Writing opportunity on Twitter

Okay all you tweeters out there here's an idea.  Throughout the month of July you can take part in writing the world's first full-length murder mystery novel on Twitter.  At 9am every Monday there will be a chapter brief and then you fill in the details, whilst a team of authors take it in turns to transform your tweets into chapters. To take part go to twitter.com/exquistecopy

Choose one word

How about this for a writing place!
Fanny's Farm, Reigate

A little exercise I've been setting myself which I thought I'd share with you.  I pick a word, any word (sounds like a card trick!) and then write something about it, a short story, flash fiction or a poem.  Afterwards you can either stick with word as a title or change it as the object is to get writing.

I've found this incredibly liberating as it's led me into areas I wouldn't normally write about or at least expand on something that I've found difficult before.  Certainly I've found it sparking off ideas and topics when I've been stuck for inspiration. You wouldn't think one word could inspire anything but it works for me. Over the last few days I have been on a roll with my writing and today I've been typing everything up as it was all hand written and where I'd heavily edited it was becoming hard the decipher.  I find I edit as I go along when I type up my work.

I've spent hours today either writing or typing up and I have sent out some submission so I am feeling quite self righteous!  It's true what they say about writing regularly.....it really does pay off.  I just wish I'd take my own advice now and then and keep at it!

Competition news

The BBC are running a poetry competition in conjunction with The Proms.  Click here to view the page, rules etc.

Looking for places to write

These guys weren't there - mores the pity!

Finally got around to sussing out the coffee shop in B&Q this morning.  It was empty and had those nice comfy sofas....ahh!  I ordered a tea and sat down by the window (in a comfy sofa) and got out the poetry book I have been working through off and on (a teach yourself variety).  Read through a chapter and then got down to some writing.  The writing wasn't great and turned more into a page and a half of lines that might one day be condensed into a poem or even flash fiction.  I'd call them 'notes' really, but at least I did write.  A few people came up to the cafe.  It seems that this might double as a staff cafe as the people mainly wore B&Q polo shirts, but there were other customers.  The only distracting thing, well two actually, is that there is a wide screen TV on, but not loudly and the signal kept going.  Eventually I managed to switch off from it. The other thing is the tanoy system which luckily isn't loud and I can live with it.

The road isn't as noisy as I thought it would be but the building shakes sometimes from the heavy vehicles passing.  Everything looked quite green from up in the cafe and if it wasn't for the DFS store and Harvey's I'd be able to see my house!  I think I might go there sometimes, maybe even have lunch, as the prices seem reasonable.  It made a nice relaxing end to the morning after cleaning the kitchen - my reward.

Guildford Flower Festival

I was unsure which of my blogs to put this on but as it has a poetry theme it's ending up here.

Part of  'The Soldier' display (Rupert Brooke)

Yesterday I went with a group of ladies to Guildford Cathedral Flower Festival.  I had never been to the cathedral before so it this was a good opportunity to do so and take in all the flower arrangements.  People must have spent hours and a lot of money in putting these displays together.  Each one was based on a poem from Rupert Brooke, John Betjeman, Carol Ann Duffy, Gerard Manley Hopkins and many, many more.  The exhibits were put together by the various churches in the Guildford Diocese and they were just stunning. I took about fifty photos and have just a small selection for you here.

It was a lovely day out and shows what the imagination can do.

Based on 'Valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy

From 'The Diary of a Church Mouse' by John Betjeman

Flash Fiction success

Excitement, excitement.  I was lying in bed composing words in my head the other night (as you do) and I had an idea for a short piece of writing.  I should have written it down but I hoped I'd remember it by morning (strangely I often can) so when I got up I wrote it down.  It had to be 75 words exactly for submitting to Paragraph Planet.  Believe it or not I didn't have enough words!  I expanded it and hey-presto I  sent it off.  Within a couple of days I had a reply and.....yes, they have published it on their website.  I am so thrilled as this is the first flash fiction piece I have ever had published (and to be honest I have rarely written flash fiction but this is something I want to do more of).  This was one of those that 'wrote itself'.  I don't even know where the idea came from.  I wish writing always went that way but it's back to the graft now.