Yorkshire Writers' Lunch

Dear imaginary friend, I say imaginary but of course you are, in fact, real. You even have a name, Ronald (D), but I have no idea what you look like, how old you are, or whether you have family who call by. I hope so. All I know at this point is that you live on your own in the community, have a love of poetry and all things arty. I think we will get along just fine, Ronald, because I love these things too. However, this will be the briefest of relationships, but please know that there are lots of us who care out there, beyond your four walls and I hope that my letter is the first of many you will receive in the future. I know I will ponder about your expression upon receiving it, a nervous yet excited smile, or maybe even a whoop as you tear open the envelope? Will you read it straight away or settle down with a pot of warm, milky tea and a ginger biscuit to take your time? I wonder what you will think as you pour over the content, whether it was enough to warm your lonely heart...

2 January 2021 Dear Chrissy Welcome to the new on-line support for Mexley’s beginners’ writing course. Just make sure you write something every day. This will build up your confidence. 3 January 2021 Dear Ray That’s all very well but some days it’s difficult to think of anything . 4 January 2021 Dear Chrissy Try writing a journal. Just write down everything that happens and bring it to the next on-line meeting. If you feel a bit shy, try sending it to me first. 5 January 2021 Dear Ray Ok, here goes. Started off really well, lots of time to write this. Then Sophie came to help. It’s not easy to write a journal with a cat sitting on the key board. Especially when she catches the mouse for you as well. But as a writer you have to overcome these things. What else? Went to work. Came home, watched TV. And so to bed. 6 Januay 2021 Dear Chrissy Actually, Chrissy, we do expect our students to write a little more. ...

When did saying hello or goodbye stop being simple?  I’m sure it was simple when I was at school.  Just “Hello” and “Goodbye” would suffice. The art of letter writing was quite straightforward.  You only had to remember to sign off “Yours sincerely” to a named person and “Yours faithfully” to an unnamed “Sir” or “Madam”.  When I recently received a text from a burly builder friend, apologising for not having put a “x” at the end of his previous text, it made me laugh out loud, but also had me thinking how complicated it has all become, and what an awful waste of emotional energy we must expend trying to get it right. I think I was first aware of the issue in the sixth form when some of the drama luvvies  started to air kiss when they met each other.  Being air kissed for the first time was quite a shock and straight out of my comfort zone.  I struggled with that through university and into the work place.  Is it the right thing to actually ...