Caravan for sale on ebay...apparently

I love the way life can inspire stories...if you pay attention.

Yesterday I had two missed calls on my phone with answer phone messages, so naturally I listened to them. Both of them were from a northern man asking me about my caravan, you know, the one I put on ebay.

Hang on...ebay? Caravan?

Then a lady called me too, asking about my alleged caravan. What the heck was going on?

Firstly I've never been on ebay and secondly, I have definitely never owned a caravan.

But what if I did and I've lost all memory of it...

What if I told them I did and had a big bartering war with them, running off with all the money...

What if someone set me up with a stolen caravan...

What if I met real owner and he turned out to be a killer who lures people in through ebay...

Life is the biggest inspiration. All we gotta do is pay attention. What happened to you today?

Gill Lewis

Seriously check out her website. It's so much fun!

Owen Davey

So, I'm doing an intern at Bath Festivals at the moment and today I was putting together some info sheets about some authors who are visiting schools as part of the Kids Lit Fest. I was going from website to website and this one blew me away...

Check out Owen Davey. He's an illustrator and he's produced this beautiful picture book, Foxley's Feast and is soon to release a second. I think his drawings are brilliantly stylistic. I want one!

His talents don't stop at stories. He's produced work for the likes of Orange, The Times, Jamie Oliver and the BBC! An inspiration to all us budding creative types.

Take a look at his wrapping paper too. It's the coolest. Now whose birthday's coming up...?

Ralph Allen Writes presents Rebecca Tucker

Unfortunately Ralph Allen Writes 2011 competition is now totally come to an end. Winners have been announced. Prizes have been given. Anthologies have gone on sale. I certainly have learnt a lot from it and I think the pupils involved have learnt a lot too. Being creative is not easy, you know. It takes a lot of work but all the pupils who entered the competition are now published writers, which is amazing!

There was one girl, however, that missed out on the opportunity to be published. I'm putting it down to some computer malfunction. So here for your pleasure is a story that's definitely worth a Creative Thinkers post. Rebecca Tucker's chilling tale, Trapped Forever:

“Beware of the ring! Do not put it on your finger or you will be trapped forever!” The fortune teller’s voice was cruel and emotionless. As Harry walked out of the tent his face was as white and blank as an icy lake. He felt quite taken aback! Didn’t fortune tellers normally say what you wanted to hear?

            Over time, Harry’s family moved house, into an extremely beautiful Tudor building. After the family had settled in, Harry discovered an archaic basement. Feeling curious, he decided to explore the dusty rooms. Harry found a small box and, feeling inquisitive, chose to look. Harry opened the lid of the tiny container and found a ring with a grinning skull. Feeling rather disappointed that it was just an old ring; he put it on his finger. After all it was pretty cool!

            Suddenly, Harry found himself falling through the clouds and realised that the ground was getting closer. Harry hit the floor with a thud. He looked round the room, flooded with light. It was as empty as an abandoned cave. Without warning the light in the room got blindingly bright and it filled with fire, closing in on Harry like a hungry tiger…

            Harry woke up. Thankfully it was just a dream! Rubbing his eyes he noticed someone standing at the end of his bed.

            “Happy birthday!” his mum exclaimed. “I brought you breakfast, it’s your favourite!” She held out an enormous pile of pancakes.

            “But my birthday’s a week away!” Harry answered.

            “Don’t be daft Harry!” his mum said, handing him the pile.

Harry stopped arguing and ate his breakfast. He had to admit, it was lovely!

            At school that day everyone was unusually nice to Harry: Mrs Turner had given him chocolates for winning a maths quiz, his mum had made him a special birthday lunch, Mr Wood had given him a cake with pink icing and a candle and his class had sung happy birthday to him!

           

Walking home, a sudden noise made Harry wake up from his daydream and, as he looked up, he realised that he had no idea where he was. The sky was filled with beautiful stars and Harry felt himself turning as he tried to see them all. The stars became a blur as Harry turned faster and in their place were terrifying ruby eyes.  As he watched, unable to move, Harry saw several monsters’ heads appearing out the darkness, then their bodies and, last of all, their hideous red tails. He heard a murmuring growl that grew into a furious roar of victory. Harry shut his eyes and covered his ears, hoping desperately that they would go!

            Without warning everything changed. The dreadful scarlet creatures were replaced by a flaming ring of fire, out of which emerged terrifying, headless zombies, dripping with blood.  Suddenly, Harry remembered something someone had said to him years ago. “I am trapped forever in my dream…” Harry realised as the Zombies closed around him, ready to kill.

To order a copy of the Ralph Allen Writes Anthology please email me. They are only £5 each with proceeds split between Ralph Allen School funds and Cancer Research.

Day 350: What if...

