My Favourite Place to Write

My favourite place to write is looking out onto the fells of the Lake District, as the clouds roll past the tops casting shadows on my laptop below.

As I sit, the peacefulness of the countryside is intermitantly disturbed by the sounds of crows, blackbirds and even a woodpecker in various degrees.

I type words on the piece I’m currently writing and feel a total sense of calm sitting amongst nature that is spread out in front of me.  Fields of wild grass, fir trees and lines of oak trees shape the foreground while the rounded fells rise up from crags and slate in the distance.  The slope up looks smooth yet challenging with its height into the sky.  I can just see small movement on one vertical side, it’s joined by more movement and I can barely make out that looking for the best places to graze are the sheep.  They stand a while chewing, no-doubt as relaxed as I am by the scenery that is their home.

A breeze picks up and I can feel it on my face, and in my hair.  It’s warm against the heat of the afternoon sun making its way around me as I sit here looking out.  The sheep must have moved on to another patch to eat, there is now an empty space where they stood.

The view is serene.  I notice myself looking up from my work ever so often wondering if I’m missing something.  But I am not.  There is nothing to miss as the breeze sweeps across the wild grass meadow in front of me.  A butterfly is caught on the current and is brought closer towards where I am sat.  It’s bright orange and green wings beating hard to gain a sense of direction again.  Another butterfly of the same colouring floats by the in the opposite direction.  The pair meet and do a dance together mid-air before heading in separate directions again into the meadow of grass.

I type some more, my mind is relaxed and I let whatever comes into my mind flow out through my fingertips.  The breeze dissipates and a break in the clouds bring allows a window of uninterrupted sunshine which hits my skin like a warm blanket.

The sheep are back on the fell again, I can hear them bleeting in the distance.  They are moving down the rocks and scree to find more greenery to eat.  Two become five and they move down slowly together stopping here and there not to miss anything.

I feel at home in this view, where the grass will change colour over the year and the tree’s will lose their leaves.  It is at once moving and staying still.

My favourite place to write is in the Lake District.

Another Goal for 2019 Ticked Off

I am always more interested in what I am about to do than what I have already done. – Rachel Carson

This year I decided to do some serious work towards my Life Ticket.  It had been slightly neglected last year because of the house move etc (blah blah, you know what I’m talking about).  Needless to say, it took most of my energy just to keep my head above water so big ambitious goals were just to be worked towards not achieved last year.

But this year has been different.  As soon as I could feel the dust settling around me I started to feel that little spark inside me that pushed me on and motivated me to start reaching higher.

And while some people may not feel my achievements have been lofty I’d agree but some of them have taken a long time to achieve and finally reaching it feels great.

I’ve also focussed on specific projects this year to reach me to the end goals I’m aiming for.  Some have been around health and reducing my weight, some have been about getting more reading completed and others have been about visiting new places.

Today I achieved a goal that while not on my Life Ticket is something I began to achieve last November, in the depths of autumn when it was cold and dark.  That is to walk 10,000 steps one hundred times in a year.  While we are supposed to achieve 10,000 steps every day my current life just isn’t set up to enable me to do that.  So instead I thought about what I could aim for – something more than I was already doing so it would push me harder but not too hard that I wouldn’t be able to achieve it.  Turns out I got it spot on.  I’ve managed to hit 10k 100 times over just 304 days.  Which means I’ve achieved 10k steps 33% of the year.  I’ve consistently walked 10k steps 2 or 3 times per week since last November.  Which is a huge increase in movement from the previous year when 10k steps was a novelty that used to happen quite by chance?  This year I’ve made it happen.

Another goal around movement was to walk 850 miles this year (Jan to Dec) up from the 785 miles I completed last year.  Again I wanted the goal to be something achievable but pushed me harder than the previous year.  I actually achieved the 850 miles on 21st August meaning I’ve still got three clear months to go!  Knowing I was going to achieve the goal early on I decided to move the goal in June and now I’m aiming to achieve 1,000 miles by 31st December and I’m well on track for that.

Goals Don’t Suit Everyone

Sometimes goals aren’t the way to go.  Sometimes it adds pressure that you don’t need or forces you down a road you don’t need to be.  And sometimes goals can actually take the fun out of what you’re trying to achieve.  What’s important is that you do things that make you happy and bring you joy.  And if that keeps you healthy then all the better but not essential.

The main thing about goals is they have to have more to them than just being able to achieve them.  They have to mean something.  It won’t mean you’ll achieve a certain way of life from achieving a certain goal but it can help you get there which is why it’s so important to visualise what that might look like.  It takes a while to work this out and sometimes those visualisations can change which is another reason why goals can appear restrictive.  Although being organised never really hurt anyone.

