LiLi Kathleen Bright

Away and back again

I love being away and I love being back.

My last day in Málaga I welcomed both sunrise and sunset at beaches, with my feet in the sea and on the sand. Listened to Here Comes the Sun by Nina Simone on the way.

Writing leads to inspiration, not the other way around

And, simultaneously, I’m definitely benefiting from — and appreciating — multiple sources of inspiration this week.

https://twitter.com/gobrightly/status/1172851024685608960

https://twitter.com/gobrightly/status/1172852018068766721

Anthony Anaxagorou led a brilliant workshop on writing joy at Xriss Xross. I enjoyed the amount of technical guidance provided. Learned so much in such a short time. And it was fun too.

I enjoyed the amount of technical guidance provided. Learned so much in such a short time. And it was fun too.

When you’re writing a poem you’re not a novelist.

Anthony Anaxagorou

I love that I’m a novelist and a poet. They require such different skills. I wrote a lot this week.

the days stretch to eternity when you're not here

I went to see the play Chiaroscuro and the Chineke! orchestra. Seeing people who look like me performing is the greatest inspiration. Sometimes I only feel how much representation matters when I’m experiencing it. I want more.

the days stretch to eternity when you’re not here

Being more disciplined

This week I headed to L&D Co-work in London. It’s free co-working space each month for Learning & Development, Human Relationships* and Organisational Development workers. I love co-working spaces.

* Yes, I renamed Human ‘Resources’

Got more writing done, whoop!

Made some updates to my website to make Weeknotes and Writing more prominent, and to relegate tech/business and recipes to the background.

And every time I get on public transport now, or lie down, I seem to be writing bits of my novel. So, hurrah!

Probably due some planning time shortly… Speaking of which, Preptober is pretty much just around the corner… so, there’s that.

I started creating my own curriculum for learning more about writing. Watch this space.

Reading

This week I remembered to read novels. Which is a funny thing for a storyteller to say, I know. But it’s because there are so many incredible non-fiction books and I’ve been dating amongst a lot of them.

I’m reading The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

And… add this timely recommendation from a friend I happened to bump into:

Lessons

One of my friends accidentally broke something and that helped me internalise so many things I’d read but not learned.

Tobias wrote about broken things in his newsletter. Eleanor Penny got us reflecting on shipwrecks in her workshop at Xriss Xross.