Every adventure is one part excitement, one part the unknown, and one part fear. Maybe lots of other things too. One of the scary and exhilarating things is that we don’t know how it will end. We are all different and seek out our own adventures. And some times they find us. I have travelled the world, worked in different countries and had adventures, some planned, some not. All great to look back on now when it is safely all in the past.
From the first story book I read as a child I wanted to be able to do that myself. It felt like the most magical thing to be able to do. To create a story with characters and adventures. To entertain other people. The only thing getting in the way was the challenge of putting the words down on paper. That blank sheet of paper, that perfect notebook staring back at me.
There are books that just pull you into a different world and hold you there like the best adventures. These books make permanent marks in your mind, in your memory. They also set the standard very high. They intimidate in their excellence.
Words aren’t difficult things, we use them all day every day. Put them in phone messages of every kind, talk to our friends, fill crosswords and sometimes turn them into other languages on foreign trips.
Writing is much more than a flow of words. It’s testing your imagination, marshalling your ideas into something more. A little bit of yourself goes into every piece and exposes you if you share it with others. What will they think? Not worth the paper it is written on?
There can be safety in writing a diary, those secret honesties and barbed comments for no one else to read.
So the day came. The day of the first writing group. A new notebook, yes, another one of those, favourite free flowing pens – can’t write with a sticky-inked biro. What kind of pen did Jane Austen use sitting at that table, ready to hide what she was doing?
Climbing the stairs slowly to the upstairs room. A cup of tea, a chat with others and I can begin to relax.
And here I am.
Trying to work out what to write about for Scotlands Stories.
Woke up early this morning with the idea buzzing around my head. Get up, make a cup of tea and start to describe my biggest adventure – the one that is just beginning.
What do you think?