Learning to write prose

 As a poet, I write very concisely. Every word means something. Over recent years I've started to write longer pieces. Short plays. Longer poems and spoken word pieces. The idea of writing a novel, or even a shorter novella, has eluded me. How do you keep writing for that long?

I've always been a reader. I read my grandmother's Jean Plaidy and Victoria Holt novels at the age of seven. Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre at ten. I'd always had a pile of books by my bed. I suppose this is why the past 25 years of my working life has revolved around books. But for the past few years I've found it harder to read. Life is hard, and circumstances take over. It's easier to go to work and then switch off. As I work as a school librarian, this is obviously not ideal.

Over this weird time we've found ourselves in, I've learned to read again. Writing has never been a problem. Writing a novel, or a short novella, has always been an ambition. To have characters who do what you want them to do. Instead of reading someone else's words. 

I wanted to learn to play piano music to accompany my singing. I can't do that and it hurts. I can write words that I love. I can write people that I love. Life is short, and brutal. We need to do things that we love, and love deeply. My novella is underway, and I love the people in it already. I'm excited to see how they progress.