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On Writing (In Public)

29th July 201630th September 2020 Liam Smith Leave a comment

I’m an advocate of writing in public. I find it keeps my writing flowing pretty regularly and encourages me to hit my weekly targets, as well getting me to try out new coffee shops. Let me tell you exactly why I prefer writing in public places.

It Gets Me Out the House

Firstly, writing in public means I will get out the house and find somewhere to write. Usually this will be a friendly cafe, though I’ve employed bars and pubs as well. Getting out and active prepares me for some hard work. Leaving the house and walking, cycling or even driving somewhere is an ideal primer for writing; you can think about what you’ll be writing whilst you’re getting there.

Resolutions Reflection: Midyear Resolutions

18th July 20164th October 2020 Liam Smith Leave a comment

Back in January I made these New Year’s Resolutions. There weren’t many – only three – but as the longest day has been and gone and the mid-point of the year is here today, I think now would be a good time to check in on my progress. Which vows will I need to renew? What midyear resolutions should I be re-resolving?

Finish a novel

Finding inspiration in the bottom of a pint glass

Now this one is going well.

New Year’s Resolutions: Redux

31st December 201511th October 2020 Liam Smith 1 Comment

Around this time last year I wrote this post about New Year’s Resolutions, and what I was hoping to achieve throughout 2015. Without even looking at those resolutions I can already say I’m really happy with the past year and what I’ve accomplished. I’ve done things that, if not life-changing, are certainly milestones for me in my life. Let’s take a look at my resolutions of yesteryear…

Last New Year’s Resolutions: 2015:

Maintain my blog. Well, I resolved to post on liamsdesk at least once a week and, whilst I started off strong, you can probably see that by June I was posting mostly once a month. A failure then? Nah. I made this resolution in order to build up a body of writing and to learn to write on demand. Just because I haven’t been writing blog posts doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing – which reminds me, let’s take a look at Resolution #2…
Write creatively at least once a week. I’ll give this a tick in the box. I’ve written pretty consistently throughout this year and I’ve got a lot to show for it: I published The Witching Hours in May. To say I’m happy about self-publishing my very own book is an understatement. But I also wrote and released The Patchwork Carnival, my second publication, as a birthday present to myself in October. Two books to my name is a great turnout for 2015 and I’m desperate to add another title to that list!
Crack the morning jog. Back in January I would go for a short one-and-a-half mile run before work a couple of days a week. At the weekend I’d stretch to a three-miler. Not only have I cracked the morning jog, it’s now actually my favourite time of day to go. No one is around, the roads aren’t busy. The sun isn’t too bright and it’s not too warm. Additionally, using stats I’ve recorded on the handy WalkJogRun, I’ve gone for 69 runs (averages at 1.3 runs a week) and run a total of 246 miles. My average pace wass 08:58 minute miles; an improvement on last year. And in November I ran a half-marathon! Loads of improvement here: I’m really happy with my progress.

What I Learned from the Super Blood Moon

29th September 201517th October 2020 Liam Smith 3 Comments

This morning at the unsocial hour of 3:47 am, the Sun, Earth and Moon were arranged in perfection alignment. The Sun’s rays, distorted and coloured by the Earth’s atmosphere, beamed upon the Moon – itself orbiting close to Earth as the Autumn Equinox approaches – and turned it a glowing red. This is a fairly rare astronomical happenstance – it last happened in 1982 and won’t happen again until 2048. It’s called the Super Blood Moon.

I hauled myself up at half three in the morning to have a look at it, and I’m glad I did. Here’s three lessons I learned from seeing the Super Blood Moon:

Getting out of bed is always a good thing.

Actually, I’ve suspected this one for a while and based my writing schedule around it. If I didn’t have to sleep I wouldn’t – you don’t even realise when you’re asleep that you are asleep. So there’s very little to take from it besides the obvious physical and mental recharge. As soon as you’re awake you can appreciate the sleep you’ve had – or, in this morning’s case, didn’t have. Which is endlessly preferable to not being able to appreciate either.

Bruges Amour: A Bruges Travel Guide

16th June 201517th October 2020 Liam Smith 1 Comment

Wake up.

But it’s four in the morning.

We’ve got a train to catch.

…Bruges!

Bruges is a beautiful city and one which I loved visiting. Let me take you on a tour of the city in this autobiographical Bruges Travel Guide.

All aboard the Eurostar

It’s even light on our way down to the station, despite the hour. Spirits are high. There’s a bit of a cock-up when we arrive in London; the underground trains are delayed and diverted. But, having arrived on the first train of the morning, we’ve got plenty of time to get to the Eurostar at St Pancras International, and to admire the fantastic architecture of the Grand Midland Hotel.

Not sure what to expect from the Eurostar? It’s like catching a train at an airport. Take your reference number and feed to the machine that spits out your ticket, and then join the queue. Head through two sets of passport control and a metal detector then wait in the boarding lounge for your gate, I mean platform, to flash up on the monitor. The Eurostar is like a normal train but it has a bit more leg room and you don’t have to fight for a seat. By the time you’re leaving London’s most beautiful rail station behind you’re already hitting the kind of speeds that can cross three countries in two hours.

Category: Life and Culture