Today's challenge is to think of a 'what if' scenario and then create a story from it. Like,

'What if all the planes stopped working tomorrow and everyone had to turn their gardens into vegetable patches?'

'What if Elvis Presley walked into your school/collage and announced his death was a hoax?'

'What if an elephant started talking to you when you went to the zoo?'

'What if you won a life time supply of chocolate from Cadbury's?'

Use one of these or come up with your own 'what if' to play with...see what you can create.

Day 345: Problems with the Goo Monster

Ok, so something weird has been happening on my Blogger page. For some reason, a post I'm pretty sure I put up last Thursday has suddenly come up as a mere draft! This means that technically I'm a day behind on the old daily blog challenge thingy, but as it's not really my fault (I don't think) I'm not really counting it. I will however put two posts up today to rectify the situation.

Why do things have to be so confusing!

Anyway, as a creative person I like to think that a massive goo monster has somehow wormed his way into the system and left these disgusting, messy slime trails all over my blog and that's why it's not functioning properly. There's no way to deal with it. You just have to let it go on sliming things up and pick up the pieces in it's wake.

I like to think of it with big warts that puss and fizz as it rolls along, slowly decaying the bits of computer software is creeps over. It doesn't have any legs, kind of like a big fat, green slug thing. With no regard for anyone or anything in it's way, it ruthlessly wrecks apart everything we try to achieve.

And that's what's causing all this confusion. Fact.

Day 340: Annoying things parents say...

Yesterday me and my housemate, Beth were reminiscing about our childhoods. We soon got onto the subject of being unjustly told off by our parents. You know the times when you feel you don't quite deserve to be told off for what happened?

I was sharing a time when I copied my older cousin, Nicola by walking on the hoover tube which was curling around on their living room floor. My dad came in and told me off for walking on another person's hoover cord and spouting off stuff about being disrespectful. But, hello! What about Nicola? She did exactly the same thing. Did she get told off? No! When I protested, I got this:

Emma, if Nicola jumped off a cliff, would you?


What an absolutely RiDICulous thing to say! Parents ALWAYS say it though, don't they? Quite clearly I wouldn't jump off a cliff and nor would Nicola for that matter. If I was her I think I would be offended at such a suggestion.

There must be a story in this. My blog challenge for today is to cast your minds back to remember an annoying parent phrase which really grates on you and use it to create a great story. It could be a funny one to exaggerate the absurdity of parents! Or why not turn it around and create a story where the parents are the ones getting a telling off.

Using memories as inspirations for genius is always a winner. See what you can create...

Day 331: Sharing Harry Potter

I was flicking through the channels on the TV as I eating my lunch and finally settled on a show about book clubs. The programme went from a studio of presenters to an idyllic country house where 8 people were sitting around discussing a book they'd all read. They shared ideas and opinions on the book and looked like they were having a pretty good time.

There's something about sharing the experience of reading a book. When Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows came out, I remember my sister and I read it together. Sometimes we would read it aloud to each other and sometimes we'd read independently at the same time. It was really nice being able to finish a chapter and then talk about it with someone else.

Making reading into a social activity seems like a really good idea to me and watching this programme made me want to join a book club. Everyone who reads a book takes slightly different meanings from it, based on their own experiences of the subject matter and where they're at in their life, so sharing reading gives you a bigger picture of what that book is about.

I've made the decision. After Uni (everything is after uni at the moment!) I am going to set up a book club. Are you with me? Why not set one up yourself with your friends, at your school/collage or at work? Try teenreads to start you off on your way or contact your local library to see what's already going on in your area.

Reading doesn't have to be done alone...

Day 318: Working with Windmills

Here is a story all about a windmill. This windmill:

But this story starts partway through, as I, the story-teller can only retell the second chapter of it's life. It was found, broken and discarded outside a house. Its sails had fallen off, its paint chipped and old. The windmill had been forgotten, in a state of disrepair, or was it?

The lady who found it decided it wasn't the end for this windmill and took it home. With a bit of glue and a few coats of paint, the battered windmill was restored to it's former glory and sits in a sunny garden for all to admire.

And now it's found its way onto a creative blog! What a wonderful example of using forgotten things to make beautiful creations. You know what they say, one man's rubbish is another man's treasure. So keep your eyes pealed. You never know what could be waiting for you to restore. It's a great way to get creative and use your talents...

What will you create?

As for the first chapter of this windmills story, well, I'll leave that up to your creative imagination to discover...

Day 314: the London Marathon

When I was a kid, my grandparents used to take us on the train to watch the thousands of people running through the streets of London for the marathon. Nanny would lead us to the side of the road, where we'd park up for 20 minutes to watch the fastest runners check their watches and quicken their pace. Then she'd march us off through the side streets to catch another flow of runners.

My grandad who cheer, 'Come on John,' but whenever I asked him who he was cheering for he'd say anyone and everyone. There were people holding up big banners and hunches of balloons. Some had shakers. There was even a steel-tinned drumming band one year.

