become a better writer

and thinking a lot about poetry. I have tried to use words other than my own idiolect by using the fridge magnets. This was an interesting exercise. I have written a sonnet, all but the last two lines, which are very weak so far.

I have written quite a long poem called The man who started fires is frozen now, which rhymes and scans and was hard to do. I can spend all morning with a couple of verses and hardly notice the time. Ideally, it all just comes, the inspiration and the words all in one go.

is keep prints of my poems to work on, and continue to work on them until they’re better. I have been hiding them away. Now I’ve got all my stuff together in a file, and can chisel away at it until I’m satisfied with it.

going off to do some now

without actually producing anything good or memorable. I think I need to concentrate on character more.

and the mark was a bit disappointing. Maybe this one’s a hard marker?

Have had some good feedback from one of my course comrades about something I posted. She said she had read it aloud to her neighbour! I feel pleased about that.

is just to get into the habit of writing everything, just everything all the time, to build fluency and to try to express oneself better, and I can still do it!!! and part of the trick of it is to use a pen and book, I think, and do it just for yourself. I know now that the writing I want to do is really just for me, and if I start thinking about making millions I’ll just stop. It’s all for fun. It’s all to amuse just me.

I’ve already started to write a lot more and I love it. I don’t really read what I’ve written. But I love capturing moments and places and impressions of people.

All last year it was the wretched teaching course. This year it’s going to be Creative Writing with the OU. Now THAT will make me write, I hope, and also enable me to teach others to write.

My tutor said I write like an angel.