Write-Place

Storytelling - the Ultimate in Self Preservation What is a story ?  A story or narrative is a connected series of events told through words, in the case of a book, written words. Stories can be told about anything, and the events can be real or imaginary, fiction or non fiction and cover every topic, genre or style imaginable. All things and all times, past, present and future can be described and explained in stories and are therefore  of great value to humans and some of the oldest, most important aspects of life.  Stories are how we learn about each other, our past, and our cultures. Whether they are created for entertainment or to recount a real-life event—new stories are literally being lived, told, and created every second of every day. History of storytelling As modern humans, we have the convenience of information available at our finger tips, and often take for granted a time when communication and access to knowledge was not instantaneous. Knowledge of history, ...

Having not put pen to paper or rather fingers to keyboard to write anything more creative than a comment and share on Facebook or Twitter - some serious but mostly trivial or joking - I somehow found myself being directed from an Author  Community post to a "Freelance Writer" website, this morning.  I say "somehow" as if it was a surprise to me, but as the speedy diversion from one activity to another is how my life runs these days, it wasn't surprising at all. Whether this is a sign of old age, lack of concentration or plain stupidity (probably all three and more) I do it constantly, much to my own annoyance.  I put bread in the toaster and fill the kettle to make tea or coffee and notice that the tea towels washed earlier are still sitting in the washing machine, so pick them out and begin to hang them on the line. I wonder where the peg bag was left, and a search for it down the garden begins, involving a quick sweep of the path, pulling up a couple of weeds...

Ok, so the article I thought I had shared to my Facebook, didn't actually share and the very intelligent comment that I'd posted to go with it looks less than intelligent without it. And yes, the smart comments of others are I suppose, deserved. It was such a good article too, but the most annoying thing is that I can't find it again, and I don't remember who the author was. In my attempts to find it, however, though not finding the actual one I have found a number of others on a similar theme. If I ever find the one that I read in the first place, I promise to reference it and the author properly and thank him/her now for the thoughts. It was about writer's not being thought of as doing a real "job" and so many times are expected to write, talk about their writing, give opinions and views on theirs and other people's writing ... for free, ie without proper payment. The article writer in question cited a time when they were asked to speak about the...

    I have been watching Stewart work on this painting for a number of days now. He's saying it's the first time he's done a mural, but actually he has an unfinished one of the Lescaux cave paintings on a bedroom wall so maybe it's going to be the first completed one. I had a reasonably good idea of how I wanted the "picture window" to look. The colours and shades were clear to me but whether I explained to the artist clearly enough, is for him to say. And so the scene has changed from blacks and greys to blues and greens and eventually to the orange and yellows of the sunset and reflections of the light on the water. It is as if the photo I had in my mind is now transposed onto the wall. It's an outstanding piece of work and very effective. To me, the non visual artist, this achievement is incredible. If I write half as well as Stewart draws and paints, then I will be more than pleased. The journey from the start of a painting is similar to that of ...