I just thought it worth sharing with my readers what it is that I’ve currently achieved in the hope it helps others, as it has helped me.  And while I have a while to go to reach my 1,000-mile mark, it feels good to know I’m on my and the goal is pushing me to a healthier lifestyle.

Thanks for reading.

Character Development

A talk show is scripted to promote the guest and discuss topics with which the guest is comfortable. Imagine your protagonist on the Ellen Degeneres Show. What questions would be asked of your protagonist? What funny anecdotes would your protagonist share? Write down the reactions of both your protagonist and the host.

I’m not working on any particular protagonist at the moment but thought it might be fun to use one that I’m already very familiar with – Sally Wainwright’s – Anne Lister of Shibden Hall

Int. Scene One

Ellen opens the show as always (big applause, show, of audience etc).

Ellen

On today’s show, we have a guest who I can’t quite believe has made it all the way over from England today.  This is her first time in America.  She’s known locally as one of the biggest business women in Yorkshire, owning everything from a coal pit to a casino.  Her stint as one of the Boardroom interviewers on Your Fired earned her the nickname of “Iron balls” and got the series the biggest rating ever.  It’s none other than Anne Lister

(Applause)

Anne walks onto the set, winks at the audience; shakes Ellen’s hand vigorously and then sits down.  The audience wolf whistles and stamps their feet in excitement.

Ellen

Wow!  Would you look at that reaction?

Anne is nodding in agreement with a small smile on her face.

Ellen

Did you know you were so popular over here?

Anne

I didn’t know.  It’s marvellous to see though.

Ellen

wow, okay.  Well, welcome.  How do you like America so far?

Anne

Mmm, I love the sunshine and the people have all be extremely friendly.  The food is not so agreeable though and as for the tea.  Do you know what a cup of tea is?

Ellen

Yeah, I remember visiting England it’s all about the tea, right?  So you don’t like ours?

Anne

Quite frankly, Ellen, it’s disgusting.  It needs horsewhipping.

The crowd begins clapping again

Anne

You all agree with me. See, they understand.  But honestly, I’m having the best time.

Ellen (turning around to face the back of the stage)

Take the tea back, don’t bring it in

Anne (gesticulating with her hands)

Bring in the Maderia!

More clapping and hooting

Ellen

Alright.  So any plans while you’re in California?

Anne lister thinks about this a moment, tapping her fingers on the side of the chair.

Anne

Time is tight this week but I’m hoping to see Griffith Observatory, Getty Centre, Natural History museum and will hopefully fit in the Science museum.  Yes, so very busy.

Ellen

Any time for the beach while you’re here?

Anne

Mmmm, I saw that yesterday.  Lots of people, not wearing a deal.  Wasn’t my cup of tea I’m afraid.  Lots of colour though, so much colour in this city.  It’s vibrant.  I love that.

Ellen

We like it too, don’t we (opens arms to the audience who shout back a resounding yes).

Ellen

So lets talk about You’re Fired.  How did that come about?

Anne

Ah, well.  I’d be down one of my pits you see.  I like to keep an eye on them now and again.  There was a lot of hoohaw about keeping it open during these times of environmentally concerning times.  Coal is a dirty business, no doubt about that.  But I investigated whether we could make the pits a little “greener”.  By and by we could and through some developments we’ve managed to cut down mineral extraction and increase the efficiency of the manufacturing side.  At the same time the pit mostly now runs on recycled water and even has it’s own wind turbine to generate the power for the extraction.  We’ve cut down our emissions by over 50% while being able to employ more people.

Ellen

That’s incredible.  And you got an award for it?

Anne

I did.  And I then was asked if I could advise other pit owners both in the UK and Europe which was ideal because I’d not been to Poland before so have managed to get more travelling in.

Anne winks to the audience

Then somehow my name got to the BBC and I was asked if I’d be on their panel for the show.  I was delighted to be asked.

….

To be continued

Thank you for reading.

Nothing in Particular

It’s one of those days…
I don’t have anything witty to write about and I can’t find anything of interest to share (even to myself). I’ve hit the writing wall today.

My mind is mush this evening and nothing is making it feel better.  I think I need an early night.  But before that can happen I still want to get at least 500 words written.

Today marks 84 weeks of uninterrupted writing according to Grammarly.  84 weeks!  I can’t believe it.  Some weeks only amounted to about 100 words.  In fact one week I think Grammarly stopped working at one point and by the time I connected it back into my account, it totalled just 20 words!  But on the whole, I’ve kept writing a lot every week without fail.  Last week Grammarly tells me that I wrote a whopping 29,570 words!  That amounts to over 4,000 words per day.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could get to those dizzy heights of word counts.  It also proves to me that being a writer is possible.  I may not be a published writer but I’m a writer nonetheless.  Because you can’t be a writer without writing words (that mostly get edited).

