I've always enjoyed writing, let's not get into a debate as to whether I'm any good at it because that's immaterial, so I decided to sign up to a creative writing course.

Daunting doesn't come close to describing how I felt sitting amongst nine other people with varying experiences and ambitions. Several all felt they had a book in them and were hoping to write a novel. All I wanted to do was capture thoughts and experiences in a way that would invite people to keep reading - that's what a lot of this blog is about...

The first exercise was to establish a sense of place and so I wrote this:

<em><span style="color: #0000ff;">It’s always a struggle to walk into a pub alone but the moment I entered I felt immediately at home. The open fire at one end of warmed the room and within a few strides I was at the bar facing a smiling landlord. The locals gave a glance up from their conversations but were soon re-immersed in their gossip. As I looked around I absorbed the old beams, stained glass screens and the cosy, intimate booths. It was comfortable without being shabby and I thought “this is my local, at last I’ve come home”.</span></em>

This was based the pub the family had had lunch in Melton Mowbray the day before. There's plenty of room for expansion in terms of description particularly around the pub landlord and the regulars but that would come in an edit if I wanted to take it further.

The next exercise involved mapping our teenage years in terms of place.