Yorkshire Writers' Lunch

Yesterday I was walking down a track by a field. About fifty rooks had gathered in some trees beside the track and were making a hell of a racket in the low afternoon sunshine. It was like they were all talking at once about some massive breaking news in rook-world. Rooks are social creatures, and so are we. The daily walks with Jerry, my Golden Retriever, are an essential part of my writing process. When I set off from the house I don't think about anything in a conscious way. Then, usually about half way through the walk, or when fifty rooks strike up a conversation, some ideas ping into my head like notifications on a mobile phone. It may be a scene in a chapter which needs changing, an idea for a blog post, or a few lines of a poem. For me, sitting down at a computer or a pad of paper does not usually produce inspiration. I need the free thinking time first. After the country track, my walk takes me by some houses and across a busy road. Occasionally I meet a human being, b

We’re a (small) community of writers both published and aspiring, based in Yorkshire. We meet weekly for lunch and a discussion of what motivates us to write, what prevents us from writing, what we’ve learnt and what we’ve written. In-between mouthfuls of sandwich, burger or wrap, with the odd jacket potato thrown in.   We’ve decided to create a shared blog for many reasons. It will help some of us take our first tentative steps into the blogosphere. It gives us the chance to see what effect exposure to the bright glare of (potential) readers has on our writing. It requires a regular commitment – something which personally I really need to give me the impetus to put words on a page. And because we have found that it helps to help each other. Writing is, of course, a solitary activity. How could it be anything else? It’s just you, your pen and paper. Or keyboard and screen. Or quill and parchment if that’s what floats your boat. When it’s going well the solitude is part of t