Writing - First Steps

So you have your source of inspiration and want to write something quickly to pass on a moral standpoint to your readers. How do you start? Let's have a go. 

I'll be back!

Starting 

I received a phone call, a cold call, and it gave me a good starting point for a poem I wrote last week, and it could also be used in a short story. So, my message,

'beware of the rapid rise of AI' 

The first paragraph would begin with the initial conversation:- 

"Hello," 

pause "My name is John. I am your local energy consultant." 

"Sorry - not interested." 

This is the point at which the imagination is fully engaged, and choices will be made as to what happens next. I hesitate to give examples, or I may do myself out of an idea! Suffice it to say that what comes next needs to be engaging for the reader. Something to take into consideration is that a 'cold call' ignored once will probably be repeated and will likely offer opportunities. 

AI cop 

Once the beginning is set to your satisfaction, how the story develops is the writers' choice. I include the AI cop as a prompt to the imagination. In this scenario, you may end up with a visit from the AI policeman, which then leads to a need for explanation and further story development. 

During this middle phase, a writer must manage an argument while describing actions and relationships. The argument is the alternative moral viewpoints you hope to convey to your readers. Obviously, you will come down on the side you wish to convey in your conclusion. That is the clarity with which you would hope to conclude the story. 

God Bless 

 

Poetry Thursday 163 - My Name is John

 Companies producing AI warn that civilisation as we know it could end within 10 years! That's a worry. It conjures memories of HAL, 1984, Terminator and other films where the technology takes over from us humans.

My Name is John

Slouching on the sofa wearing vest and jeans,

surrounded by tinnies, eating toast and beans,

Overgrown garden full of screaming kids,

Eldest in her bedroom watching music vids.

 

Prospects for a job few and far between,

Incentive set at zero wallet contents lean.

Her indoors working checkout keeping wolf from the door,

Stop the fucking noise making my head sore.

 

We used to be a proud country building stuff and making things,

Then that cow comes along and it’s  let’s find out what  selling brings,

Sold everything from massive companies to smallest house,

Now the only jobs involve clicking a bloody mouse.

 

Trickle down economy promoted as ideal,

in fact a divisive tool used to protect what they steal,

keeping us in our lowly place with threats of them leaving,

when they contribute very little instead of aiding growing.

 

Now AI’s insinuated into our lives with warnings portentous,

already replacing us as employable resources,

arrived on my doorstep through the telephone,

announcing in soulless voice,

‘my name is John’

©David L Atkinson September 2026 

God Bless 

Writing - A First Kiss

 Writing is an opportunity to dive into freedom, it is also a chance to reflect on incidents that have occurred previously in your life. The exercise allows in-depth reflection and re-evaluating feelings which can open opportunities to use incidents when writing longer stories. 

A First Kiss

 

Sixty seconds doesn’t seem a long period of time but if you consider the events that can occur in that period every minute of our lives should be valued. An example would be the fact that sprinters should be able to run one hundred metres six times! In a flooded part of the UK 10 tons of water was being pumped from the Somerset Levels in the same period of time.

It is often the case that when you encounter a new situation your first impressions formed in the early minutes tend to colour your opinions and reactions thereafter. This was the case when I made a visit to Amsterdam when still at school.

The six of us had been walking for hours exploring the city but then the time came to return to the hostel. Amsterdam is an intriguing place with streets arranged in a semi-circular design, Dam Square at the hub. The hostel we were staying in was on a street with an unpronounceable name at number 39. The buildings we were hurrying passed were in the high two hundreds and industrial, we knew that we were going to be late and needed to rush. That was the mistake. Perhaps if we hadn’t been in so much of a hurry one of us would have noticed that the word ‘Nieuw’ was placed in front of the street name. Effectively we had walked to the wrong end of a parallel road and once we’d corrected the mistake and returned to the place in which we were staying we were exhausted. We’d certainly seen more of Amsterdam than most of our friends!

Our little group consisted of three of each sex who didn’t really know each other that well because we were in different year groups. The girls were in the year above us lads. I think they’d been selected to chaperone us! There was this one girl about the same height as me, with a peaches and cream complexion, long brown hair usually tied in a ponytail, brown eyes and brimming with confidence.

The six of us had been thrown together rather and so while we were panicking slightly about being lost in a foreign city there was no time for attractions between the girls and boys to begin to develop. On the other hand the six of us being somewhat in adversity broke down some of the normal barriers that exist between the sexes in the mid teen years.

Teachers have exquisite skills in admonishing pupils but being away from home they were actually quite gentle with us, when we arrived at the hostel thirty minutes late. Everyone else had eaten and we were banished to the girls’ bedroom to eat a packed meal that had been prepared for us. I ended up sitting on the same bed as Celia. I remember thinking it was an old-fashioned name but she was quite relaxed and pleasant to talk to so we ate and chatted. The packed lunch contained a boiled egg, still in its shell!

What happened next took place well within a minute but influenced the next three years of my life. Don’t ask me why but fourteen year old me decided that it would be a good idea to crack the shell of my egg on Celia’s head! I know it was stupid, childish and likely to propel me to the teachers once again for punishment. The disturbing thing was that as soon as I had done it I knew that I’d hurt her, I knew that I’d done a stupid thing and I was apologising before she’d finished reacting.

Our eyes met at that point and her gentle, brown orbs were brimming with tears but not just as a result of the pain. I reached out and put my hand on her head, her hair felt silky and apologised as sincerely as I knew how. The next minute was electric. Celia could have screamed at me to ‘Get out!’ and sort comfort with her female friends. She didn’t!

