On becoming a writer

What is that saying – ‘everyone thinks they can write’ or ‘everyone is a critic’ or what? Anyway, my sister, who is a big fan of this blog, keeps saying I should write - she has always said this, as have a couple of other relatives of mine, but I have always taken it as part of their regular hero worship :-) Last week though, her advice really trickled into my mind - this was after I woke up from a dream where I was having such strange and wonderful thoughts, and as I sat in a taxi later and turned over my thoughts, I begun to wonder if perhaps their comments held any water - maybe that is how I will make my fortune - become a published author.. I have been wondering lately how I intend to support myself after retirement seeing as I have no passive income, no assets, no savings.. Of course I could always marry a rich man, there are people who have more money than they know what to do with, but I wonder if I could really hack it.. I have held out for so long to marry a man that is my intellectual and emotional soul mate, how would I survive having to marry for money after all?

So the title of my first book, if I was to start writing it now would be 'thirty-three', and as the majority of first books are, it would probably be most anecdotal, biographical even. I would want to share with the readers how I have come to be so wise at such a young age :-) Ah well, it was a nice thought - and I seriously am looking for a note book to write in as I travel or just sit around - I always catch myself having such interesting internal dialogues and reflections, that I am always wishing I had a notebook with me - maybe that is how the first book will get written.

This morning I have been looking seriously at the Universities in the UK that I could do my PhD at. For some time now I have been very taken with doing it at the University of Edinburgh, which, besides being in Scotland which I hear is a beautiful country, is rated as one of the top universities in the world. What's more, it is the host to one film festival and a three week long music festival in August or thereabouts. All the same, I have also been checking out the Institute of Education at the University of London, and although I am loath to live in London, it has the advantage of being a specialist and highly regarded institute. And anyway, living in London must have its advantages, it is after all one of the worlds’ most known capitals, and stuff is always happening there… but perhaps not the big cities for me! Although I am sure Edinburgh is nothing to sneeze at either...

Anyway, this week, the faculty is hosting quite a big conference in town and most of the students are off attending that, so I offered to stay here and mind the store, so here I am with all week free except for one class on Thursday, and so planning to finish writing my proposal once and for all. Both websites have provided some nice guidelines on how to go about writing the proposal so, wish me luck!