Staying sane in the world of writing

I have the magazine Mslexia to thank for what I am about to write. Firstly, for their article in Issue 76 entitled What's the Point and secondly for mentioning a workshop in their email little ms which, when I clicked on it, I knew was just what I needed. I signed up for the workshop, the title of which is the heading to this post!

Since the New Year I have been rather at sea in my direction as a writer and the article What's the Point spouted all the things I'd been spouting recently. It made me feel better to know I'm not the only one (even though I already knew that). This article was a move in the right direction for me and offered some good tips. Even though I am not writing anything new and have felt a little half-hearted about things I have started editing some of the stories I wrote in November during NaNoWriMo.

I have been looking forward to the upcoming workshop (even rather excited!) over the last few weeks and on Saturday I set off to City Lit in London hoping to leave rather saner! I did.

There is much written about how to write, how to look for opportunities, draw up your perfect pitch. Follow the rules of the trade and when you get rejected just keep going. I know how difficult it is and I know everyone suffers in the aftermath of rejection but little is said about how to deal with that rejection, how to cope with those feelings that eat away at you until you feel worthless as a writers. Of course there are those who bounce back time and time again and carry on once a short period of anger and reflection pass. I thought I'd become that person. I thought I'd learned to deal with it and then last year I hit rock bottom. I know I've talked about this before and I think it is important because sometimes (as I learned) these feelings are deeper than we may realise and come from way back in our life.

Our tutor for the day was Helen Cox, a writer traditionally published as well as self publishing her books. She's been through this stuff herself and she had lots of good advice to offer. We were a small group - just five - so lots of things specific to each of us was covered. We began with a short exercise working in pairs (I worked in a three). Each group was given a small piece of sea washed glass and we had to discuss what it might have been originally and where it might have come from. Then we were given two sheets with ideas and background to the North Sea and the River Thames and a poem by E.E. Cummings. With a set of questions to work through we began to write together the journey of the piece of glass. We could use our own location (rather than from the sheets) which my group did. Afterwards we fed back what we had written. Helen then asked us what we got out of the exercise of working together and wrote on the white board what she had heard come out of it like collaboration, ideas, planning, using our experience etc. She advised us to always start with something comfortable to us and then branch out - do research, break the rules. Writing, she said was a joint effort between yourself and the universe (or world). She also said that it was best not to return to new writing before two weeks, then edit. To always write playfully and not to keep reading back and editing as we went as that holds up the writing process and imagination.

We talked about validation of our writing. Why was important to be published? Everyone agreed that it was an approval of our writing ability. We had long discussions about this! It seemed all five of us had similar feelings with not being good enough, that what we wrote might be rubbish and the only way we would think otherwise was to be published. I know it sounds silly and I know this is wrong but deep inside us those negatives feed and that little voice in your head tells you this time and time again when you work get rejected.

Helen took us through a few writing ideas to help us with some recommendations and then asked us to write a sort of autobiography of our writing life after which we either shared the whole piece or a part of it with the group. I have to say it was revealing and quite emotional. Helen also read hers and admitted that what came out was quite different to what she thought she would write. In a small group we bared our souls. We were given three headings - fears, villains and commitments. We had a few minutes to write things under those headings. These were not for sharing. Helen recommended reading author's biographies and particularly Sylvia Plath's Journals.

Tips for writing were similar to those I'd come across before but her advice on backstory I found really useful as one of my novels desperately needs the backstory sorting out, or as Helen says, drip fed into the story through dialogue and/or internal thought.

Getting out of the negative feedback hole was next. This was so helpful as Helen gave us specific ways to deal with this through something she calls Mind Talk which includes acknowledgement, questioning, walking away for a few minutes and talking it through with a trusted friend. One of the great pieces of advice was to write a timeline of all the things you have done to get you where you are today and even to chronicle that rejection in a story using those feelings and experience in a positive way.

We were close to the end of the day as the last long writing session was given. We had twenty-five  minutes to write a letter to ourselves answering the specific questions Helen had written up. The letter was not be opened for six months! In our pairs we talked about the friendly advice to ourselves (the last question on the list). Earlier we had each made a commitment to our writing (during the writing time using the three headings) and we now told the class what that was.

There was a final summing up with ideas of places to find public readings, social media etc. and a short film from YouTube featuring a talk by the author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love) which was both amusing, insightful and positive.

