WRITERS! YOU OUGHT TO GET OUT MORE

I was at the Alliance of independant Writers last night.   For those of us who spend our days in front of a computer playing with our imaginary friends, it’s nice to get out. 

1.You get to wear real shoes instead of those comfortable, broken down slippers  with the soup stains.   The real shoe of course can be  hard on the feet but, with practise, I know you can do it.  I  advise walking canes for ladies  attempting  the high heel after a long absence.   They can be both vertiginous and tricksy.

2.  You get to wear real clothes instead of the shapeless t-shirt and baggy pants the colour of which has now become indeterminate.   But be prepared, real clothes can be demanding.   Many will have acquired unidentifiable stains since you last remember seing them.   All will need ironing.   Some will have gone so out of fashion that even a recluse like you will baulk at wearing them.    However be assured, wearing real clothes does make you look like a real person with a real life.

3. You get to discover the joys of travelling to town.   You will find that many streets are now pedestrianised or one way so, if you are driving, allow extra time for circling the block.   There will be buildings where there were never buildings before, restaurants you’ve never heard of, shops selling things you didn’t know existed.    It is a veritable voyage of discovery.

4.   You get to meet real people.   They laugh, they talk, they have  problems they have solutions and, like you, they are writing and publishing.    And being among your own kind in public is such a blessed space.   You may find yourself staying on way beyond the witching hour, flinging back wine and flaunting your verbal dexterity.   Oh the joy, the joy!

If you’re a writer and you haven’t yet joined Allia, get your act together right now.

http://allianceindependentauthors.org/