Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Writer's Little Book Club chocolate corner
Chocolate facts
17,000 people in Belgium - that’s 1 in every 200 workers - are involved in the making, selling and promotion of chocolate.
One chocolate chip provides enough food energy for an adult to walk 150 feet. Therefore, it takes about 35 chocolate chips to walk a mile or 875,000 to get you around the world.
It takes the whole of one year’s crop from one tree to make half a kilo of cocoa.
17,000 people in Belgium - that’s 1 in every 200 workers - are involved in the making, selling and promotion of chocolate.
One chocolate chip provides enough food energy for an adult to walk 150 feet. Therefore, it takes about 35 chocolate chips to walk a mile or 875,000 to get you around the world.
It takes the whole of one year’s crop from one tree to make half a kilo of cocoa.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Writers' Resources
www.bookcrossing.com a site for passing books on when you've finished with them. Fun idea.
Monday, 27 April 2009
The Writing Process - what's your recipe
In our house my mother had a dish she called HOTPOT. Which in winter was wonderful because it always seemed to come out on those days I struggled from school or work in the dark and the rain. Warmed from the outside by the fire, I was then warmed on the inside by the HOTPOT.
Sometimes visitors who joined in the meal asked for the recipe. To which my mother was rather vague. So one day when a visitor had gone I asked her why she was so vague. "Well it’s this and then that plus a pinch of something else" was her reply.
"And it depends what day it is and what the butcher has… " she trailed off with a wave of her hand. I never did get the hang of making it the way she did though I watched her make it often enough and knew the sequence that she followed, chopping up meat and vegetables and so on.
As a cook myself now I understand her challenge in being precise. And as a writer I have a sequence, a process that works for me. If you asked me I would say I follow it logically. But like my mother it can be influenced by so many things that the results can vary wildly.
For example, if I start off by researching a company I’m writing for or about that sets off certain ideas in my mind. Then I might look at their competitors and other ideas strike me. So I go back to my previous research and add in a few different notes.
When I’ve amassed a bundle of notes, my raw ingredients so to speak then I start to cook it up. And I’m sure you know what it’s like when you’ve written the text, checked it off and for some gut feeling you know you need to add just a pinch of something else.
So although I can lay out my process, and I do often for other writers, what I can’t lay out for them is that extra ingredient that binds everything else together.
How does it work for you?
Sometimes visitors who joined in the meal asked for the recipe. To which my mother was rather vague. So one day when a visitor had gone I asked her why she was so vague. "Well it’s this and then that plus a pinch of something else" was her reply.
"And it depends what day it is and what the butcher has… " she trailed off with a wave of her hand. I never did get the hang of making it the way she did though I watched her make it often enough and knew the sequence that she followed, chopping up meat and vegetables and so on.
As a cook myself now I understand her challenge in being precise. And as a writer I have a sequence, a process that works for me. If you asked me I would say I follow it logically. But like my mother it can be influenced by so many things that the results can vary wildly.
For example, if I start off by researching a company I’m writing for or about that sets off certain ideas in my mind. Then I might look at their competitors and other ideas strike me. So I go back to my previous research and add in a few different notes.
When I’ve amassed a bundle of notes, my raw ingredients so to speak then I start to cook it up. And I’m sure you know what it’s like when you’ve written the text, checked it off and for some gut feeling you know you need to add just a pinch of something else.
So although I can lay out my process, and I do often for other writers, what I can’t lay out for them is that extra ingredient that binds everything else together.
How does it work for you?
Sunday, 26 April 2009
What is good writing?
"What's good writing? A single strong message, clearly expressed."
Michael Masterson
Michael Masterson
Miller Harris perfumes
www.millerharris.com Yesterday I had one of the most exciting experiences of my life. How often do you get the chance to meet someone who creates ambiance, memories and magic.
I've been a perfume obsessive for years and one of my dreams is to have a perfume created for me. This year that dream came a lot closer because now in Nottingham we have a shop devoted to the perfumes of the renowned perfumer Lyn Harris.
The shop's been open a few months and when I first found it I went in and gabbled because I was so excited. Yesterday I gabbled even more because I had the chance to meet Lyn Harris. To launch her new perfume Terre du Bois the shop hosted an event where she talked about becoming a perfumer, how she creates her perfumes and oh just so much.
The shop itself is a joy and having met her we could see everything about the shop comes like the perfumes from her heart.
If you like me are sick of multinationals taking your money and giving you little in return then race to the shop in Nottingham or her branches in London. This lady is getting better by the year as a perfumer.
So head over to one of her shops, the website or a store like Selfridges (who are no slouches at deciding what's excellent.)
I've been a perfume obsessive for years and one of my dreams is to have a perfume created for me. This year that dream came a lot closer because now in Nottingham we have a shop devoted to the perfumes of the renowned perfumer Lyn Harris.
The shop's been open a few months and when I first found it I went in and gabbled because I was so excited. Yesterday I gabbled even more because I had the chance to meet Lyn Harris. To launch her new perfume Terre du Bois the shop hosted an event where she talked about becoming a perfumer, how she creates her perfumes and oh just so much.
The shop itself is a joy and having met her we could see everything about the shop comes like the perfumes from her heart.
If you like me are sick of multinationals taking your money and giving you little in return then race to the shop in Nottingham or her branches in London. This lady is getting better by the year as a perfumer.
So head over to one of her shops, the website or a store like Selfridges (who are no slouches at deciding what's excellent.)
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