Suitable poetry sketch- A Bit of Fry and Laurie- BBC Comedy

Looking for somewhere to write

Yesterday afternoon I went where all families spend their Sunday's now - B&Q, the temple of DIY.  I was there to get some plants for some very neglected tubs in the front garden but I was also sussing out the Costa Coffee shop upstairs.  I think it was open but I could only see one person up there so this might prove a good place to go to for uninterrupted writing sessions.  It is only five minutes or so walk from me and though it overlooks a busy main road it could be just what I need.  I'll have to make a proper visit soon to see whether this works for me.  I don't know if they have the comfy sofas/chairs but I hope so but even if not then if it is quiet then who knows I might book a regular morning there.

I am trying to find a couple of poems to send out but I really need to get writing regularly again.  Things have slipped because of courses I've been attending then a holiday.  I have a story to edit and I've not even started.  It's a bit like the blank page syndrome - I can't get going.  I guess we all get like this but the only person who can change things is me.

What I Live For

WHAT I LIVE FOR - Satya said: 

Join me for the relaunch of my writing career under my new Buddhist name Satya Robyn Today, Friday the 10th of May, tell me what gets you up in the morning and share some writing or a photo or some art called ‘What I Live For’  http://www.satyarobyn.com/?p=154

This is the challenge!  In January I took part in writing Small Stones with Satya and hundreds of others on a dedicated Facebook page.  So here is my contribution for today.

What I live for/gets me out of bed:

My life revolves around books, writing and music and has since I can remember.  At 10 years old a teacher told my mum that I could write about anything! A surprise to me, but there you go.  Other’s opinions do affect me and  when I was at secondary school (which I hated) a teacher had a go at me for my writing and said ‘people don’t write like that/do those things’.  I knew she was wrong but I didn’t have the confidence to tell her and my self-esteem dropped (I was about 14 years old).  However, in my late teens I started writing again and haven’t stopped.  I began with stories, then songs, to poetry.  Now I write mainly poetry (which has been published in small press magazines) but still dabble in other writing (blogging included!).

Learning only became an obsession after I left school at 15.  I’d come to books late, joined my local library and discovered a huge new world and I’m still exploring!  Without a book to read I get restless.  I really do get withdrawal symptoms.

Music was my first love.  I grew up with it and as I’ve got older I have expanded my horizons.  There is nothing I would dismiss and my range is diverse.  Music has the ability to set moods, change them, give me energy, it helps me write sometimes and I love to sing, dance and when I have time, play guitar.  I even have tapes of songs I wrote when I was in my 20’s.

These three things make me happy.  I learn from them all and they give me so much pleasure. Maybe sometimes they are also my comfort blanket!

Books that ‘got me into reading’:

1. Gerald Durrell’s books
2. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
3. The Borrowers

Writing -The first stories I wrote were based on science fiction.  I still find I veer in that direction but then I love sci-fi.  My poetry in those days all rhymed (that’s how it had to be wasn’t it!).  I wrote my first songs in my early teens (maybe earlier) – wrote down the lyrics and the melody was in my head!  Bought my first guitar at 18 and self-taught (still not great but it’s fun) and worked out how to record two tracks without a recording studio!  I still have my original guitar but when I reached 50 years old I treated myself to an electric! 

Music – the first record I bought/was given (vinyl 45) was The Locomotion by Little Eva.  I still have it along with all my other vinyl.  I listen to anything from classical to rock, trance and r&b.  My favourite song is God Only Knows by The Beach Boys.  I learnt to harmonize from them and the The Everly Brothers and these days I sing in a Community Choir.

 All these creative parts of me are important.  They have grown with me, have expressed my feelings, reassured me that I am not alone and have brought so much to my life that I cannot imagine my life without these creative outlets.  There is always something new to explore and to share.  I've literally just written what's below to express how I feel about all this.  Have a fantastic day everyone and go and indulge yourselves in what makes you get out of bed in the morning.

What I Live For

I live for the word
in book, or my head
for rhythm and music,
a tune or lines said.
I live for the sharing
of stories and song
imbed myself fully
in what's going on.
I live to express,
to learn and to grow
and the way that I do it
is all that I know.

 Another wonderful harmonious pair!

Holiday reading

What do you take on holiday to read?  I would have loved to take the latest book I'm reading - Peaches for Monsieur le Cure by Joanne Harris - but it's a library copy, too big and bulky to pack.  So I took a Susan Hill's book The Bird of Night, a Woman's Weekly Fiction Special and the latest New Writer magazine.  The book was a disappointment.  I usually enjoy Susan Hill's books but this, about friendship and madness, I couldn't get into.  However, it was a short read and I finished it in about three days, glad it was over!

The Fiction Special (which I finished on the plane back home) was really good.  There were a few longer stories to really get into - contrary to what I said about short stories a few weeks back (must have been an off day!).  Anyone who can get into print I admire and I'm not a short story writer myself.  The New Writer magazine I've also nearly finished and have enjoyed too.

Now I'm back and into Joanne Harris' book again.  This is the third in the series as Vianne Rocher returns to Lansquenet, the place of Chocolat.  Really enjoying the revisit.