There were two other texts we looked at - one Helen had written herself. It's tongue-in-cheek, very amusing about the world of rejection. The other was an extract from Confessions of a Story-teller by Paul Gallico. Asked afterwards what we thought of what he said we all agreed that it was comforting to know that even a famous author still had all the same fears we had. So, if he had them it was something that never went away however successful you are.

This was a wonderful workshop and indeed it lived up to everything I hoped for. It was soul searching, emotional but having strategies to fight against the negatives is a great tool to possess. I think it should be taught in every creative writing course! I am very grateful to Helen for helping me get back my sanity in the writing world.

Poetry & Diaries

Booking a poetry workshop so close after the Winchester Writers' Festival was probably a mistake, yet things come when they come. The 'Dear Diary' workshop (poetry & diaries) was originally due to be held at The Billingsgate Institute with a chance to look at the collection there. I was quite excited by this - the idea of looking at the diaries of ordinary people not normally available (well, you can actually go and look at them). However, due to the Institute being told they had to make money, the hire fee became too steep for The Poetry School to afford, so we met at the School's usual venue in Lambeth Walk.

We were asked to take along a published diary, and me being short of time ended up with the 'Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole' (which I didn't end up using but am having a good laugh reading it!). One the table was a collection of diaries in book form belonging to Julia Bird from The Poetry School (I never knew there were so many of them). Laura, who is working on the Diary Project at the Billingsgate Institute, brought along books from there carefully wrapped in tissue paper and boxes or in cellophane sleeves. We were allowed to handle these wonderful works of art. Wafting through the room was that wonderful smell of old books.

The earliest diary was from the 1700's written by a preacher visiting churches around the country, and one of the most weird was by a man who drew his face every day and made notes around it on the weather or about what he was doing. There was also a group of photos of items collected and kept in an attic room - everything from flattened Kodak film boxes to toothbrushes and brown medicine bottles. Everything was recorded in tiny writing.

These diaries gave an idea of the life these people led - from school children who kept dairies from aged eight to single women in wartime. Some were very funny, others stark. I have to say that I was far more fascinated by the books than the act of writing poetry from them. The first exercise was writing from the point of view of a teenager and I just couldn't get into that. We also tried an exercise using some part of a diary entry and putting ourselves into it. I couldn't get into that one either because I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing. I began looking at Virginia Woolf's diary for ideas but I really can't relate to her as a person and I remember giving up on her book 'To The Lighthouse' very early on - too much waffle for me. So by the end of the morning session I'd written nothing and spent the time reading extracts from some of the diaries.

Doodling instead of writing!

I do think that I really wasn't in the right frame of mind for this workshop (the writing aspect) but thankfully after lunch I finally managed to write one piece which I shared before I again drifted off and ended up doodling on my notebook! The subject matter was fascinating and that's what drew me and if I'm honest I'd really rather have spent the day looking at the diaries in more detail and discussing them. I can see they might be very useful as a resource for poetry but I would need more time to read and get a feel for them for that to work for me.

There is one diary I think I will have to read by Joan Wyndham ('Love Letters') described on Wikipedia as 'a latterday Pepys in camiknickers.' Her writing is funny. One entry (from 1939) describes how when her mother and Sid (not quite sure who he is) go to church, she gets drunk for the very first time on rum. She says that..... 'it was a very nice experience indeed. I no longer cared a damn what happened to anybody.

Final day........Planning for Success

Festival programme

I've been a very good girl and gone back into my last post and added all the links I should have done the first time round (tiredness is my excuse).

I am now home, still tired, and it will take me a while to digest everything I learned at Winchester Writers' Festival.

The final masterclass was with Simon Hall entitled Planning go Success which left me wondering afterwards whether I should just re-draft my novel after all he said! Seriously, it was brilliant. He went through everything a writer should do to get published, what he calls the Six P's - Premiering, Place, People, Plot, Professionalism and Persistence, all of which add up to the Big P - Publication. Simon had us doing little written exercises and then at one point he had us all close our eyes. None of us knew what he would be doing which created suspense (which is what he wanted). He kicked a chair over, he sprayed (over our heads) his cologne and deodorant and breathed on the back of some heads. Wow! He told us he once got a friend to tie him up and put him in the boot of his car and drive him around so he could see what it felt like -- what he could hear etc. (What would have happened if the friend had been pulled over by the Police, I wonder - 'Yes, sir, and you say he asked you to do it? Of course, sir!)

The session was very interactive and Simon was great at creating those 'tension spots' by starting or saying something that he would go back to later, so it leaves everyone wondering. He does write thrillers, so he's good at this. Simon went into great detail about each 'P' and I think the whole class got tons out of it. Before any break time he'd set a little puzzle. Most were lateral thinking, which I am hopeless at. The logical ones I'm better at - it's the way my mind works.

