People Watching

I'm a real fan of people watching, it's a fabulous thing to do over a coffee and cake when you have some time to spare. As a writer I think it's important for me to notice everything that goes on around me. After all there may be a story idea lurking or a perfect character to build a tale around. So I make no apologies for keeping tabs on the folk I see while going about my day.

One memorable encounter was while I was having a cup of tea and some cake inn Oxford. I spotted a rather striking chap with a most impressive set of dreads. I'm a sucker for dreadlocks so my eye was drawn to him immediately. He was sat in the churchyard next door to the coffee shop so I couldn't hear what was being said but I was very aware of his body language. He was waving his hands and arms around most expressively, jumping about in his seat and was really very animated. His locks were waving and swaying down his back as I watched him. The woman he was with was very slim with long blonde hair pulled back in a loose pony tail. She was wearing a multi-coloured jacket and had a hippyish look. She sat very still and her eyes were locked on her phone the whole time. I was fascinated by their interplay; he was so animated and alive and she was static and detached. After a while he stilled and sipped his drink. She then looked up and spoke a few words to him; they then stood up and left the churchyard hand in hand.

I wondered about their relationship. He seemed so alive and she seemed so apart, an odd couple indeed. I wondered what he could have been saying. It was so animated and yet she wasn't pulled in to the conversation. Maybe she had heard it all before, who knows? Maybe he's the sort who rambles on and on and she just tunes him out when he's on a roll. But they fascinated me and I have continued to think about the dynamic between them ever since. Perhaps they will crop up in a story some day but I'm not sure from whose point of view I'd write it.

I have many of these observations in my writer's notebook. I sit quietly an watch, jotting down what I see or what I imagine. It's a game I used to play when I was at college, inventing lives for random people I saw, giving them names and back stories. Little did I know that I was laying the foundations for future stories I would write. It is true that nothing is ever wasted when you are a writer. Everyone you meet is a potential character, every situation a potential plot, every venue a potential setting. I do wonder I people worry I am plotting how to include them in a story!

So next time you spot someone scribbling away in a coffee shop be aware of what you are doing; it might be me looking for a  character who will turn into a right rotter...

Goodbye to 2016

2016, you were filled with tears.
Too many left too soon.
Each day another star extinguished.

2016, you were filled with anger.
People divided by voting results.
Communities fractured and hurt.

2016, you were blood stained.
Wars, violence, pain and anguish.
The innocent caught up in the rage.

2016, you promised so much.
New Year hopes and dreams,
Shattered as the months rolled by.

2016, you will not be missed.
You were harsh and heartless.
You were painful and violent.

2016, you are consigned to history.
We do not mourn your passing.
We are glad you have left.

2017, we welcome you.
We are filled with hope, looking forward.
We pray you are better than the one past.

Dreaming of Writing

Well, that was a first. Last night I had a dream about writing. Not doing it but sitting on a lovely sofa with other writers talking about it and sharing our writing. It was a wonderful and life affirming dream, something I haven't had for a long time. If only I could find a sofa like the one in the dream in real life, it was lush!

When I woke up I wondered what the dream might mean. I'm not usually one for interpreting my dreams but this was most odd. I've never had a dream in any way related to writing before so there must have bene something psychological to trigger it. I guess lately I have been thinking about my writing a little more than usual as I make plan for 2017 so that may be the reason why this dream popped up at this time. Who knows?

But the thing that struck me most about the dream was how lovely and supportive it all was. There was tea and cake, laughter and wonderful words, a warm friendly feeling in the room. And of course that beautiful sofa. The friends I was with were some of the friends I have made through my writing and their blogs but some were people I have not seen before, just phantoms conjured up by my imagination. It was an all women group - hence the cake and laughter - and I felt so blessed to be part of the group.

Part of it made me sad when I thought back to a meeting I wanted to attend but was unable to late last year when I could have met some of those women. But it also made me determined to make sure I met up with them when I have the chance in 2017. The online community we have is strong and supportive but I really want to have a chance to say thank you in person for the strength they have given me as I come out of my cocoon as a writer. Plus there may be cake! Am I obsessing about cake now? I feel a baking day coming on ...

So as the New Year rolls on and we all plan for 2017 I will take comfort in the support of my fellow writers wherever they may be. I will plan for success this year and plan to meet as many of those wonderful women as I can in the coming months. And I will dream of cake, comfy sofas and sharing my writing with friends.

Do We Need To Make Resolutions?

Each New Year people rush to make resolutions. Something about January 1st compels them to think about what they wish to change about their lives, what they want to improve or what might be accomplished. It all seems rather arbitrary but every year it's the same; chimes strike at midnight and everyone is making resolutions!


I've certainly been guilty of doing the same. I get caught up in the excitement of the day and start thinking about all the things in my life that I wish were different or that I could change. And I guess like many people I either forget all about them or fail before January if it's the old chestnut about starting a diet or getting fitter. So is there any point to these resolutions? Are we just setting ourselves up to fail by making resolutions that are doomed as soon as we make them?


We all have things in our lives that we'd like to change. We all have things that we'd like to accomplish in our lives. But the problem is that most of us don't know how to make these things happen. We blunder about doing the same things as usual and another year passes and we haven't addressed our weight issues or improved our fitness or done any of the things we promised on January 1st.


So how do we go about making the changes we want? I suppose one of the problems with New Year's resolutions is that we rush to make them without any idea how we could make them happen. So we say we want to get fitter or thinner or learn to drive or parachute jump or - well you get the drift. But without a plan then things slide and February arrives and we've done little or nothing towards the dream or promise. So we abandon the idea until next year when we make the same resolution all over again.

Now I know that planning isn't sexy, not something we think of in a champagne haze at midnight at New Year but it's essential if we are to succeed. I have made plans to up my blogging game this year and to get my novel finished and published by the end of the year. And that is what is different from previous year's. I have thought about what I want to achieve, I have worked out the steps I need to take to get there and by this time next year I fully expect to have done all I wanted to. But the difference is that I have planned it all out. I'm not shouting out the usual platitudes over the chimes of Big Ben.  I know that's not the traditional way of doing things but it's rather comforting.

So this year I'm not making resolutions. I have already done my planning for 2017 and I don't need to add anything to them. I will try to get on top of my weight and fitness but I'm not going to put pressure on myself by burdening them with the resolution tag.

Happy New Year!