Our England flags were handmade by an eager bright eyed five year old. He coloured them in with his new felt tip pens and hung them lovingly in our living room. They are now scrunched up in the bin. Feel bad, feel very bad. Boooo.

Rest

It is starting to feel summery (ok so this is Tatton Park but lets pretend it is sunny Stockport). I was feeling bad because I haven't been writing a great deal, I've been reading and thinking instead. The last short story I wrote I wasn't very happy with but I think on reflection all I needed was to change one of the characters and it might save it. I feel interested in it again now, I think it just needed to rest on the hard drive for a while, it is ready to be woken up again.

Anyway as the flowers have started to bloom and the sun to shine I have taken up the pen again and started to write some things down. I have had a few more ideas lately and once you start writing them down you just seem to get more and more. I think it is about opening your mind up and seeing the world again. When I'm painting I start to look at things and see colours and shapes there. Writing is simular, once you are doing it you see things that would have passed you by before. Hopefully I will get a few more stories finished, I've got some new ideas anyway which is always exciting.

Here is some blue sky in an attempt to ward off the snow. No thanks, move along, more sun please.

I have enjoyed the sensory aspects to Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne. I noticed an appreciation of colour in her writing. I was not surprised to read that she was also a painter. The use of sensory aspects can elevate a story to a new level.

Just finished reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron. Aspects of it reminded me of Great Expectations. I wonder whether this was intentional. It reminded me how everything around us subconsciously influences us in some way.

I have got a place on the Creative Writing MA starting in September. All I can say is yeah and yikes.

Evolution

I have been actually putting words on paper, my river story is evolving slowly but surely. I have found writing on paper has helped. Sometimes when you commit to the computer it feels too final. I've found I don't mind experimenting a bit on paper. Although the downside to this is that I've got loads of bits of the story all over the place, might have to transer it to the screen next.

A bit of flash fiction 'Bumper Crop' is up at the Pygmy Giant site.

http://thepygmygiant.wordpress.com:80/

I have a short piece called 'White' that is now at Lit Up Magazine. Click on the sidebar for a look.

Some writers can make a simple idea engaging and interesting. Sometimes less is more. I have to make sure that I don't overcomplicate things with too much description. It can be hard to get the balance right. Every story you write brings you a bit closer.

My flash fiction 'Needing the Crew' is on MiCrow Winter. Click on the link on the sidebar to read it.

Dark

I have written some darker flash fiction lately. Must be because I've got a cold, or it's winter. My dark side is coming out. It made me wonder how people sustain a certain mood or feel throughout a novel, thinking about it they probably don't.