So, it may be a few days before I get back to my writing. The novel will sit for a bit longer yet. I think some deep mulling is required to take in everything I have learned before I go and edit again. I need to catch up on sleep first because my brain will not work on short rations! A great, if exhausting, weekend and I'm so proud of myself for actually plucking up the courage to go.

My purchases

It's nearly all over....Winchester Writers' Festival

My room for the weekend

I am recovering after a very grueling day at The Winchester Writers' Festival. This should have been the easier day but somehow it ended with me feeling washed out and a headache borne out of lack of sleep over the days, information overload and two one-to-ones. But don't misunderstand me - I am exhausted but happy!

I arrived on a beautiful warm sunny Thursday and dragged my suitcase from the station to Winchester University and checked in somewhere around 3pm. Anyone who has been to Winchester Uni will know when I say that the accommodation is up a steep hill and through various parts of the General Hospital! There was no shuttle bus for Thursday arrivals so it was a walking job. Tough. A student also here for the weekend was trailing her case up the hill so we joined forces, ended up in the wrong building and some kind lady told us where our accommodation was.

I have to say, though basic, I love my room. I have a desk by the window - bliss - and I brought a few home comforts - kettle, tea bags, treats! After unpacking I headed off down into the City and to my favourite cafe, Eighteen 71, and had a cream tea. Then I went for a short walk along the river Itchen and sat for half an hour listening to it flow past. Second bliss of the day!

There was no dinner laid on that night but I had some food with me, so no problem. I headed over to the pub opposite where 'Thursday arrivals' were apparently meeting for networking. When I arrived I couldn't see anyone with badges. Then I spotted them all outside. There were no seats left and I'm afraid that out of my comfort zone (entering a pub on my own) I did a runner! I later found out I wasn't the only one to do that.

Friday was the masterclass I had chosen 'Polishing and Perfecting Your Finished Work' with Lizzie Enfield. Thank goodness I made notes because already I'm having difficulty remembering what we did! We looked at structure and plot, frameworks, viewpoint, themes, getting feedback, literary consultants and the final edit. We did some exercises including writing a bio about us and our novel in 50 words and writing two or three 'book club' questions about our novel. I learned a lot from it, while also confirming that some of the things I'm doing are right.

There were plenty of breaks for coffee and time to look at the book fair and all day one-to-ones were running. My first one-to-one came just after lunch. I was seeing Liz Bonsor from the Blair Partnership. Sitting outside the room where all the agents were was like sitting in the waiting room at the dentist. You could feel the tension! I thought I'd clam up and not be able to speak but Liz put me at my ease and I was amazed that she liked my writing. She suggested a couple of things and said when I was ready to send it out to agents to include her agency. I was on cloud nine and floated out of there. That alone made my weekend.

After dinner, where I met another great bunch of people, I went off to hear Julian Stannard read from his latest poetry collection The Street of Perfect Love (which I bought from the book fair) and Carole Burns from her book The Missing Woman.

Today was another early start with a nine o'clock keynote speech from Sebastian Faulks who was brilliant, amusing and informative. He pitched his talk so well for us writers and fledgling writers. After that there were a series of talks to attend. My first one was 'Do I Need A Literary Agent' with David Headley. It was interesting to hear what an agent actually did and how his agency works with writers to get the best deal. I should say that all the talks lasted about an hour. My next choice was 'Why I Won't Read Past The First Page of Your Manuscript' with Scott Peck. He was so funny but very informative, though many I think felt quite despondent afterwards! He was honest. Simple things like keeping to guidelines to me are obvious, but not to some it seems. Why make things even more difficult for yourself? It's bad enough without ruling yourself out from the start.

After lunch I had my one-to-one with Julian Stannard. I was more nervous about this than I expected. I'd hardly considered my poetry at the time because I was so keyed up about my novel. At first I wasn't altogether sure I really agreed with what he said. At times I felt he was trying to make me write they way he does, but there were other aspects I understood. He was quite radical and I wondered why no one had said these things before. I found his one-to-one more stressful and more personal, yet I felt I was really getting something here if I allowed myself to 'get over myself'! My first thought was I need to write differently, I need to 'massacre my babies'! It was all quite daunting and I left feeling I been through some traumatic experience. In fact my next talk was his, entitled 'Cut. Cut, Cut'. He knew I was coming! Disappointingly there were only five of us. Three then left to go to one-to-ones and the other person booked the talk thinking it was on editing fiction. I was the only poet there! Talk about stressful. Even so, it was good to do. Leaving there I got to my final talk 'Means to an End' with Adrienne Dines' on how you get from start to finish in a novel. I was struggling and longed to just come back to my accommodation and sleep! It was a good session though, well worth attending.

