Hello everyone. For my birthday this year Katherine surprised me with an idea for a birthday present. She decided to send me on a six week method creative writing class at the wonderful bookshop Bookseller Crow. The idea was that not only would I hopefully enjoy the present but that I would be forced into making time and space for writing – something that’s difficult on occasion. You may well be thinking, “yes I’m on board with the idea of a six week course, even possibly – at a push – a creative writing class, but there seems to be the inclusion of the word ‘method’ up above there and you better explain that pretty pronto buster’. The idea is to create and on occasion “be” the character you are writing about. I have decided, in my usual style, to throw myself into this and so Stephie is now on Twitter. Indeed Stephie will be taking over the blog, and will be writing on a daily basis for the next seven weeks (the course is six weeks, but we write in the weekly class too, and so I will publish those bits, when they focus on Stephie too). Today’s piece is from the first class. I pass you over to Stephie. See you in seven weeks.
– Alex.
My name is Stephanie Penelope Barnaby Lettings but most people call me Stephie, except old Stebbings, she thinks Stebbings is a great deal too close to Stephie and Lettings and so she calls me Penny. Actually she pretty exclusively calls me ‘Penny, you call her Stephie, you know Stephie Lettings, yes that one’ but then that’s old Stebbings for you. Never really was quite sure where the Stephanie bit came from if I’m honest, it might have been somebody pater had a bit of an eye for before mother, but I never asked him before he shipped out. Barnaby was the family dog’s name before I came along and father was so upset when Barnaby died that he insisted he’d name his first-born after the dog, but when I popped out a girl clearly the name had to move down the pecking order pretty smartish. If mother got a look in in all this it was probably about the whole Penny bit, never quite understood why she’d name me after her most hated aunt, but that seems to be roughly the posish. Obviously the old surname, ‘Lettings’ is a bit of a let down around the more respectable tables for luncheon, but I am assured that it is French, or some such, rather than from the estate agent trade or something ghastly like that.
– Stephie.
gamboling.co.uk 