IDEAS AND INSPIRATION

Inspiration can be sought from anywhere. The unnamed hamlets you pass through on a train journey. The people strolling past you in the park, content in their oblivion. The harassed parent with the screaming child on the supermarket floor. If you look closely enough, if you pay enough attention to the minute details, you have the potential to find that spark of inspiration that will later ignite and begin a scorcher of a story.

That's why I always carry a notebook with me. I seem to have an unhealthy obsession with notebooks; with far too many floating around my bedroom. I am transfixed by their designs, textures and quotes, not to mention the endless pages of fresh, new white paper. I am drawn to the stationary isle of any supermarket, to the Paperchases and Rymans' of the High Street, to the quirky boutiques of Camden. When I find a notebook that is just right, it then holds all of the memories of that trip in which I can immerse myself whenever I turn the pages.

It's my safety net. If I am in brand new territory and am seemingly lost, as long as I have a notebook, I know I can sit myself somewhere, and just write. Writing is what I do best. And if I can't write, I draw. As soon as I sit myself in a library, a coffee shop or a park, with people to observe, sounds and smells to stimulate my senses, I open my notebook and write.

I am going to challenge you. I challenge you to go to a new city or town, somewhere you have never been before. Buy a notebook; whether it's a 99p ringbinder from the supermarket or a leather-bound pad from a High Street boutique, the choice is yours. Purchase a pen; fountain pens are a personal favourite but a Biro will do just fine. Locate a local coffee shop, park or even a bus stop. Then just sit still, and breathe in the smells of coffee beans, petrol fumes, freshly mown grass. Listen to the people around you, the cats fighting in the back alleys, the water fountain trickling steadily. Find your own source of inspiration, and just let the words flow from the barrel of your pen onto the crisp, white paper. Appreciate the world you live in. That's where true inspiration comes from.