Susan Jones – Writer

The writing tree is a metaphor for me.  At the moment I subscribe to Mslexia writing magazine, Acumen poetry magazine and Rubies in the Darkness small press poetry magazine.  I have quite a few books on writing written by writers advising how to

write and sell stories, what the editor wants etc.  I love all these books and magazines, but I spend so much time looking at them that there’s not enough time left for writing.  Is anybody the same?  So now, being as times are quite lean on the financial front, and as I have mountains of writing magazines, that are all lovely, it’s time to get rid of the subscriptions, and I think I can manage with a normal diary, much as I love the Mslexia one.  So, the writing tree is being pruned from now on.  I will dip into all these reference books often, but it’s time now to get on with what I love best.  Creating characters and putting them where I want them, and seeing what happens.  Also, I recently won a book of short crime stories from the Emerald Writing workshop, which gives me ideas of a different type of story than I normally write.

In our shop every day, people stand telling us tales and as soon as they’ve gone, I jot down the gist of what they’ve told me.  All piling up in a folder to be woven into my writing.  Here’s one I just have to share.

A lady was telling of her daughter, sent the husband down to make a cup of tea.  He mumbles that she didn’t lock the back door, so he closed it and turned the key, almost jumping out of his skin to see a man standing there.  He (so manly) shouted up to the wife.  Down she comes.  She asked the man ‘What are you doing in my kitchen?’ He replied ‘I was trying to rob you and he locked me in!’ Blaming the husband.  She grabbed him by the collar and chucked him out.  I don’t think he’ll be trying to break in there again.  It’s one of those that’s not funny really, but the way she told it was very funny.