Keep calm and carry on ...

A couple of weeks ago I attended a brilliant afternoon of talks from 3 pretty famous children's authors.

Wanna-be children's writers huddled up together in the library for story time.

'Don't ever be put off by rejection letters because it [your precious manuscript] probably hasn't been read !'

Well, what can we say ???

Answers on a post card - or leave a comment.

Keep writing everyone - Don't give up - We'll get there in the end !

Gillian

The Fantastic ...

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore ... no comment required - just watch - Brilliant !!!

100 things to do ... maybe ...

Try this for motivation ... even if you don't want to do any of them ... bet you will do something !!!

100 random things to do  ...

1  Join a rambling club

2  Write a letter to yourself

3  Draw your lunch

4  Read a book

5  State 5 good things about yourself

6  Go to a gym

7  Give yourself 3 pieces of advice

8  Buy something inexpensive as a symbol

9  Visit an elderly relative

10 Find a poem you like

11 Re-write it and stick it on your fridge

12 Fill an envelope with things you have collected on a walk

13 Do some gardening or buy a houseplant

14 Check out your photo album

15 Spend a day drawing only blue things

16 Make a list of everything you bought last week

17 List everyone you know

18 Buy some flowers for someone else

19 Make cakes for a neighbour

20 Chalk something on your path

21 Tidy out one cupboard

22 Make a map of everywhere you went in one day

23 Draw your shoes in detail

24 Make a shopping list of everything you want in life

25 Draw a tree

26 List 3 habits you have

27 Slice an apple and eat it

28 Learn something new

29 List 5 all-time favourite songs

30 Begin a diary

31 List 3 famous people you respect or admire

32 Go on a train journey

33 Run on the spot for 5 minutes

34 Join a choir

35 Organise a charity event

35 Go swimming

35 Play a board game

36 Make something silly with card or material

37 Clear a storage cupboard 

38 Make a private den in the garden / shed / garage 

39 Learn a joke and tell it

40 Cook something new

41 Read a story or poem out loud

42 Contact 2 friends you haven’t seen for ages

43 Make a blog

44 Enrol on a course

45 Give blood

46 Write a letter to someone you admire

47 Draw your food shopping list

48 Bake some biscuits

49 Go for a run - join a running group

50 Save glass jars and make them useful

51 Listen to the birds

52 Sit on a street bench and listen

53 Study the faces of your work colleagues

54 Doodle a whole page

55 Take unwanted items to a charity shop

56 Make a home-made greetings card

57 Make a list of all the places you have lived

58 Pick apples and make some chutney

59 Draw your favourite room in detail

60 Describe yourself in 5 words

61 List all the things in your garage / shed / loft

61 Go on a bike ride

62 Write a letter to your local newspaper

63 Draw all the things in your handbag or pocket

64 Clear our your wardrobe

65 Write a journal

66 Draw a map of your town / village / environment

67 Name 3 favourite characters from your childhood stories

68 Go to a beach in cold weather

69 Make a collage

70 Go to a market

71 Write a list of colours in your favourite order

72 Do a crossword

73 Make something for your home

74 Research another culture

75 List 5 things you want to do one day

75 Change your hair-style

76 Set the table for someone else

77 Go to a car boot or table top sale

78 Look up 3 words you don’t really understand

79 Draw some of the doors from your life

80 Join a dance class

81 Collect some flowers and press them

82 Research a Greek myth

82 Choose a colour. Go for a walk. Recognise anything in that colour

83 Mend something that’s been broken for ages

84 Make up with family members

85 Find a new hobby

85 Write to a magazine 

86 Go to a poetry reading

87 Look at photos of you as a child - say how you felt

88 Write out pent up feelings in large letters

89 Visit an art gallery

90 Write a list of all the places you want to visit

91 Find a new word and use it all week

92 Make dot to dot images - ask other people to connect the dots

93 Go on a picnic

94 Research someone from history

95 Have a street party in your house

96 Visit a zoo, wildlife park or conservation area

97 Find a library

98 Cook your favourite meal for a friend

99 Go to the countryside - or the city

100 Do something useful today

101 Write a list of 100 things to do 

Please feel free to add to the list - add a comment, tweet, Facebook or email gmhesketh@googlemail.com

Enjoy, Gillian

Did you know ...

Did you know that Roald Dahl was 6 foot 6 inches tall ? ? ?

No wonder my big favourite of children's authors had so many tall stories to tell.

Gillian

It's a good day to turn your life around ...

Courtesy of www.facebook.com/openmindyoga - check it out  - great for writerly triggers !

So, why not turn your life around?

Other than my pre-children life, I've only really re-learned to focus on creative projects over the past few years - I've been a busy fool - putting all the little things in place to clear space for the big things ... Obviously that hasn't been working from a business and writer's point of view [although it did work for children's birthday parties, the school run, uni visits; food hampers, laundry, washing up 12 pans of dried food, laundry, tea in the pub and twenty quid dropped in the pocket for no apparent reason. But now the nest is empty - at least Mon - Fri - and I have time to focus on new Big things. Writerly things.

Researching for a recent writing project, I realised that turning your life around doesn't have to be one huge leap [there I go, thinking 'little things' again!]. Making small changes [oops], trying new things or re-visiting things you used to do in the olden days can be so rewarding - and useful for writers in the re-seeing, re-remembering of events [ a bit like Proust's 'little crumb of madeleine' ]. So for me, one thing I've done is join Poulton People's choir, mastered by the wonderful musically talented [obv] and energetic Tony Brindle [see Facebook page www.facebook.com/groups/ppchoir/].  [oh and ps - thanks Gareth Malone for reviving the choir - and all things singing].

From a writer's pov [and this isn't the reason I joined a choir], the opportunity to explore and examine 120 expressions, tones, non-verbal mannerisms, idiosyncrasies, costumes [thank-you singers], on a weekly basis is wonderful. In truth, apart from the music, the energy re-vitalises me, presses a creative button and there I am ... writing till gone two in the morning [not to be recommended].

Even in these times of constraint and financial gloom, there appears to be more opportunity to join in with creative stuff - or is it just that I've re-surfaced? People seem to be joining in with creative community projects, book clubs, poetry groups and mini-lit festivals appear to be popping up all over the country. My next project is to seek out Blackpool's Dead Good Poets [see Facebook page] which seems to be going from strength to strength.

But back to the small changes. At the choir, I came across an opportunity to join an Am-Dram group [more expressions, mannerisms, costumes ...] from there I met a freelance journalist, after that, we formed a writers' group. Triggered by this, I invented two characters; a short story which I extended it into a novel with ebook and series potential. Okay, the second part isn't totally true - but isn't that fiction?

And back to the little things. Turning your life around doesn't have to be a massively colossal, hugely overwhelming project ... it's quite often the little things that count !

Join something new. Get involved. With people. Write. You know you want to.

Hope it works for you, Gillian