed. It is the story behind this achievement though that makes it worthy of a mention. Two years previously he suffered an injury playing football. One of the main ligaments in his knee was torn (the ACL). This meant he could no longer use that leg properly. He was on crutches for months and living on his ow...

I have been making my way through Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in the Bible and was interested in the heading of the section I was reading: ‘Mem’. Research revealed that the Hebrew origins of this word are ‘sea, chaos, and unknown’. (Apparently, the sea was viewed as an unknown quantity to be feared.) I love the way this leads into His commandments being my constant guide. It makes me think about a map, how on a journey to an unknown place we need to know which direction to take. These days we hav e sat   nav systems or apps on our phones – with a voice of our choosing – telling us where to go .   But I’m a bit old-fashioned and not fully confident with technology, so I like to print out a route-finder. Sometimes, on a walk with a friend, we follow a guide that tells us to ‘turn up the track next to the big oak tree’, or ‘climb the stile and walk up the hill’.   There’s something comforting and reassuring in being able to read the directions – and re-read it if I think I ...

  Back in September I wrote a piece for MTW on Word Blending using the image of making wine and blending grapes.   It so happens that I am back in South Africa currently and have just had a relaxing holiday in the Robertson wine valley, two hours out of Cape Town.   Below the equator,  t he start of the year marks the harvest season for grapes.   Wine makers begin the challenging task of selecting the best grapes, choosing how to ferment them (oak barrels – first, second or third fill? – French for ‘oakiness’ or American for vanilla; stainless steel tanks; cement ‘eggs’) and how, or whether, to blend them and in what proportions for maximum flavour etc. As I walked through some of the vineyards here, I noticed that many of the vine rows have been wrapped in netting.   There are a number of reasons for this: To protect them from birds.   The closer to harvest, the more sunshine the vines have had which increases the sugar content of the grapes and there...

  The local writing group I set up comprises of; some complete beginners who know nothing about writing, a lady who has written many long novels but not yet published, a poet, a writer who can’t place herself but has written great drama in our meetings, those hoping to become memoir writers, and some who used to write and are finding their way back. At present, I am the leader of the group of twelve ladies. Most come to each monthly meeting. The preferred format is for each person to read out their ‘homework’, everyone to comment on it and then turn to the next subject, which is whatever I have prepared to talk about and discuss. Everybody reads and everybody discusses, the comments are encouraging and I am the only one who has missed a homework task. And the writing from everyone is thoughtful and of good quality. I can hardly keep up with their enthusiasm and it’s great fun. For the last session our previous homework had been on dialogue and this led quite neatly to talking...

  Let me start at the very beginning. You will often hear people say - everyone has a book in them … This is not true. Others will tell you – I’m going to write a book when I retire … Most of them don’t. This is because writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes months of creativity, weeks of editing, time to work through the comments of beta readers and the editor and ends with continual marketing. So, if you have completed writing a novel and whatever state it is in or stage it is at, congratulations. You should be very proud of yourself. Let us now assume you have written a novel. You have self-edited it to the best of your ability (always a fraught process). You have asked some members of your writing group, or book group to read it (always a terrifying process). You have worked through the manuscript editing again to take account of the useful comments of those beta readers and now you decide how to get your book into the world (always a daunting process). There ...