Story Time

Christmas seems a long time ago now. The days are beginning to get longer at quite a pace.  There are snow drops out in the garden and it's clear to see that there will soon also be crocuses, daffodils and tulips. It is snowing today but I don't think it's going to be enough to keep us indoors. We'll see. We might just get lucky. 

But those dark days before Christmas and all that anticipation of the re-enactment of one of the biggest stories all-time make us think of stories. I love that time of year, actually, when bad weather and the general shut down of society compels you to stay in and consume story, whether it be via a cheesy film on the TV, a light read or a beautifully written work of literary fiction.       

Of course, producing stories is an all-year round activity for some of us and in fact Christmas 2018 is already being prepared. The Bridge House appeal is open for not-quite-Christmas stories until 31 March. We're also collecting stories for the Waterloo Festival.

So, if bad weather's giving you a "snow" day, and you just can't get into work, why not spend it looking for a story?   

  

Happy writing!   

Story time

It’s that time of year again. It’s a time of the year I like a lot. It may be something to do with having a birthday in the few days leading up to Christmas. However there is more to it than that, I think.

This is the great story time. We stay indoors a lot. We hibernate. We fuel our bodies against the cold, we watch the snow coming down and are glad that we don’t have to go out in it. Or maybe there is no snow and it may not even be that cold, but the days are short and the evenings long. We often feel more like staying in that going out.   

So, what do we do? We stay in the warm, we perhaps light a candle and we devour story in all sorts of forms – books, films, video games.  

I also catch up with some writing. The act of creating a story can be even richer than reading one.  

I find too that it’s a time when I sleep more and dream more. I even daydream a lot. I get more ideas. The winter actually prepares for the spring and the summer. It’s all happening there below the surface. The story suggestions bubble away. They take shape and burst forth. It’s all part of the cycle.                

Story Time

Once again we’ve been trapped pretty much indoors over Christmas – just like last winter. It was colder this time with the cold snap starting earlier but the snow has been less problematic, though I did have a scary journey back from a concert in Chester cathedral on the Friday before Christmas. The snow has only started to melt today.
It really has been too cold to go out. I normally love walking in cold, crisp winter weather but five minutes on Christmas Eve was enough. There was nothing for it but to indulge in extra story time. Isn’t that what this time of year is all about?
I’m now making headway into that pile of books on the shelves in my bedroom. Plus there are all the films – reruns of old cheesy ones and those that have now been around long enough to make it to the small screen – the ones I would have liked to see at the cinema. The Other Boleyn Girl is one such example .Of course, I’ve had to rewatch Miracle on 34th Street and The Railway Children.
Then there are the TV specials: My Family (hilarious), Dr Who (a little disappointing but possibly because it had been so built up) and the return of Upstairs Downstairs (yet to be watched.)
And all the DVDs given as Christmas presents or found on the coffee table, left over from Sunday supplements.
We did get out, though, to see an excellent version of David Copperfield at Bolton’s Octagon theatre. They captured the whole story so well. I’m sure even people who had not read the book would have understood.
Yes, it is time for absorbing story. For a writer it is also a time for making stories. The enforced house arrest aids this also. So here I am, on the day we have our second Christmas –our grown-up children form London are coming a little later – working away. It is, of course, a pleasure. I did have a new computer for my birthday (22 December).