Bradford Lad: A Writer's World
Mike Coatesworth suggests that the setting of a writer's home helps to shape the words he or she produces.
I love the countryside of Yorkshire. My dream was to live in a large house with white gabled walls, and a few acres of land. A place where I could write, a place where I could be seen for what I am, not for what can be obtained from me.
Often I have thought of disappearing, of starting a completely new life. Because I am disabled there would probably be a large search party out looking for me. So I spend lots of time at my computer, writing stories. This is my way of escaping from the world's unhappiness.
When I started out as a writer I studied people from all walks of life, trying to find out what made them tick. Then I realised that in my stories I could be whoever I wanted to be, and I could go wherever I wished to go.
Gradually my stories began to improve, and in my writing I can be whoever I want to be and go wherever I want to go.
I don't think I'm mad. Everyone dreams of being a hero or heroine at some time.
And what better setting for a writer's home than a picturesque Yorkshire village. There would always be a tale to tell in such a writer's paradise.
From the window of my former home in Yorkshire I looked out on beautiful rolling hills. Now from my new cottage home I look out on a beautiful Irish scene. To some folk these rural places would seem boring. To me they are paradise.
When I open the window in a morning a breathe fresh unpolluted air. There's the smell of flowers, the smell of freedom. The sounds change throughout the day. There's the song and sounds of the birds, skylarks and swallows in the early morning, then swifts, blackbirds, crows, and all the others.
These sights, smells, sounds shape themselves into stories and articles. Soon I am typing busily on my computer keyboard, hoping my words bring a happy smile to at least one face.
