In conversation

Ooh, bubbles!

"We have to decide what sort of writers we are, not merely for the words, but also for how we shall live. 

Does our curiosity about life stir us into new circumstances and chances to be taken? 

Do we let the muse lead us blindly, gladly and madly into the forest of our own imagination, with or without the pen? 

Can we see stories in the everyday, and even, perhaps, where there are none?

Will we embrace the stillness and build a whole universe of ideas and emotions around us?

To be a writer is not to be a mere storyteller - children can do that. To be a writer is to make our readers want the fiction to be true, and to linger long after The End. To be a writer is to to make your readers yearn, to care and above all else to read on.

Yes, we have to decide how we live, on the page and away from it. 

We should not hide from the big questions of life and death. And if we fear then let us turn our fears into words. Our courage too, aye, and our emptiness.

Above all, let us retain and nurture our sense of wonder, for in writing only wonder sustains."




I know six modern writer words; they show me what to do.
Their names are blog, tweet and redraft, spell-check, contract and sue.