As frequent readers of this blog (and I know there are at least a couple of you) should have realised by now, I like to keep things pretty private. I’m not the sort of person to post every detail about my life into the public domain. I like to keep that little space for me and my nearest and dearest only, while I keep this blog more focussed on the world of writing and my place in it.

Over the last few weeks, they’ve been playing back all the Harry Potter films on TV.

This isn’t such a big deal. After all, those movies seem to be on a constant repeat schedule. Pick a week, any week, throughout the year and there’s a good chance you’ll find a Harry Potter movie somewhere.

I think a big part of being a writer is being able to see more than there is.

It’s being able to look at the world and detect the undercurrents, reading in between the lines of reality if you like.

There’s one particular example I always think of that illustrates the idea perfectly.

I don’t usually get political with my posts here.

There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, because I want to keep things light and focussed on issues related to my writing. Also, I know that as soon as I take a political position, I’m bound to alienate a bunch of potential readers, which is definitely the last thing I want to do. And thirdly because most political issues are complex and I couldn’t possibly give them their proper due in the short posts I write. I’m the sort of person who’s easily swayed by a good argument, and I’m happy to concede that most political arguments coming from either side of the spectrum do have some validity.

There are lots of different types of writers. Just as there are lots of different types of stories.

Some writers are really plot focussed. They’re the ones who create the tightly-plotted thrillers or the non-stop action adventures, or the far-ranging epic fantasies.