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A little cat waits ...

I saw Little Boy sitting outside this morning, waiting expectantly for something - probably food - and I thought, yes, I know that pose and that expression quite well.That's how I must look when I'm staring into space, sitting quietly, waiting for words to fall out of the air, or from the ceiling, or rise up off the floor.Getting started can be tricky. And there is nothing more daunting than the blank page glaring back at you like a white-out, or the computer screen continually going back t...

Start keeping a journal ... today!

My Journal and Life Writing workshop is fast approaching on 16 April and in preparation, I decided to look back through some of my very early journalling efforts to see how I got started.I was at high school .. it was 6 March 1974 when I took an exercise book, sat down that evening, and began writing.My reason for starting was as follows: "Yesterday I saw Susan writing a diary in her usual open manner, telling everyone what she was writing and how very private it was. Hmm. She was...

In flight beer with students

A colleague and I did some work down south this week and we flew back on Thursday evening from Dunedin.As we were waiting to board, the little lounge started filling up with students from Otago University, heading home to Auckland for the Easter break. Soon my colleague and I began to feel quite old, and that we were in some kind of cruisy, easy-going, sensory-overload-filled lecture room with vibrant chat all around. Students were leaning against walls, sitting in groups on the floor surro...

It's Saturday, so that's Blog Day

Saturday morning in Auckland, New Zealand - and it's the time when I have the time to sit down and do some of my own writing....