Alicante

We had a wonderful week in Spain last week. The warm temperatures were a welcome relief after the freezing wind that we left Coventry in; and the colours of the wild flowers and the street markets were riches indeed. In Alicante, Mum and I sat by the marina in the sunshine and did some sketching. As you can see, I attempted to sketch the whole of Alicante. When I'd finished, I turned to show my Mum and found two men had been standing watching me. As they gave me a friendly thumbs up - "Bueno!" - I didn't feel too foolish.

Today I have been battling with inertia. I was going to go out on my bike to get some sorely needed exercise - but it was 'too windy'. I was going to catch up with writing, but the exercises didn't stimulate me.

In the end, I re-read some of my previous exercises and found that they weren't as hideously bad as I thought they were. I've typed them up here - partly because I may find some useful gems in there later, and partly to practise editing and firming things up. I feel better for the illusion of having created something, even a few fragmented scraps of writing. This helped to stimulate me to try some of the Chapter seven exercises - writing with different characters' voices. I've found them incredibly hard to do, but who knows? I may read them later and find something of use in them.

To anyone else who may be struggling - try revisiting some of your past writing. It may read better than you remember, and give you heart to carry on.