It's good to talk

Writing can be solitary, as can parenting for that matter. If you don't get out of the house once in a while and talk to grown ups things can get pretty fraught if you are at home with small children. To wrap the baby or children up and get some fresh air everyday (even when you are so tired you have your pyjamas on backwards), was some of the best advice ever given to me. I remember being stuck in the mountains with a new baby, absolutely clueless, trying to get through to the National Childbirth Trust in England on a crackling radio phone for advice about feeding - I can laugh now looking back, but at the time it was ... challenging shall we say. My Spanish is pretty basic and my social skills were hardly necessary for over two years - the highlight of the week was chatting to Jesus in the Post Office as he handed over the mail. As in Jesus the postmaster not JC though that would have been nice. I'm sorry I missed out on the NCT classes in England - I think you make friends who will last a lifetime as your children grow together.

Talking is good - it's amazing how much it helps to know other people are going through the same daily challenges as you. Whatever it is that is on your mind, or holding you back whether it is in parenting or writing you can bet someone else has been through it before. I found the old poster illustrating this post on a great vintage advertising blog. I liked the drama of it - 'uh oh ... someone talked!' Silence, keeping worries bottled up can be so damaging - talking, communicating helps. Maybe like a lot of writers I would rather email than phone - whereas the six year old loves to chat, knows her grandparents' numbers off by heart and will happily natter away for hours I will go through hoops to avoid making difficult calls. Which is ironic because BC (before children), I spent most of the working day on the phone co-ordinating art projects around the world and pitching to clients. To be open, to ask advice can be tough but it helps. I've been blown away by how supportive other bloggers have been - what a great community of writer/parents there is out there! It's like a virtual writer's group - thank you for dropping in.

TODAY'S PROMPT: Who is your favourite author? What would you ask them if you could? What is it that you love about their work - are there themes that feed into your writing, are there similarities? If you have a chance to meet them at a signing or reading sometime, be brave and introduce yourself - take the chance to ask their advice! Today, why not write them a letter - at some point in their career they were just starting out too, and I've always found writers to be generous with their advice and time. Obviously if your favourite writer is deceased you can't actually talk to them or send them a letter, but simply writing it, telling them what you love about their work and seeing your concerns and questions down in black and white can be a big step towards finding the answers you need.