More than Writers

As an Early Years Practitioner, there are a few classic Picture Books that never fail to enthrall and delight the children I look after. These stories are often about very ordinary things, with an added 'twist.'  Remember that story where a little girl and her mummy are having tea in the kitchen when suddenly a tiger knocks on the door and invites himself in?  Ooh the drama!  What on earth is going to happen next? One such story is Michael Rosen and Helen Obxenbury's 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' - the story of a simple family stroll, on a beautiful day. The twist is, that as the children are walking along, they pretend that they are off to find a Bear! They're going on a Bear Hunt. They're going to catch a BIG one! As their walk continues, they meet lots of different obstacles along the way, such as: A deep, cold river Thick, oozy mud and a swirling, whirling snowstorm Because everybody knows, that every good story must contai...

  This coming week - 3 rd -9 th  February - is Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week in the UK.        You may be wondering why I mention this in a writing blog. After all, it’s not a pleasant topic. Maybe it’s not the sort of thing you want to read about on a Sunday morning (or whenever you come to this post) …but maybe it is.        One of the most powerful aspects of writing, in my opinion, is that it can open up conversations that would be difficult, perhaps even impossible, in person, that it can create connections that provide empathy and support for people struggling with difficult issues.        Twenty years ago, the topic of sexual abuse is not one I could have raised in person. Even if I could have overcome the shame and fear which kept me silent, I wouldn’t have known who to speak to or how to begin the conversation, but I was hungry for advice, for wisdom, for someone who might understand. ...

Did you set any New Year resolutions? Are you still keeping any? More interestingly, did you expect to? From past experience, I didn't expect to keep mine either. So far, I’ve not done too badly. I have been thinking about writing a few times in January and have attended the first ACW Trellis and local group meetings of the year. Though, how long that will last, is yet to be seen. Isn’t it odd? As writers, we’re very good at controlling the stories we tell. Authors and other fictional writers will carefully map out the progress of their story arc and character development. Poets will dig deep to find just the right word or phrase to evoke the emotion we want our readers to feel or capture the event details we want them to visualise. Even when writing factual pieces, choosing which stories to include and which to leave aside is in the writer's control. Embracing the ‘happy ever after’ trope, we often put our characters or poetic voices into scenes and scenarios that will bring a...

The Western Wall (or Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem, where Jews make their intercessions.  Accredited to https://www.flickr.com/photos/alex-david/5288593871 In many churches, intercessions are written and delivered by lay church members. Your minister (or whoever compiles service rotas) will waylay you one Sunday, saying, “You’re okay to do intercessions next week, aren’t you?” And no guidance will be given. This is how I started and, whilst I would never presume to ‘teach’ anyone how to write anything, I have, over the years, composed a sort of ‘how to’ for myself. Intercessions are different from private prayers, because you are praying with others for others. The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of ‘intercede’ is ‘to act or interpose on behalf of someone’. Don't... Introduce yourself.  The congregation should be allowed to concentrate on the prayers, not on you. Drone on for too long.   People’s concentration is short.   About 600-700 words is right. Del...

  Image of a 'cosy space' from Pixabay I had to look twice when first seeing the word Cosy Crime, wondering how a murder story could be seen as cosy. But apparently, it’s a lovely subgenre, one I enjoy reading a lot. I even accidentally started writing one a couple of years ago, prompted by a course on Writing Funny by Fran Hill. Not long ago, the wonderful History Writers group led by Wendy H. Jones had a guest speaker in talking about Cosy Crime, a brilliant and inspiring talk. I had no idea what classed a book as cosy or not, but apparently lack of gore, not focussed on the police procedure but rather, on the main characters who figure out the whodunnit. The main characters are amateurs, ideally, and there should be a good dollop of humour in the story. I decided to start another short story, using the cosy crime idea and set in early 1800s, but within the first few paragraphs, I began to worry. It didn’t feel very cosy as my main character slithered along a wet path thr...