I wasn't longlisted in the poetry competition and as I hadn't opted for the big festival meal I took the shuttle bus back to my room and went to bed to recover! Not that I slept. I needed to think a few things through and get ready for tomorrow.

The masterclass tomorrow is 'Novel Writing: Planning for Success' with Simon Hall but I need some serious sleep, My brain won't switch off at night! However, I am so glad  I took the plunge and came here. I've met some lovely people and had a chance to discuss writing with like minded people which is so good. The authors and agents giving talks are so supportive.

I am wondering if when I get home (I leave straight after the masterclass tomorrow) I will even feel like writing for a while! However, I have started a complete re-draft of the poem Julian gave me feedback on. It was hard to cut all those lines!

Here are a few pictures of my time here:

Cream tea at Eighteen 71

Winchester University

River Itchen, Winchester

View from my window

My accommodation

Inspiration overload at 'Is there a doctor in the house?' day

I am still on a high after yesterday which is why I’m up this morning while the stars are still out writing this piece. I’ll explain.

I attended a jammed packed day with The Poetry School entitled Is there a doctor in the house? and the speakers were students who were or had just completed a PhD in poetry and were using subjects studied as a basis for lectures and workshops. The event was held at the 1901 Arts Club in Exton Street, London, just around the corner from Waterloo Station. The venue is quaint, intimate and cosy. The day began upstairs with registration, refreshments and signing up to workshops. There were a total of eight lectures downstairs, a room able to could cope with everyone attending, if necessary, and eight micro workshops upstairs. We were able to choose up to four workshops. I’d previously been emailed the programme for the day so knew which workshops I’d like to sign up for and I arrived early enough to get my name on each. Workshops were restricted to twenty students. I got talking to a lovely young lady who works part time for Arvon and had been on one of their courses. She enthused about the course which really kick-started her poetry writing. I realised that I was perhaps talking too much and put this down to not normally having enough contact with other writers so suddenly I go into overdrive. I hope I didn’t bore her! Also when I’m nervous I can go from not saying anything to not being able to stop. Gee why can’t I hit the happy medium!

After a short welcome and an explanation of how the day would pan out it was down to business. For me the first event was a lecture by John Challis on The Poem Noir which he explained crossed the genres but borrows from the visual language of classic film noir such as Double Indemnity. John used images from films to show what he meant – the dark stranger, unusual camera angles and the subject matter of complex study of the human condition including hopelessness, failure and betrayal. John also mentioned newer TV programmes which fall into this category, Luther, Breaking Bad, The Killing, Broadchurch. He looked at how the stories come across with loss of identity being a key feature and the use of atmosphere in dynamic dark death and mystery, nightmares, drug state and the underworld. He mentioned the author Chandler who I don’t know and talked about the detective breaking the rules to get the result.

I’d signed up for John’s workshop which came directly after the lecture. I should say here that each lecture and workshop lasted just thirty minutes so a lot was going on in a short space of time and the day whizzed by. In the workshop we had the chance to try out some writing using the imagery of film. As a way in, we were each given a sheet of poems that John felt fell into the category of Poem Noir. They included a series of poems from Fetch by Tamar Yoseloff and Tail by Deryn Rees-Jones from Quiver. We spent a few minutes looking and discussing the poems and then had a go writing our own. We were told to write it as if we were following ourselves like a detective. Some people shared their efforts. My draft wasn’t brilliant but I have since realised that I can use this as a way into a poem I’ve been struggling with for a while. Suddenly I see its potential!

From that workshop I dived straight into the next lecture which was by Tara Bergin, Bloodaxe archive film screening. After a short introduction there was a fifteen minute film which she and one other poet had made while looking through the Bloodaxe archive which now resides at Newcastle University and which had so far been un-categorised. The film included some interviews they had made with JohnHegley, Simon Armitage, Gillian Allnutt and Anne Stevenson.  A very interesting film and project – all this stuff unseen! After the lecture it was upstairs for the workshop entitled Archive into Art. Tara gave us some pointers and we set to work drafting a poem as if we were the archivist coming across something of our own – writing first something from academic stance which then flood into emotions. I found this workshop difficult and couldn’t get a handle on it in the time, though I did share my measly first line!

