Utterly writerly

Louise wears great frocks. Tonight, even the marker pen she was using toned in with her outfit. As she says of writing, it's all in the detail. One day, I'd like to stand in front of a class in imperial purple reverse leg of mutton sleeves, and a skirt patterned in swishing monochrome with violet accents, and make notes for an eager class in purple marker pen. She walked straight out of a fashion page to exhort us to kill people when our plots begin to dull.

I love the glimpses Louise gives us into her writerly life - yesterday she was planting trees with Michael Portillo to offset the carbon footprint of the Booker prize. And not many people can say that.

It was the last class before the Easter break. Next term, there'll be more lectures, more visits, more writing exercises, more input from industry professionals. And fewer peer assessments. 

I'm hoping to get some real writing done during the Easter break. I might pretend that the course is running over Easter and go and hide somewhere with the laptop while everyone at home thinks I'm in London. 

And I still haven't written about Helen Dunmore.