January seems to be the longest month but we’re almost out of it, folks, so hang on in there! The problem is the weather is not usually great and spring is ages away.  Still, one of my roses is blooming, the winter jasmine looks lovely, and I have a determined little primrose in flower.  There is much in common between our Christian lives and our writing ones. Both call for persistence, determination, an acceptance things will be tough, and the need to keep going. We don’t need to be alone.  We need Jesus’s support and that from other Christians. For writing, we need the support of other writers and resources to help us develop. Our Christian and writing lives should be seen as a marathon. It helps to determine what you would like to see as “getting there”. To begin with, I wrote stories to prove to myself I could. It was only later I actively sought publication and learned more of the craft to increase my chances. I did the latter via reading writing magazines and craft ...

   Sport your book’s title!  “On Clouds of Words”  “Who made God? " the "unloved child" asked. It was “a whisper,” but "Deborah and Jael" heard. "Jane and Jill, children of Margaret and Edgar, looked away. “Where does God live?” and “Is God very strong?” “David” asked. We need “The Silencer” and “T for Tolerance”, “Rosie” groaned. “God is everywhere”, and “The unloved Wife” answered, feeling “Braver”. “What If” “It’s a darkly hidden secret” or “Open secrets”? “Man of Glass” threw in.   “God has a passionate spirit”, “Martha Martha” replied. ” When Jesus met the Hippies”, they became “New creatures” with “Wings of faith” and “Breaking free”, even “With hope in dark places”. “Still Emily” said.  “Funnily enough”, “Even the wanderer reborn” was like, “Walking Bradley’s history”, “Baby Baby”, said. “It was time to shine” so “The Runaway” sang Lydia’s song”. ”Acquilla” spoke of ”Home truths”  and “ Mystical circles”,. “We are the c...

One of the most profound verses in the Bible is also the shortest.  'Jesus wept' (Luke 11:35) I tend to be rather more detailed in my own writing so I find the shortness and abruptness of that statement deeply engaging.  It invites me to identify with Jesus' sorrow, his friends sorrow too and to thus put a handle on my own. It's a tremendous privilege to be able to use words to express things that many can find no outlet for. I 'm  in a season of loss at the moment, missing my mum who died a year ago this week and also missing my lovely retired Hearing dog, Goldie who was put to sleep last Thursday.  I have wept and still am weeping as memories suddenly catch me. I see his picture on the wall and feel the ache of loss.  Friends reminisce and I feel the prickling of tears and my words thicken in my throat.  'He was just a dog,' some may say and in a similar way we can try to make small every person's heartbreak, but words help us convey what that heartbre...

Last night I dreamt that someone was reading the Bible. Most of the text was red and I said, “Wow! Jesus said a lot. That reminds me of my exercise books from school.” Most of my books were filled with the dreaded red ink. I don’t remember any words of encouragement, concern, or support. Every teacher wrote - ‘Messy, wrong, redo, unclear, needs improvement, makes no sense, not enough detail, no, and TRY HARDER!’ Did you ever receive comments of this nature? How did it make you feel? I like to think that the education system has changed since my school days in the 70s. How can you try harder when you have already tried your best? I often hear of writers who fear sending their manuscripts to be edited, fearful of the red ink. There isn’t an actual phobia of red ink, but one may be considered as ‘ rhodophobic’ (the fear of red) or ‘atelophobic’ (the fear of imperfections). As Christian writers, we need to encourage each other, but how do we know who to help? Charlie Mackesy , in...

  Virginia Woolf famously said that to write a woman needs ‘a room of one’s own’. She didn’t mean just physical space. ‘A room of one’s own’ is shorthand for freedom from both practical demands and financial concerns. I’m not saying I need a housekeeper and a wealthy benefactor! But I know what Woolf means. To write I need space. Not physical space necessarily, although that is nice. But space in terms of time and mental energy. I can edit when I have the odd spare hour, as long as those those spare hours come fairly close together. Otherwise I forget the focus of the current round of editing. But to write something new, or do a bigger re-write, I need time and mental space. Is that just me? Some people are skilled at shutting off their responsibilities, anxieties and burgeoning to-do list, and focussing on the task in hand. That’s not something I’ve ever been able to do, not really. And definitely not well enough to create something from my imagination. That ...