An apology and a confession: I find it hard to respond to Blog Awards, not because I don’t believe in them or feel the honour but because the choosing and linking to 15 plus Blogs is such a long process.  But I was tagged by the talented Laura at Buckle Button Zip  for a Blog hop that focus’s on the process of writing.  I loved the post she wrote and I was intrigued to write my own answers.  It helps it’s a two-man handover..

The Hop has a series of questions:

1. What am I working on?  I write for my Blog, another Blog and provide the media content for a shoe company.  My days already start pretty early (5.50 am on a heavy day) and finish pretty late (11?) with work and life squeezed between being a full time mum so I find it hard to add any more.  Could I write anything more? It’s a question I’ve asked myself..I wrote, a long time ago now, 17 chapters based of stories from my Grandmother and have 3 volumes of poetry (!)..there are always ideas bubbling.  Maybe one day – but for now I value the discipline of writing at least one post every day.

How does my writing differ? There’s a little (read big) spark in my heart that wants to prove that you can have intelligent writing about fashion.  I have a horror of superficiality, hate dumbing down and believe in the beauty of language.  I can’t spell for toffee, my grammar is non-existent but I love the rhythm of words and the pictures they make.

Why do I write what I do? I’m in a lucky position where I can be a stay at home mum, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need my own identity – something to claim as just me and writing does that.  I don’t think I could do it every day if I didn’t love it – the freedom, the escapism, the ability to skip over water and broken glass.  it’s both an indulgence and a drug. I’m a butterfly choosing the bits I love and avoiding what I don’t want to tread in..but always underlined with discipline.

How does my writing process work? I read a lot and try to digest it.  My notebooks are everything – they tip me into another world and stop creative fatigue.  I write ideas, thoughts, groups of words in longhand.  Sometimes they don’t even relate to what I’m writing about but they’re all stored away.  Often I’ll wonder and wander and read something wrong, my own handwriting or the written word..’I began to lose myself in consecutive nights out’..except I see it as ‘constructive nights out’ but I like it – it’s the balance to losing oneself, so I write it down.  And with a mistake, I walk back to reality.

I want to thank  Laura, it was an absolute pleasure to have the baton passed on from a true wordsmith.  And now I have to hand the honour over and with only two spots, this wasn’t easy.  I’ve chosen two long-term favourite people/writers that hold a special place in my heart:

 

Laura Lynn: Because writing for her is as natural as breathing.

Jackie Mallon: Because she knows exactly how to get to the beating heart of the matter and take you along for the ever-changing ride.

 

Laters, Kate x