Over the past few months I’ve facilitated workshops for the Dorset Writers Network latest project, Dorset’s Digital Stories. Workshops have taken place east, west, north and south of the county facilitated by local writers Gail Aldwin, Francis Colville, Kate Kelly, , Claudia Leaf, Kathy Sharp, Fran Taylor and Sue Ashby. Participants of the workshops received a free entry into the competition and winning entries will appear in a ebook later in the year.
The next stage of the project is inspiring the 11-16 age group and I’m enjoying working with groups at Queen Elizabeth School, Wimborne and Magna Academy in Poole. It is fascinating to hear how the younger generation see things and how it inspires them.
I’ve lived in Dorset for over twenty years now and feel very blessed to do so. Dorset is an incredible county with so many beautiful landscapes, places of interest, coastline, hills and valleys, forests, natural attractions.
Sometimes using the place we loathe is more effective to generate a story and worth looking at. It’s so easy to think of what we like but what about what we don’t like ? Maybe I’m an optimist but I have practised not looking for the bad in things and training myself to see the good. Yes, a bit Pollyanna-ish but that’s the way I choose to live my life. No one’s life is without its sadness and sorrow but we also have wonderful things to be thankful for.
What inspires you about where you live? Can you use it as the setting for your story?