It shows to me I’m communicating, sometimes for others but mostly for myself.  It also shows me that I’m learning about writing because the more I write the more I learn about the English language.  Needless to say, I’m pleased with myself.

Having that amount of words under my belt – 612,453 since July 2015, or an average of 7,291 words per week is a great motivational boost.  I want to keep my writing streak going.

And while today is hard going, I feel tired and the struggle is real.  I know it’s only for today.  I won’t feel bad that I couldn’t write anything funny or informative because somedays are like that.

What’s important is that I read some of the books I’ve got on the go at the moment and I also turned up to write.  Sometimes turning up is the hardest battle and yet it can prove to be the biggest win of the day.

And yes, agreed I should be more organised about my writing.  But I find myself more relaxed when there is no schedule to stick to. However, if I had turned up to get some words written tonight knowing what I was going to write about, would that have worked?  Or would I have butted up against it and felt constrained by it?  Would I have felt worse not being able to produce something based on that schedule?

At the moment my schedule just asks me to turn my computer on and start typing.  Sometimes I’m clear on its direction or a particular message I want to share but at other times, like today I’m not in any way clear.  But that’s okay because I’ve still got my words down and it’s given me space to just think about nothing for a while.  And sometimes thinking about nothing is the most productive thing of all to do.

Thank you for reading.

The Hare with Amber Eyes – Book Review

The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

Published in 2019 – Winner of the Costa Biography Award (2010)

On 26th April Hermann Goring commences his ‘transfer-the-wealth’ campaign.  Every Jew with assets of more that 5,000 Reichsmarks is oblidged to tell the authorities or be arrested.

The next morning the Gestapo arrive at the Ephrussi Bank.  They spend three days looking at the bank’s records.  Under the new regulations – regulations thay are now thirty-six hours old – the business has to be offered first to any Aryan shareholders.  The business also has to be offered at a discount.  This means that Herr Steinhausser, Vicktor’s colleague for twenty-eight years, is asked if he wants to buy out his Jewish colleagues.

This biography so much bigger than the Second World war but it’s where I became most engrossed in this book.  Edmund de Waal, has a lot of family history to cover and it all started with 264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them bigger than a matchbox that he discovered when visiting his great uncle Iggie’s Tokyo apartment.  And from there the reader is taken on a journey of history lasting a little of 100 years that spans from Odessa to Tokoyo.

The family story takes de Waal on a massive personal journey from one country to another across Europe and beyond, and his descriptions and details are smartly written throughout.  Especially for the netsuke which he brings along with the story.  The amount of research he did for this is telling.  Places and times are on point and base these for building on what he took family members throughout his history saw or felt.  Love, high society, art and their reactions are carefully crafted into his storytelling of true events.

It’s not often I read biographies or autobiographies and tend to stick to those people who are well known but I was intrigued to give this biography a read.   It had been heralded by the Telegraph as one of the top biographies of all time. So who was I to argue?

The problem is that I felt this book wasn’t easy to read.  I would put that down to the sheer geographical and historical time span that it’s covering but I don’t think it’s that.  The last 3rd of the book was much easier in comparison with the 2/3rds that preceded it.

For me, I think the issue with this was the netsuke themselves.  I couldn’t grasp what meaning it had in relation to Odessa, to begin with.  I found myself reading and re-reading paragraphs to try and get the gist of it.  In the end I was just muddling through hoping that at some point the meaning would catch up to me.  It did and away I went but trying to comprehend the European characters, their lives against something much more Asian and exotic was difficult.  At one point it was so bad I thought of giving the book up because it didn’t seem to move timelines.  I’m sure it was but it felt stuck somewhere between 1871 and 1899 for a disproportionate amount of time.

But of course, the story needed this timeline – it was the base for everything that was to happen and the unfolding tragedies of the 20th Century.  I knew the family would be touched by the Second World war, especially residing in Austria and it was this that kept me reading onwards.  And I’m pleased I did.  I learnt a lot about how Austria fell so suddenly and the fall out from it.  How it touched the lives of the de Waal’s Jewish family during that time and the impact it left.

The biography feels in essence like the passion and dedication that de Waal must have felt uncovering so much over the three generations he researched.  It all became personal which means what can you leave out?  It’s all-important to the writer because it all means something.  Just not so much to the reader.

I would still recommend this book based on the final third of this biography.  Just try not to be put off by the first 2/3rds of it, you’re not alone!

Thank you for reading.