Writing is a great way to collet your thoughts and slip into other worlds, so for the past twelve years I have indulged myself. There are many good courses and workshops that will set your writing juices going but the best tip is to write every day and try to make time to read widely in as many different genres as possible. However, even knowing this there are times when nothing approaching a spark of inspiration can be dredged up from a turgid day.
It was a day like this when a friend suggested trawling all the tabloid papers for stories. The saying life can be stranger than fiction comes to mind, although the dividing line in a tabloid can be blurred. One article caught my eye, the widow of a murder victim who found it in her to forgive and support the murderer. The dynamics of this situation fascinated me. There are so many leads from this one situation, so many what ifs? From this found prompt came a one hour play which took that idea as a jumping off point and subjected the poor woman to a test of the nature of forgiveness, is it truly altruistic etc.
The play was taken up by a theatre group who took it to theatres around the midlands. I was bitten. Until then I had written poetry and short stories, this was a completely different experience. My words developed a life of their own when interpreted by actors. The director had so many slants to suggest, some which you run with some which you reject, how often as a writer do you have to defend and examine your work in such detail? It was and is a wonderful experience.
Cucumber Writers 
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