Who's Afraid of Writing?

Who is afraid of writing? I am. Yet I press on, riding this rollercoaster of doubt. Eager to learn, I journey with my writing group to Westminster Abbey for a weekend retreat of writing, reflection and instruction from a master writer, Virginia Woolf.

Home for two days is a modest room of my own. The simplicity of the room reduces the fluff of life to the basics of the craft: a desk, a chair, paper and a pencil.

Simplicity epitomises the weekend: the swishing quietness of the monks' black robes, the down to earth meals and Virginia Woolf's overriding advice - just write.

At the abbey, I learn, I write, I read and I write some more.

I learn that the reward and joy of writing is the writing itself, not the accolades of strangers. I write want I want to write: my vignettes. I read a Virginia Woolf biography and start to read 'Mrs. Dalloway'. I write some more.

I chuckle when I realise that I am following in Virginia Woolf's footsteps by self-publishing my work.

Writing is creating art. I use my camera to capture scenes to illustrate the vignettes. And some scenes tell me of a vignette waiting to be written. I am creating art - my way.

I'm finding my way as a writer.