The Prompt - Silver

Isolated even when among others
Standing tall and stately,
Yielding in the breeze.
The silver birch is prince of trees.

The ghostly silhouette
Straight and fragile in the copse.
Untouchable in its solitary stance.
The silver birch is prince of trees.

Unapproachable and remote
It stands alone and aloof.
Not a trees that invites hugging.
The silver birch is prince of trees.

In autumn it sheds delicate leaves,
In winter clothed in ice white bark,
In spring the freshest green cloaks its branches.
The silver birch is prince of trees.

What I'm Writing - Patreon

This week I finally got round to setting up my Patreon page. I'm brimming over with enthusiasm due to all the planning I've been doing and it seemed like the perfect time to see if Patreon had anything to offer me.

It took me a while to get used to the setup and there were a few hiccups when I misunderstood what I had to do - step forward my tech wizard son! So now I have a page where people can pay me to produce content and where they can follow the progress of the novel I'm planning.

So far nothing to report. I'm not sure if it's possible to see how many 'looks' my page has had in the way I can on the blog so I'm not even sure if it's been noticed. Now I need to publicise the page and drive a bit of traffic to it - never my strongest suit but it has to be done.   I also need to produce some content for the page so that the potential patrons can see what I can do - might copy some of the things from this blog over to give a taste of my style.

Let's see if this Patreon idea works for writers in the way it seems to for gamers and visual artists.

The Prompt - Control

Control

I'm falling, out of control.

There is nothing to catch me, nothing to hold me up. Everything I thought I knew, all the certainties of life are gone. They went when you left.

I'm too old to be an orphan yet that is what I am. The twin anchors of my life have gone. I'm not the first this has happened to, I'm not alone in this but it feels as if I'm totally and utterly alone. Bereft and alone.

The time for tears has passed yet I still feel on the verge of weeping at unexpected moments. A word, a phrase, a memory, all have the power to upset and unnerve.

While you were here with us, you were the control in our lives. We came to you for advice, for support. We came to you to share our joys and happiness. We looked to you for guidance and knew you would exert the control we needed.

Now I am adrift, I'm falling and out of control. How do I manage, how do we manage without you? 

    

Word of the Week - Professional

Now I know what you're thinking - that's an awfully grown up word for Johanne to choose as her WotW, she's usually a tad frivolous, isn't she?

Well for a change I'm trying to be more professional. I'm trying to approach my writing like it's a proper, mature thing that I'm doing rather than a hobby.  I've long harboured the dream of writing a book, a real book written by a real writer. But I've done nothing serious about writing it. I've thought about it, dreamed about it and even had a few half hearted attempts at writing something of length and substance. But I've always failed, run out of steam before getting to the end (or even the middle if I'm honest).

So I'm changing the way I do things. I have an idea to work with, I'm doing some serious planning so I know exactly where the story is going, I'm not rushing straight into writing without knowing how things are going to turn out. If I'm going to be a writer then I need to approach it seriously, as if it matters to me and is important.

So there we are. I'm trying to be more professional as a writer.  No, strike that. I am being more professional, I am being a professional writer. If I say it often enough I will start to believe it!