The best bit was the fun runners. People dressed up as rhinos, clowns and soldiers. Anything goes with the fun runners.

Eventually, we'd get to the finish line and watch hundred of people run past Buckingham Palace and across the finish line. Beyond it, there were fields of silver sheets, keeping the runners warm as their hearts slow back to the pace of the rest of us.

By the end of the day, we would squeeze onto the crowded Underground, back to Liverpool Street. Occasionally, someone would get up and let a runner sit down in their place, Becca and I would gorp at their medallion in awe. They'd just run for 26 miles!

That's my memory of the marathon. Do you have one?

Day 311: The Hobbit!

I am SOOOOO excited. I just watched the first video blog about the making of the long awaited Hobbit film. For all you Lord of the Rings fans out there, check it out RIGHT NOW. They have rebuilt Bag End, Rivendell and they look beautiful. Peter Jackson gives you the rounded tour and it's so exciting!

This clip is not just for LOTR/Hobbit fans. Creative people listen up. This clip is full of weapon making, Costume design/making, Choreographing fights/action scenes, set building, shooting...you name it, it's there.

I am so siked about this film and we've still got to wait two years, but you know it's going to be worth it! Peter Jackson is amazing. An inspiration to creative folk everywhere!

Ps, if you haven't read The Hobbit, DO IT!!

pps, Is it just me or do you have a massive urge to watch Lord of the Rings RIGHT NOW???

Day 289: Design the World...

Today, I decided to walk back to my house the long way round, through the park to make the most of the sunshine. You never know when you'll next see it, so it's best to catch it while you can.

Everyone obviously had the same idea as me. There were people everywhere; walking, sun bathing, playing football. The kid's park was rammed!

Naturally, on my stole, my thoughts wondered all over the place and I got to noticing all the things I could see. It started off with a lamp post. It was one of those ones which looks really old fashioned, like it should have a real flame in it at night, but you know it's really a fake, 'in keeping with the surroundings.' You know the ones. Someone designed that deliberately to have in that exact place, next to Bath's Royal Crescent.

In fact, everything I could see was designed by someone; the clothes people were wearing, the cars parked up, the posters on show, the bandstand, the dog leads, the playground equipment, even the way the flowers were arranged. Everything. It's all designed by someone and then redesigned by someone else.

Look around you now, wherever you are. I bet most things you can see were designed to be a certain way. Even the devise you're reading this on.

I don't know about you, but that blows my mind! We don't even think about it, but actually everything has a designer....

I wonder what they're like. Where do they live? Do they like their job? How did they get into it?

In fact even the objects themselves have a story. Where were they made? Who by? Where were they sold?How did they get here now...?

If everything is designed everything has a designer. Everything has a story.

Just a thought...

Day 283: Cracking cheese, Gromit!

This picture is dedicated to a girl I spoke to today, at Ralph Allen Secondary School in Bath, who wanted to write a story about a boy who really likes cheese. I immediately thought of this picture.

What does this make YOU think of? Try staring at it for 5 minutes and writing down all the things it reminds you of. Why not turn it upside down, cover bits up, look at it with squinty eyes...

How could you use these idea to inspire your creative pieces?

Day 282: The Pet Shop Boys' Ballet

How many creative influences can you fit into a brand new ballet show?

'The Most Incredible Thing' is the latest contemporary ballet to hit the stage at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London this month. Pop sensation, the Pet Shop Boys, who brought the world 'Always On My Mind' and 'West End Girls' have collaborated with dance choreographer, Javier De Frutos to create a brand new ballet based on a short story by Hans Christian Anderson (who wrote The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling).

It's amazing how many people have used Hans Christian Anderson as inspiration for their creative projects. He's been dead for over 130 years now, yet people are still in love with his timeless tales. What does that say about the power of stories? People are always searching for good ones.

Even the Pet Shop Boys have been mesmerized by his tales. Moving away from pop into the elegant world of ballet, this is sure to be one to watch. Check out the Sadler's Wells Website for more info. For those of you who can't wait, I managed to find this for you, just a sneak peek. Enjoy...

Day 279: Fanatical about films?

I have spent most of the day sitting behind Box Office at work looking through the Odeon Magazine. Some of the films coming out soon I quite fancy like, The Adjustment Bureau and The Lincoln Lawyer. They look interesting: What could be in their future that would cause them to become wanted in their present? Why would a man run a law firm from his car?

But some of the films like, Battle: Los Angeles and Unknown really didn't interest me. Why is that? Why do some of us want to see those films and some of us don't? What is it about them that makes us fancy them (or not)?

Is it their stories? Their actors or directors? Is it their marketing?

Odeon claims to be fanatical about films, but are they really? I mean, can any one person be fanatical about all films? I don't think so...

