Learning to Spell Annaghmakerrig
I’m at the end of a week’s writing retreat at the lovely Tyrone Guthrie Centre in County Monaghan. Annaghmakerrig, that’s the place. Continue reading Learning to Spell Annaghmakerrig
Tag: Irish countryside
Flower Power
I’ve written before about how some of my best ideas for poetry and short stories come to me as I walk the lanes of County Roscommon. These days, an inspiring walk usually involves me taking an arthritic dog, a pen and paper, and my phone (of course). But while walking, I’m often distracted by having to name wildflowers. And then I have to stop and take photos. Because one or two thousand is never quite enough is it? The naming thing is a bit strange. I have no recollection of learning the names of so many plants, but somehow, plenty of … Continue reading Flower Power
Strawberry Yields Forever
Whenever I forget to take a pen and paper for a walk (not the dog, I usually remember her…), that’s when I can be sure the cleverest, most ingenious, potentially life-changing revelations will come to me. But it’s a bit like waking up in the night with a flash of inspiration, if I don’t write it down it has gone, drifting off into the ether for someone else to find. And for some reason, recording on the phone won’t do – I find that just sucks every scrap of creativity from an idea, so I don’t bother. It happened today, … Continue reading Strawberry Yields Forever
Dear Diary…
I recommend keeping a journal – the process can be cathartic and rewarding. It’s a form of creative writing that doesn’t use imagination to produce a story, novel, a poem or play. Instead, this is all about keeping track of people, emotions, events and circumstances and recording them for the future – either for your eyes only, or for sharing with a wider audience as memoir. There’s something very comforting in knowing what I had for dinner exactly three years ago, or what the weather was doing four years before that, or what day I broke not one but … Continue reading Dear Diary…
A Floral Tribute
When I go for a walk with the dog, it’s to put my writer’s jumble of thoughts into some semblance of order. My family marvel at a cat lover’s ability to tolerate a canine walking partner. Odd, I agree, but I’m over it, and as dogs go, this one is most agreeable… Some of my best poetry and short story ideas come to me as we traipse through the muddy lanes hereabouts, jumping puddles, heads down against the worst of the wind and rain. But while walking, I’m often distracted by my unlikely knowledge of wild flowers – I have … Continue reading A Floral Tribute
