The Power Of Knowledge


When I finished my Faber course back in April one of the last things our tutor said was, don’t enrol on anymore writing classes, just get on with it now, and WRITE!

Initially I thought, yeah, great advice….like Nike says “Just Do It!

But then a couple of weeks ago I heard an interview on the radio with Tracy Chevalier (who wrote Girl With A Pearl Earring) where the interviewer asked her why she had decided to go down the Creative Writing MA route rather than just write. She responded by saying that she felt she needed the structure and instruction that a course like that gave her.

I was already thinking what the hell was I was going to do after Faber and Tracy’s words really struck home. I think I’m quite a lazy writer, no, perhaps not lazy, oh what’s the word? I’m the type of writer who needs a push. When it comes to a choice between the carrot and the stick I probably respond better to the stick, that’s for sure. I suffer from huge motivation issues.

Sooooo, after hearing what Tracy said I went straight online and looked up writing courses. I still have so much to learn (I feel) and as I’m a member of 2 writing groups I don’t feel that I’m lacking in contact with fellow writers, so I was looking for something I could do at my own pace, at home.

I’d seen adverts for The Writers Bureau in all the writing magazines. I know people who have done the course, and I even know a couple of writers who tutor for them. So I signed up for the Comprehensive Writing Course and my pack arrived last week 🙂

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I’m a big believer in learning as much as I can about writing, but I know at some stage my Faber tutor is right, but I don’t feel I’m ready to let go of learning, just yet….So when will I know I am?

I’m A Pussy ;)


Is “pussy” a Concrete Noun? I think it is 😉

Had an e mail yesterday from the OCA offering me a place on a Writing Course/Retreat at one of the Arvon Centres as part of my course. Considerably reduced rate, only 16 places available, all participants will be OCA students studying my course. Initially I’m thinking, oooooooo 🙂 and then, hello, reality check! All the way to Yorkshire to live in a house with 15 people I don’t know (plus 3 Writing tutors) on my own? *shudders* ummmm, no, I don’t think so lol

It’s funny…..a friend said to me yesterday that she doesn’t mind being in a crowd of people she doesn’t know when she’s with me as I’ll be the one doing all the talking lol….oh wow, how wrong can she be! Lol….I am so not really like that! She’s known me for 30 years lol

Soooo, after much consideration I won’t be going. Yeah yeah, I know it’s a great opportunity, but, there’s nowhere to hide is there. At Swanwick there are lots of places to hide. There are so many people that when I want a quiet cigarette, on my own, I can, quite easily….i wont be missed. I’m a bit of a loner at heart 😉

A shame I know, but I’m just not confident enough to go on my own *deep sigh*

Just been alerted to this page through another Blog I follow. I’d love to get involved in ‘creative’ projects in my area…..but don’t really know where to start. I’ll visit all the websites listed and see what catches my eye 🙂

Today I cracked on with the next part of the course which is all about Concrete Nouns *yawn* I had to pick some random Concrete Nouns and find other concrete Nouns that could be used to describe the originals. Actually, it wasn’t too difficult after all 😉

Right…..onto Adjectives lol