The listening way to tie up loose ends

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Can we ever tie up loose ends?

I had my first ending last night.

I’m no good at sewing. But I like my ends sewn up. Which is why I’ve been intrigued by my inability to tie up loose ends, and my simultaneous detestation of them. Yet those ends tend to dangle in my life.

I’ve lost my dad to cancer, my mother to dementia, and my sister to fraud. Hey, I could win hands-down the Derby of Suffering, and the Grand National of Loss.

But I have never properly or consciously managed an ending. Until today. Continue reading →

Candy-floss memories of a pier from my past

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I felt all nostalgic today when I heard that British Tourism Week had kicked off with Party on the Pier.

Memories of Blackpool pier.

Apparently, piers in seaside towns are having a huge revival – thanks to more UK holidaymakers taking more domestic breaks; the phenomenon otherwise known as the staycation – and this week is celebrating the UK’s piers and their heritage, in conjunction with the National Piers Society.

But it’s not the heritage, or the staycation, or the celebrations that make me feel nostalgic. Its my candy-floss memories as a child, hopping, skipping and jumping along Blackpool prom to get to one of the town’s three piers.

Being Blackpool, the breeze was always bracing, and strong enough to Continue reading →

giving myself permission to be imperfect improves my creative writing

Posted on by inktuition
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I attended a creative writing class recently, facilitated as part of a community project – the idea being that people could come along and have fun writing stories and poems. In other words, this process helped give people the ability to articulate what could otherwise not be said, and the opportunity to express in an oblique way what was going on for them. What emerged was some powerful writing with strong symbolic resonance.

Since studying for an MA in creative writing, I’ve approached my prose as something that has to be ‘perfect’: I carefully craft each word as if each one might be judged and found wanting. What was so liberating about this creative writing class was that Continue reading →

great quote about writing

Posted on by inktuition
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Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don’t start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
William Safire, Great Rules of Writing

Finding synchronicity in a singing stuffed toy

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I found synchronicity in a singing teddy bear yesterday.

Bear with me (if you’ll pardon the pun!) One of my daughter’s teddies fell out of bed yesterday morning and set off his inner melody, singing some unrecognisable but cute ditty. Anyway, this teddy must have fallen awkwardly onto his foot (where the music mechanism is activated) and the singing just wouldn’t stop. He was still singing after breakfast… after we got dressed and brushed our teeth… after I’d come home after dropping her off at school. The singing turned into whining, but Continue reading →

Creativity comes from passion and practice, say scientists

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Apparently creativity isn’t solely down to divine inspiration after all. Scientists now claim they can measure creativity – and, instead of waiting for the muse to strike, people can make their own creative juices flow, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

How? Well, honing your craft is number one: once you’re good at what you do, you focus less on the mechanics of the craft and you’re able to let it Continue reading →

Happy Festa della Donna

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My memories of International Women’s Day – in Italy 20 years ago – were of a huge party for every woman in the country, from the youngest to the oldest. Restaurants were packed with generations of women, and nightclubs had ladies-only nights (though the romeos, typically, managed to sneak in, as it was too good an opportunity to miss).

Mimosa symbolises strength and femininity.

Everyone gave each other Mimosa – which, for me, symbolises freshness, Spring, hope and vibrancy – and celebrated female company. While I appreciate that International Women’s Day is a reminder of how far we’ve come – and how far women have to go, in terms of beating sexism in the workplace and in their personal lives, and in closing the gender pay gap – for today, here’s to a happy Festa della Donna.

Is a deadline the answer to my unfinished novel?

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There’s nothing like a deadline to focus one’s mind and get a job done. After 15 years as a journalist and editor, I know how motivating (and terrifying) a deadline can be. But without it, procrastination can take over – and all kinds of other jobs can fill that time between now and delivery day.

What I hadn’t considered was applying a deadline to the novel I’m writing. Robert McCrum’s blog in the Guardian on how deadlines can give life to creative writing highlights the difference between ‘naive’ and ‘sentimental’ poets, Continue reading →

The benefits of a meaningful spring clean

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I’ve spent most of the weekend spring cleaning my house. To the unfamiliar eye, my house probably looks no different. But with the dust busted, the cobwebs cleared, the limescale zapped, and the clutter either recycled or allocated a new, meaningful slot, the house feels friendly, fresh, free.

My pristine worktops shine with pride. The kitchen sink, scrubbed and steely, harbours no more stuck little secrets. My upstairs windows stayed open all day, even with a temperature of six degrees outside, and the breaths of benign wind have Continue reading →