And then it was lunchtime! I headed off to Sainsbury’s Local only to find the cupboard bare. The few lefts overs were all meat based so I headed over the road to the station and picked up a cheese and tomato baguette. I should have bought lunch when I arrived but you learn. I took my lunch into the Mosaic Garden around St John’s Church where I’d been before to photograph the mosaics and sat in the sunshine. It was a chance to switch off and re-charge the batteries.

The afternoon session for me began with Helen Taylor’s lecture on the Merseybeat Poets, Henri, McGough and Patten. She explained how they worked together making poetry accessible to everyone as an entertainment. I’m a big fan of McGough’s poetry having seen him live – I have never laughed so much – and enjoy the play on words and the sheer humour. Helen showed some examples from the days of performing together and how their methods worked. One example I loved was the play on the You Never Walk Alone song title which had been written by Henri (I think) as You Never Wore Cologne. Say it quickly and see! I just love this stuff and wish humorous poetry got more recognition and was not dumbed down. I wonder how many ‘light’ poems win prizes. I don’t think humour is taken seriously….mmmm!

I then took some time out as there was nothing that really appealed to me in the next section so I grabbed a tea and headed up to the roof terrace which was open all day for those who wanted some space to write or relax. It was lovely up there in the sun and I was joined by two others. We all did our own thing. One lady was busy writing up her poem on her laptop, another had a quick ciggi and read the paper and I dived into my latest read – a biography of Charles Dickens. Afterwards I headed down to the workshop by A B Jackson on Erasure. Wow! I loved this. A bit like found poems but you take a text and basically rub out all the words you are not using leaving only the ones for the poem.  Tom Phillips has done this and is still doing it with a book of around 300 pages which he is erasing leaving only what he wants. See his website here. A B Jackson gave us some extracts from South: the Story of Shakleton’s Last Expedition and we got to work with pen and coloured pencils making our own poems. Those who shared came up with extraordinary poems. I was very impressed. I was also hooked. I love found poems. They are a fun way to relieve writer’s block and the results can be quite liberating. Now I’ve found a new obsession and will be using these methods for sure.

The final lecture I attended was Sound in Poetry by Janet Rogerson. We looked how inseparable sound is from writing poetry, not only in its rhythm and used of assonance and other techniques but our own sound – the one unique to us. Janet calls this our Poetic DNA and often the subconscious will kick in when we write. This is something I have noticed in my own writing. Often when I read something back I realise that I have internal rhymes that have formed automatically, they were not intentionally formed. That always amazes me. This is what engages the reader and often it is this that makes them say – I like that poem but I don’t know why. YES, I know that too. Janet is really onto something here. Our sound also identifies us and forms a thread which runs through all our work. I’d say that it takes some time to find our own voice/sound but I do see things in my own poetry that I would now identify as me. Perhaps others would see that too.

Here the day ended. There was a wrapping-up and goodbye session. I found myself sitting next to A B Jackson and we got into a conversation about his workshop and how much it inspired me. Another lady joined us and we touched again on the copyright issue that came up in the workshop (using the text by another writer even chopped up was a worry for some, including me, on how we stood on publication, did we need to acknowledge sources?) This issue could run but the consensus seems to be that as poets we are making something new and words used are individual or a string of perhaps four together and taken out of context. When I use found poems I often use more than one source and they are all mixed up. Anyone want to comment on this please do. It would be interesting to see how others approach it but on the whole no one says this is a found poem when they submit. It may be obvious but often not. Sometimes the source is acknowledged on a project, instances were given in the workshop and one I know of is Ruth Padel who wrote a series of poems, a mix of her own words and those of Charles Darwin from his scientific notes and journals. Really interesting take on poetry. Like other art forms poetry evolves.

I’ve always like playing with words and using poetry ‘games’ as a way in to new ideas, especially when I’m stuck as it gets the mind working in totally different ways and the work produced is often very different from other poems I write. I find them surprising and exhilarating. The lecture on sound and the one on erasure brought it home to me how much I love working this way. I enjoy experimenting and off the way ideas often appeal to me. I have much here to play with after yesterday, enough to keep me going on those bleak, arid days when words will not come.

There were other lectures and workshops on offer that I was not able to attend or did not quite appeal. I had to toss-up between the lecture on sound and the workshop on Identify with Kath D’Arcy. In the end sound won. All the lectures were filmed by Pighog Poetry and highlights will be appearing soon. I will let you know where. It might just be on The Poetry School Campus site or their main site, possibly Facebook too. Photos were also taken in lectures and workshops. So if you feel you missed something (and you did!) you may still be able to get a piece of the action. I will post links when I have them.  Maybe the success of the event will prompt The Poetry School to make this an annual occurrence. 

