Notebooks....ignore them at your peril

The first rule of writing (or is it the second?) is to keep a notebook.  I have one.  Do I use it?  Er.....now and then, but not as much as I should.  Hence when trying to recall an unusual moment to write about (I'm working through the chapter on Voice in W.N. Herbert's book Writing Poetry) I knew there was a moment recently but of course I didn't write it down and I couldn't recall it!

There am I telling you all you should do this and do that and what am I doing?  Breaking the rules.  But like everything in life whether you choose to follow my advice is up to you - I obviously don't.

Still, all is not lost.  I was able to recall another unusual incident and wrote about that and actually liked what I wrote! So there.

We have internet problems at the moment but are switching over to Virgin Media on the 13th April (going fibre optic).  I've finally got internet access today so am making the most of it, but if it all goes quiet for a while you'll know why.  To quote those famous lines - I'LL BE BACK.

Meanwhile here is the winning poem from the National Poetry Competition 2011.