Lavender

I have a job working in the shop of my local National Trust property.  It is an Arts and Crafts house designed by the architect Philip Webb.  For over 100 years it has stood in East Grinstead overlooking the reservoir.  In fact I believe that the house was built before the reservoir was even there.  I am lucky enough to spend my working day in this wonderful building and when I look out of my window there, I see an ever changing landscape before me.  Inevitably the view is quite often taken for granted and some days I forget to take a moment to look and savour what is before me.   

Beneath my window lies the Lavender Lawn.  Once in bloom, the Lavender will frame the canvas of grass and entice the bees and butterflies into the garden.  It is a beautiful sight and I never tire from looking at it.  Visitors stroll past and cannot resist pinching a leaf and then smelling the aroma of the distinctive scent on their fingers.  The lavender is of course yet to bloom but whilst working this past weekend, I found my attention distracted by a young lady who settled herself on the grass beneath the window.  She then proceeded to spend many hours drawing part of the house.  I couldn’t help but watch her as she lost herself in the building, breaking down each brick and tile so that she could transfer the image onto her paper.  She was capturing the house in her own unique way and this made me think about writing.  As a writer I am trying to capture a moment, a place, a feeling and bring it to the reader in my own way.  It is an artistic expression and if I succeed my reader will translate that story so that it then becomes theirs.  They decide what to take from it and what to miss.  I think that is what I love about literature.  Every time I pick up a book, it becomes my personal experience.  Quite often I read too quickly as I am carried along by the story.  Sometimes it is good to slow down and really look at the detail; this I think can be good advice for all areas of life.  Rushing around we miss so much; time to slow down and smell the lavender.      

Patience and a Funny Girl.

I love writing.  Already I’m discovering how much hard work goes into it, but that’s good, it makes the final result so much more satisfying.  Sunday evening I sat at my computer for an hour and wrote another short story.  It is a very rough first draft.  It needs shaping and nurturing and the finished result may be totally different but it will be mine.  I had an idea and made a start and I must admit I was a little taken aback by the end result.   My idea was for a love story inspired by a song called Funny Girl, it was going to be warm and romantic; happy even.  What emerged was something very different and quite dark actually.  I quite like the idea of starting off and just letting your imagination take you on this journey.  I’m looking forward to working on it some more.  I’ll share some of it with you soon.

I’ve read and heard a great deal this week about the time it can take to have a book published even once all the writing has been done.  Patience and determination are obviously required.  It’s certainly not a smooth road but you know what?  It doesn’t put me off.  In fact it just makes me more determined to keep going.  I get so much pleasure from just the creative process and I really hope I get to the point where I’m tearing my hair out trying to find a publisher.  Surely it will be worth the wait in the end.  The question is do I have the patience?  Hmmm, not so sure.    

An evening of fun and inspiration with Ali Sparkes.

Last night I attended The East Grinstead Writers Association’s ‘An Evening with Ali Sparkes’.  Ali is a children’s author who fell in love with reading when she discovered Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five at the age of eight.  She won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2010 and has a great following and it’s easy to see why when you meet her.   Ali was a delight to listen to and has a wonderful sense of humour.  In the space of an hour she told us the highs and lows of her writing life so far.  I was inspired by her confidence and total belief in her writing.  How refreshing and wonderful!

We all know that as a writer you need to be a little thick skinned if you want to be published, as there will be many rejections along the way.  The trick is not to give up; to know that each and every rejection is the path to being published.  It shows that you are putting your work out there and you just need to hold on to the belief that it will happen for you.  One thing that I love about writing is that there is no age limit.  It is something you can do from the moment you learn to write until the day you put your pen down for the very last time.  As long as you are inspired and enjoy what you are doing, keep going.  

For me the evening only strengthened my love for books and writing.  What we read as a child can have a profound effect on the rest of our lives.  I look forward to sharing the books I loved as a child with my four year old as well as discovering new stories together.  I also look forward to the day when I can share my own stories with him too. J