Do I Have A Favourite Emoji? - #bloganuary

 This is an interesting one because I don't really understand emoji. Until quite recently I thought that the aubergine emoji meant baba ganoushe for tea! But I do use emoji so after a quick trawl thought my Twitter and Facebook I found the one I use the most.

😉

Part of the issue I have with social media is that there is no way to show tone of voice. What I type and intend to be tongue in cheek or jokey can come across differently. But add a winking emoji and hopefully the recipient knows I'm being playful. I don't tend to wink at people in real life, not very becoming in a lady of a certain age. The winking emoji does a lot of heavy lifting in my Twitter!

What Does It Mean To Live Boldly? - #bloganuary

 I'm not bold in any way. Never have been. I don't like 'new' things, I'm happiest with things I am familiar with. I don't like 'dangerous' things like rollercoasters. I hate speed or heights or anything like that. I'm a self confessed chicken!

But I don't think living boldly necessarily means embracing the 'dangerous' side. To me it means not taking any nonsense from anyone, living the life you choose without limits or restrictions. I'm always very admiring of anyone who lives their authentic life, being who they are and to hell with the haters and doubters. It takes real courage to do that and I'm afraid I'm too chicken to rock the boat. I can think of occasions when I took the 'safe' road rather than step outside the expected norms. 

So more power to the bold, boldly going where I'm too scared to go.

What I Like About My Writing - #bloganuary

When I first started thinking about what I like about my writing I thought about the nuts and bolts of writing. I can string together sentences that are simple, compound and complex; I have a good vocabulary and enjoy putting words together in interesting ways; I was taught the mechanics of writing, I know my conjunctions and even know what a fronted adverbial is.

But none of this gets at the heart of what I love about writing. It's more about the feelings that sitting at the laptop or notebook, starting to write and being transported. When I write, if I get into 'the zone', I feel the physical world peel away. I lose track of time, don't notice when it gets dark, don't hear or see what is going on around me. 

I adore being pulled into the world of my imagination, meeting the characters I have created and letting them take my hand and draw me further into the story. Sometimes they push and shove me where I'm not sure I want to go but that's the nature of slipping into my imagination. I always think of imagination as another world where different things happen. I can populate it with people who I have met (cunningly disguised of course!) or I can conjure up people who are nothing like anyone I have ever met. I can travel anywhere, do anything and be as many different versions of me that I can imagine.

It's not about how beautiful the writing is or about what others think about it. I'm not very good at sharing my writing and have yet to be published so what I write is very much for me. I love being in charge of the process at the beginning until that wonderful moment when the story takes wings and flies, tugging the string that tethers it to me until it breaks free and lives on its own.

So I think I'll have to say that it's the experience of being swallowed by the story and allowing myself the luxury of sinking into my imagination that is the best bit for me of writing. And I'm not too bothered about the technical stuff - I'm looking at you fronted adverbials!

People Who Inspire Me - #bloganuary

 When I first read today's prompt I read 'people that I admire' - must clean these glasses! I started to make a list of feminist icons, climate activists, strong women ... Then I looked again and saw it was inspiration rather than admiration and I stopped listing. Being an inspiration is more personal so I looked closer to home.

Jean Cartwright was one of my secondary school English teachers. I looked up to her so much. She was everything I aspired to be - stylish, poised, knowledgeable. I guess I hero-worshipped her. But the inspiring part was that she ignited a love of reading and writing in me. The way she talked about literature as if it was the most wonderful, vital part of life opened my eyes to the possibility that books could change lives, could shape who you were, could open your eyes and your mind. I developed a serious love of literature, possibly to impress Mrs Cartwright but I started to take my English lessons seriously and have continued to study and enjoy books ever since. After she was my teacher we became friends and I used to babysit her daughter. Everything about her lifestyle impressed me - her stylish home, her well stocked bookcases, her quirky little Fiat 500. For a while I wanted to be Jean Cartwright! We lost touch after I went to college and she left my old school but I often think about her and wonder where she ended up.

I'm also inspired by all the women I've met through the What I'm Writing Facebook group. They're all making their best work creatively. They've become friends and I look to them for inspiration when I start to suffer from doubt or procrastinate. Despite having busy lives, full time jobs, children and all the other baggage women carry they write and share and care and inspire. Thank you ladies, you never fail to astound me and surprise me. Keep doing what you do and never lose faith.