It’s a Saturday morning and I am at the beginning of a 3-day writing marathon. I wrote about this concept in an earlier post. This weekend is the first chance I have to put it into practise. I thought it would be useful to capture the process in real-time and see how it goes. Apologies … Read more
Writing – a whole day dancing around the writing task. It’s a familiar pattern. Recently I started listening to the archive of podcasts called ‘Page Up‘ by Angela Lauria. There are some interesting ideas about writing and publishing in each episode. She acknowledges that there are different types of writers. Some write little and often, doing … Read more
Sometimes the gremlins come along and bite you! If you have been reading blog posts here over the last couple of months, you would be forgiven for thinking that everything is flowing beautifully and I am in a state of flow. I read recently in a blog post by Steven Pressfield a comment he made … Read more
This is the latest poem written in the sequence I am currently working on. The sequence is called “Blue: experiments in sound” and it includes a sequence of poems and accompanying sound pieces. It should be finished within the next month or so: BOUNDED PEACE Of understanding I know nothing even when the wind blows through these … Read more
One of my writing projects that I am currently working on is a ‘Retreat Diary’ from the week-long retreat I did back in April. Here is a short extract from it: From Shantideva’s “The Way of the Bodhisattva” Just as the awakened ones of the past Aroused an awakened mind And progressively established themselves In the practices … Read more
I wrote recently about some of the ideas in “Accidental Genius” by Mark Levy. It’s a really inspiring book full of great practical ideas to get the creativity flowing. One of these ideas, which I was really struck by is the idea of a Writing Marathon. For a while now I have been using a … Read more
A new poem today – from a forthcoming publication without a title as yet. It’s the fourth sequence of poems about a character called Blue. The first one was written way back in 1985. You could say this character has not let me go: —– “Alone is the only way to be” thinks Blue Misanthropic in … Read more
After a long pause from blogging it can be really difficult to get back to it. The same resistance is there for exercise or any other habit. Once the pattern is broken it becomes incredibly difficult to get going again. Steven Pressfield wrote “The War of Art” in which he looks at all the issues … Read more
I wrote recently about a letter writing exercise which involves writing letters to a hero or someone who has had a big influence on you, and then writing the reply to yourself as though you are that person. Here is one I wrote to myself recently: Experience has taught me not to compromise. My best … Read more
When I am struggling to get something moving, when the idea is stuck. That’s when it’s a good idea to open my favourite typing space (could be Word, could be Evernote, depends on my mood) and just start to type. I make sure that the typing is informal, almost like a conversation with myself. Using … Read more