Just one of the thoughts that filled my head as I waited for the next film lover to buy a ticket from me today...

Day 275: Character play...

Today I have been working with some Year Seven pupils at Ralph Allen School in Bath. We've been thinking up characters and using them to come up with an idea for creative writing peices. I was so impressed with all of the wacky characters created in only a few minutes. We had zombies, ghost hunters, deep sea divers and everything in between. So much fun! We managed to think up loads of different ways we could put these characters into a story from the things we knew about them.

It's amazing what ideas you can conjure once you've got a character on the go. Stuff just comes out of what you already know. Once you've got two characters on the go, well, you're away!

Why not have a go yourself? Here are the questions we asked to create a character. More questions will come from these and then your story will write itself...enjoy!

Day 273: Rebecca the witch

This picture may appear to be a bit of old school writing and I guess it is, but it's what it writes about which intrigues me.

The notebook of a witch finder has been put online for the whole world to see. It tells the stories of women living in the East of England (where I'm from) who, suspected of witchcraft, were tortured and hanged. Seems brutal to us now, but in those times, witches were the feared terrorists of the day. The notebook talks of one girl called Rebecca who was tortured because her Mum mentioned her name under torture. Rebecca then reveals her own mother to be a witch. Along with many other women, her mum was hanged because of Rebecca's confession, but she herself was spared.

If that doesn't inspire a story I don't know what does!

Rebecca lived in Colchester, which is where I went to sixth form. I mean, that's crazy! 350 years ago, girls were being tortured and hung where I went to school! My own sister is called Rebecca and she went to sixth form there too, so the whole thing is just super creepy for me...

Notebooks have always intrigued me. When I was younger, I read Celia Rees' Witch Child. The main character Mary writes a diary and sews each page into her quilt for fear of discovery. In the story I'm writing, one of the characters, Holly, finds out about another character through reading her diary. They are curious things that tell us secrets...

Check out this notebook's stories from 350 years ago and see how they play with your imagination....

Day 270: Who will write the next all-time Classic?

Over the past few days, I've been to a few more Bath Literature Festival events and have seen quite a few authors speaking about their work, about writing process and about books in general.

One interesting question that came up in the The Classics talk on Wednesday was who writers write for. Books like Rebecca by Daphne De Maurier and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy  have been entertaining readers for decades, but did their authors imagine that their stories would still be enjoyed in the 21st Century? Were they writing for us or were they writing for their own generation?

I think this idea is really interesting. When I write my stories or even my blog entries, I am writing for you, right now, for the youth of this generation, not those who are going to live in 50 years time, but maybe other people do write with future generations in mind, trying to make it timeless. I wonder if they have a reader in mind as they sit there, plotting and creating characters. Perhaps these things just happen. To plan to be a international best seller decade after decade is probably not the best way to write, but what do I know?

If you wrote/are writing a book, who would/are you writing for? Do you have someone in mind? Do you write for yourself? Something to think about... 

Day 262: There's no business like show business...

I have spent the afternoon interviewing people to be in a short film. A short film based on my story! How exciting is that? To see these people fulfilling the roles of characters I have created is quite amazing and it has given me a new enthusiasm for my writing.

Do you need a lift in your creative work? What could you do to get it?

I never thought that thinking about acting and casting would help me, but it has. I guess being creative is about thinking outside the box.

If you are into drama, why not put yourself in the shoes of a painter? If you're a dancer, why not think about getting involved in singing/music? Could you learn anything from other creative areas?

It doesn't have to be much. It might just be talking to a friend or sitting in on another class at school/collage. Go see a play/movie/dance show/exhibition/book signing...

Remember, creativity feeds creativity!

Day 253: Black Swan and The King's Speech

On Sunday night I went to see Black Swan and to be perfectly honest, I hated it. It freaked me out and I could not get to sleep for thinking about it.

Maybe it's just me, but I find, as a visually fueled person, images stay with me for a long time. I have also been told I have an over active brain, aka, I think too much, so watching to a film like that and then going to bed just reeks chaos in my mind!

About an hour after I'd settled down into bed, a picture from my wall fell down and scared the hell out of me! Seriously, I thought my heart was going to explode.

I'm just not very good at scary stuff, okay!

Anyway, mixed in with these fears was this thought; cinema (and films) have the power to affect us in incredible ways. In the past people have written about cinema audiences as passive. In other words, we just watch the screen with no interaction with what we see. But that is so NOT true. If that were the case, I would not be up for hours, fearing what might come up from under my bed. I wouldn't laugh at The King's Speech when King George VI is swearing at the top of his lungs. I wouldn't cry when he finally gives his first war time speech.

The cinema is a powerful creative creature. Don't under estimate it's affect on it's audience and don't go straight to bed after you've seen Black Swan!