We were sitting quite close, facing, and leaning in towards each other. The quality of the following sixty seconds was nothing short of dream-like. Celia completed the distance between us and we kissed. I remember wonderful feelings of warmth spreading throughout my body. It was almost as if we had become one person. Everyone else in the room disappeared into an indistinct haze. I don’t suppose that this first kiss lasted more than a few seconds before the wonderful moment was broken by our cheering friends. I wasn’t tremendously disappointed because I knew it would happen again.

 

I wasn’t wrong. 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 162 - The Darkness

 Even the most sceptical of client change deniers have come to realise that the situation in the world is so serious that everyone, no matter how small, should be doing their bit to improve the treatment of our Earth. 

The Darkness

 

Hello darkness on which we depend,

that reliance must come to an end,

the fragile Earth cannot withstand,

much more of your poisoning brand.

 

In spite of giving medicine and plastic,

providing energy at levels fantastic,

giving employment to thousands,

you cause many of Earth's desecrations.

 

For the sake of future generations,

to protect the Earth's renewing systems,

humans must abandon the ubiquitous darkness,

and move towards restorative greenness.

 

Influence of the darkness is well ingrained,

powers-that-be are of entrenched mind,

frightened to take the necessary steps,

rip off the plaster without the forceps.

 

Time is of the essence,

 gone is opportunity for acquiescence,

the toxins need to be removed,

and now, for Earth to be improved.

©David L Atkinson September 2026 

God Bless 

Writing - Environments

 As with conflict, environment is totally under the control of the writer and is every bit as complex. It is also infinite in the range of types. To put the tin lid on this area, there are levels that vary in size and importance to the story. 

When a tale is under construction, the initial site of action is linked closely to the story. These sites could be a forest, caves, a cityscape, a rural village or urban sprawl - in other words, almost anything - but within that there will be smaller sites of action that are significant. 

This is where personal experiences may be a source for such places. 

For example, a launderette. This was something I experienced many years ago. So picture a quiet Sunday morning in the slightly damp, steamy atmosphere of such a place. There are two male customers sitting in different parts of the shop. They don't know each other and are not talking; one, in fact, is reading a book. The noise of the washing machines and tumble dryers would have precluded conversation held at normal levels. 

The street door bursts open, and a young man runs into the shop, charges across to the customer not reading, attacks him violently, and when the victim is on the floor unconscious, the attacker runs out just as quickly as he arrived. 

No words had been exchanged, and the incident lasted less than a minute. When it was over, the reader left the shop. 

A true story, but adaptable to fit in a variety of stories. As we travel through life, incidents occur, and we need to store these happenings for future use. Of course, the type of story you are writing dictates the nature of the environments you decide to employ. The description of the site of action adds to the fabric of the work you are producing. 

It is obvious to state that the description produced needs to be constructed carefully and not just a vehicle for wordy paragraphs where we indulge ourselves. It is always important to engage audiences. 

God Bless 

 

Poetry Thursday 161 - Win v Lose

 You are never too old to learn is a treatise oft repeated by my mother when I was growing up. Unfortunately, I hear myself saying the same words to anyone I can target. In fact, 'you never stop learning' may be closer to reality. 

Win v Lose

 

When we were young it was about acquiring,

talking, walking, sitting,

later we learned the glories of play,

the joy of seeing friends every day.

 

Life was about loads of gain,

opportunities to advance without too much pain,

but there is some heartfelt testing,

that can lead to some unexpected losing.

 

As life proceeds the winning becomes tougher,

opportunities for wins significantly rarer,

losing happens more frequently,

with the resulting trauma felt deeply.

 

As the days of life grow shorter,

learning remains a constant winner,

but the losses seem to occur daily,

shedding layers as skin that’s scaly.

 

The resultant gaps of missing pieces,

memorials of significant accomplices,

an indicator of increasing solitude,

silence growing in amplitude.

©David L Atkinson September 2026 

God Bless 

Writing - Conflict Resolution

 The conflict type I haven't dwelt upon, nor have I gone into style, and probably innumerable aspects of stand-offs between characters. In a sense, that is the nature of conflict: too many variables. The aspect I'm addressing today is how it comes to an end. While I'm writing, it is popping into my mind that this may take a couple of weeks to deal with adequately. 

Conflict can, of course, end unsatisfactorily, with a situation whereby there is no really identifiable conclusion. In the context of a story, this may be a useful 'beginning' of another element within the tale. That may have been your intention in setting up the conflict. There are many examples where two protagonists may end up working together, in enmity, but towards a mutually desired conclusion. 'Cop shows' use this frequently, where the lone detective fights authority over having to work closely with a colleague. (eg. Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock in Heat). The alternative successful conclusion is just as useful but tends to point towards a closed ending and follows the direction of the main story theme. 

The conflict may lead to a romantic relationship, as for Steele and Naomi in the Steele novels. Again, this has been used in stories before. 

In constructing the conflict, the purpose has to be clear from the outset for the writer, and less so for the reader. Such conflicts can spill over into following stories, and the life of such scenarios has driven the development of TV series and film franchises. I'm thinking of the relationship between cops like Starsky and Hutch, and Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon. 

The point being that the purpose of the conflict needs to be kept in mind throughout its use. Of course, the full range of emotions can be the outcome of conflicts. Referring back to The Heat, this is a spiky, aggressive, and violent film, which I found hilarious, and is full of conflict from beginning to end, from McCarthy parking her car to fights with a criminal gang. The use of humour in conflict can actually deepen the affect that the serious, aggressive aim of the story. Even Victor Hugo introduced lighter moments with the innkeeper and his wife, which was fully explored in the stage show of Les Misérables. 

God Bless