First blog of 2011 !

I must start this blog with a massive apology. I have neglected my blog and in fact this will be the first post of 2011, which is shocking! I cannot believe that time has been passing so quickly of late. My only pathetic excuse is that my university studies have kept me challenged and busy, although the course is beginning to draw to an end, so will hopefully allow me a little more time to get back into my daily writing ritual. I really do notice a difference when I am not writing daily, it’s so much harder to get going and the dreaded ‘blank’ page seems enormous and impossible to fill. Another aspect that lacks is a sense of ‘flow’, which with regular writing seems to become second nature. So I think the ritual of ‘morning pages’ must return. For those of you who are curious, ‘morning pages’ is when you wake up the first thing in the morning and you just continually write for 3 pages. I find it takes me about 30 minutes although I am sure the time will differ between people. It doesn’t matter if you have nothing to write, this exercise is not about accuracy. You can just write what is on your mind, what you plan to do that day, what you did the day before, failing that and you mind goes blank just write ‘I don’t know what to write.’ Just anything to make sure the pages are filled. Then close your notebook and don’t look at it again, doing this everyday really helps me to get into my creative streak and often inspires me to write more, as an ‘idea’ may have just popped up within the pages that I wish to expand on later, I also find it gives me a smoother quality to the way I write and the words begin to flourish in a way the reader finds more fluid. But anyway as you can tell from this piece today that I NEED to brush up and find my flow.

Another main distraction that has been taking up a lot of my time is a new addition to the family, an adorable chocolate Labrador puppy names Bella. She is beautiful, playful and extremely mischievous. When I am trying to write she often comes and takes my pen running off with it with her tail wagging! But I can’t stay angry at those big puppy eyes. Thankfully I have some peace at the moment as I have taken her for a long walk along the seafront, so now is curled up at my feet, fast asleep. With a little more time on my hands I hope to post more blogs soon, so keep your eyes out.