My writing life

My day begins after the first cup of coffee in the morning. That gets me going. It is followed by many others during the day, usually with a biscuit or two accompanying it. Bad? Well, maybe, but in my defence I only have weak coffee.

I usually start writing with a pencil or biro, doing the first couple of paragraphs- sometimes half a page or more, by hand then typing the results onto the computer screen. I find it easier to sit in front of a blank page rather than a blank screen. What do other writers do to start? Once I have some words on the screen I have no problem, and isn't it marvellous how we can add and delete and shift pages around with cut and past? I remember the days of carbon paper - oh how I hated that stuff, made my hands itchy and if you didn't get it in absolutely straight you had a huge pleat in your work! Then there were ink rubbers and later tippex, both of which left marks. Usually it ended up retyping the pages, so I'm all for a bit of technology. Having said that I am not good with working it. If there were prizes for who lost the most emails or blogs I think it is one I might win. They must have gone somewhere and I have a picture in my mind of them wandering aimlessly in computerland looking for a home!