DAILY HABIT

Hello friends,

We just had a storm over in the UK this weekend. I was recovering from an illness, possibly caused by the mouse bite, possibly a fever. No idea. But one thing I was able to do was write.

I realise that writing for me is a habit. It started when I was young. Life was busier then, so I parked it to one side. But the urge grew and I started properly in my mid thirties.

It was around that time that I worked for the BBC. I was lucky, and met very many talented people. Some of their habits rubbed off on me. I was told two things that stuck. Advice if you like...

1. If you want to be a writer, then write every day. This is very obvious advice, isn't it? But now that I can call myself a writer, it is surprising how few adhere to this but dream one day to be an author. Just write. Then rewrite. Make it a practice every day.

2. Don't wait for Christmas. Now this is a bit cryptic, but one of my favourite camera operators told me this when I was telling him that I wanted to write (I had not picked up the pen again at this time, or was in the early throws of taking it seriously). He reminded me that we cannot wait for our plans to happen, we have to make them happen. We don't have all the time in the world. We need to get on with it.

For all those new writers who might ask me what they should do, all I know is that these two pieces of advice have been the most important to me.

If you are still looking for more inspiration, I cannot recommend enough getting to know John Yorke's writing. I was lucky to go on a few of his courses when I worked in BBC Drama. I think a lot of his advice also applies to prose/novels. Good luck writing. 

Link to John Yorke's book

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Finally, a photo of my trustee typewriter, which I love dearly and use sometimes, but never enough. I reminds me how easy it is now to write on a computer, but also how hard it is on the eyes and the imagination. There is something pretty special about writing and not looking at a screen. 
​Cxx