A Poem for the New Year

At the Stroke of Midnight

 

The champagne and poppers are ready,
The family have gathered all ready,
Food and laughter pass the time away,
A brand new year is on its way.

As the night gets colder,

We realise we’re a year older,
Laugh at the memories that come to mind,
And tears come for those we left behind.

But the countdown has begun,

And Auld Lang Syne will be sung,
Hold loved ones close to your heart
For now begins a brand new start.

Only ten seconds to go,
The champagne begins to flow,
It’s not long before a new year
will finally be here.

So raise your glass,
Another year will pass,
A new era will begin tonight,
At the stroke of midnight.

National Poetry Day - 4/10/12

Events took place across the UK from readings to exhibitions to celebrate everything to do with poetry. Some of the highlights this year included the National Poetry Day Live at the South Bank Centre, and the Piccadilly lights display of Charles Causley's beautiful poem 'I Am The Song'.

National Poetry Day began in 1994 and since then has been engaging millions of people with poetry. The day certainly presents a fantastic opportunity to rekindle our love for poetry, especially if like me, you find yourself focusing far more on prose. It also provides the perfect excuse to flex those writing muscles. Every year has a different theme, and the theme this year is 'stars'. To celebrate National Poetry Day I decided to have a go...


The stars are sparkling against the dark
blue sky. The Sun has set, the Moon is high,
The stage is lit, and time is standing still.

The camera captures each perfect angle
Their flashes burst like bubbles in champagne
while shadows dance upon the scarlet floor.

The stargazers watch. But I watch for you.

The Blank Page

(Previously published on my last blog as Where to Begin?)

Here it is the blank page. You’ve taken the time to open your notebook and the pen is ready and waiting. Now what? You procrastinate. You begin to do other things and the blank page stays blank. All those wonderful thoughts, little snippets of dialogue and traces of a possible story stay in your head and eventually die out. Believe me; I’ve been through this too many times. What can we do about this? Here are a couple of suggestions that I picked up on my course:

·         Keep a notebook: anyone who is serious about writing should keep one. I know a writer who keeps three notebooks in her bag! Jot down any random bits of dialogue, thoughts, descriptions etc, and when you come to do some writing, go through your notebook and pick something that strikes you the most. Then see where you go from there.

·         Learn from others: If you already have a story in mind but not sure how to start then pick four books. One that opens with a description, one that opens with a statement, one that opens with dialogue and one that opens with action. Think of your story and write four openings, each one of them corresponding to the different styles. See which one of the four openings feels right and go on from there.

 ·         Think of your genre: sometimes knowing your genre can help where to begin. For example if you’re writing a crime story you can start with the actual crime or maybe start with the perpetrator about to commit a crime. That way you hit the ground running and pull the readers in. So think about your genre.

Have a go...

Enter the ebook

Whether or not you're a fan of them, ebooks are grabbing the spotlights in the publishing world. In the UK, ebook sales have risen by over 300% while a recent study has also shown that ebooks have overtaken sales of hardbacks in the US. Not bad for something I thought wouldn't catch on.

However it is putting a strain on bookshops especially the independent ones which is hardly surprising. About 190 independent booksellers have closed down since 2009, out of those, 65 ceased trading last year.

So is it the beginning of the end of the print book? I imagine that was the kind of question posed when music downloads were introduced. Would music downloads spell the end of the CD? Downloads have certainly increased and they are now overtaking the sales of the CD but all this hasn't happened over night and there are still a lot of people who don't want to switch to downloads.

Not everyone who has joined the ebook evolution has been entirely satisfied with it with some saying they 'miss' the feel of a paperback. So could this be just another technology phase?  What I find interesting is that while the economic crisis continues, so does the popularity of the ebook. So could there be an economical motivation behind the surge in sales? The average price of a paperback is £6.99 yet you can get an ebook for about £0.72. Some are even free.

Whatever it is, it's going to be a very interesting future...

National Flash Fiction Day

Today is the first ever National Flash Fiction Day and anyone familiar with this form will no doubt be celebrating by writing one or two pieces. After reading some tips and suggestions on the form I decided to have a go myself:


                                         Pencil Tears

She's been kicked and shouted at. Her left leg hurts, a bandage is wrapped around her ankle. She looks down at the kitchen table. The little ones pencils and pictures are scattered, drawings of matchstick versions of family and friends with smiley faces and rosy cheeks. She sees herself. Small, plain - standing at the end of the line. She picks up a blue colouring pencil and draws tiny teardrops next to her right eye. The front door opens, she puts the pencil back and quickly hides the drawing beneath the others. The man of the house enters the kitchen. She smiles. He merely glances at her, throws his gym bag on the floor and leaves. She picks up the bag but doesn't know why.

Down the Writing Road (1)

I planned everything carefully. I was going to make a quick stop and redraft my 5,000 word short story in time for a competition before continuing straight ahead with the rest of my novel. Instead I was stuck in a traffic jam in procrastination lane. Hmmm...

It's not that I don't have any ideas, or that I'm stuck on what to do next, it's picking up the pen and actually writing that is problem. It's like my hand just can't be bothered. I couldn't write anything. When I hear other writers talking about writing 2,000 words a day I think to myself, really?

Now I said 'was stuck' because luckily I've moved on a little. After reading some brilliant advice from the Mslexia writer's diary I decided to take a U-turn and go down the non-fiction street by writing some reviews and this has actually helped me start writing again. I've got two books, two radio plays and an audiobook to review and so far it's been fun. It may not be what I was hoping to write but at least it counts as writing...

National Stationary Day

I just discovered (thanks to Twitter) that it's National Stationary Day. Honest. :) If like me you spend ages wandering around stationary shops admiring every single item and have dozens of notebooks and pens in just about every corner of the house, you'll know that this is the perfect excuse to get some more!

Happy Birthday Shakespeare

Yesterday was the birthday of one of my favourite writers - William Shakespeare and I thought now would be a good time to start my blog.

Although I have to admit saying 'birthday' is a bit strange. Partly because he died centuries ago and partly because he died on his birthday. I remember someone joked, 'he must have had one hell of a party'...

Still, for all Shakespeare fans it's a time to celebrate him and his numerous works. I celebrated (as I imagine many poets did), by reading some of his many famous sonnets. Others have celebrated on a grander scale. Yesterday saw the launch of the World Shakespeare festival in which his thirty-seven plays will be performed in thirty-seven languages including sign. The BBC are also celebrating with their 'Shakespeare Unlocked Season' which includes three new radio adaptations. The first of which was broadcast last Sunday. There are also numerous productions taking place across the UK.

It just goes to show that he is just as popular today as he was all those years ago, and not just seen as an English poet, but as a worldwide icon of literature. 'Happy birthday Shakespeare' was even a top trend on Twitter. Now considering Twitter is mostly dominated by Justin Bieber fans - I thought that was pretty impressive!