#wpad July challenge - Ways to get motivated

WAYS TO GET MOTIVATED

I could say see post for day 20 (What motivates me!) because a lot of that applies.  As it happens today I have been to a workshop at The Poetry School in London on the theme Poetry of Place with Ann Sansom. The morning session was devoted to writing and Ann got us writing from the first moment by giving us a sentence to start us off.  We wrote poems with various prompts - from postcards that we'd been asked to take with us, from prompts Ann gave us and we shared these if we wanted to with the rest of the class. After lunch we gathered to share a poem we had written either in class or one we had prepared earlier.  We shared firstly with the person next to us, getting feedback, editing in necessary and then we shared our poem with the whole class discussing what changes, if any, were made.   I came away with lots of draft poems and ideas for others.  These I can now develop at home.

So, attending a workshop or course is a great way to get you motivated.  I tend to schedule my writing to the academic year and begin collecting brochures - physically or online - before the start of new terms.  Then I look through them all and see what I feel is right for me at this point.  Courses and workshops are great ways to generate new work.  I can only speak for poetry here, though recently I did attend a workshop at Morley College on flash fiction which was good fun (and I came away with some hand-out sheets).  So go for it, learn what you can, get feedback and above all write!

(Promp from http://www.writesofluid.com/wpad/#.UfGJ1Y3VA54)

Working the body

Yesterday I spent the day at a poetry workshop run by Ruth O'Callaghan from Camden and Lumen Poetry. We were a small group, just five of us.  Some had attended Ruth's workshops before and some not.  This was a first for me.  The subject for poetry for the day was the body and we began writing a continuous piece about what had happened to us since midnight until we arrived. We then made a list of things our body demanded or we demanded of it like sleep, food and illness. From this list we then chose one thing to write about in a short poem, how it affected us.  Mine ended up as a rant about disturbed sleep from an unthinking son!  However, it went down well.  We each read our poems and then could feedback our thoughts

The next exercise was to describe an action performed without actually saying what that thing was.  Not easy to guess!  One person wrote about the arm movement during a tennis serve, another the feet in mountaineering, fingers threading a needle, the action of painting and I wrote about the voice in singing.  Then we read them out and offered feedback to each other.

During the course of the day we looked at three poems - Temptation by Nina Cassian, Excerpts From The Body's Sura (I forget the poet, sorry) and The Spirit is to Blunt an Instrument by Anne Stevenson.  All  these describe the body and it's function using different sorts of language.  One of our exercises was to try and write a praise poem in high language about one part of the body.  I was functioning on low battery by now as I'd had a really bad night with no more than about an hours sleep.  Ideas were getting harder to find but I chose the eye and managed about seven lines.  The last exercise was a real struggle and I'm not sure if I really understood what I was supposed to be writing but this time I chose the ear but I couldn't find a way into it (no pun intended!).  I wanted to find out about the function and names of the different parts of the ear....in other words I wanted to research it because that's how I work.  I knew some of the technical terms but I didn't want to write something that didn't make sense until I could find out.  I ended up with two very boring lines and spent the rest of the time doodling - and no it wasn't an ear!

So, I've come away with four potential poems to work with and met some lovely people. It was good to get feedback on what I had written, to know I have some lines appreciated by others.  The two other ladies wrote so well.  How they managed to produce such work in fifteen minutes amazed me.  It takes me a long time to get the initial spark and often it doesn't arrive until the 15 minutes are nearly up!  I find it very hard to think on the spot and end up with ideas and couple of lines where some have written four verses.  How do they do that?  The two men were very different but the younger one seemed very like me - he needs a long time to ponder.  I felt we were allies and we also seemed to share the difficulty in analysing others poetry.  We travelled back on the rail replacement bus (or yes, one of those days!) which allowed us a better chat and we indeed have a lot in common, though he memorises all his poetry to perform and he tells me he writes long poems, it just takes him months to write because he ponders over each word and sentence  until he is happy before he moves on.  It's always interesting to hear how others write.

That will be the last poetry workshop or poetry course I can attend now for some time as in January I am going to two classes in art history.  I shall still be writing but my time will be limited until after Easter while I self indulge the arty side of myself......but there may be some poetry in there as one of the classes is about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (my speciality) and of course William Morris and Rossetti  both wrote poetry!