Today I met up with my friend, Sara, for a spot of writing at the Royal Festival Hall. We're both working hard on revised drafts so it's good to spur each other on with prearranged writing appointments. As I walked across the Jubilee Bridge towards the Royal Festival Hall, the London Eye looked glorious.
Sara and I began writing in the main foyer of the Festival Hall. I think this venue must be the unofficial study of hundreds of London writers. It's a lovely space with lots of room for people to sit with laptops, uninterrupted. Or that's what we'd hoped anyway. After an hour, a pop dance session began. It looked great fun, but wasn't so good for writing. We moved to the members' bar on the sixth floor. This is a gorgeous space with beautiful views over the Thames. But, ahem, Sara and I aren't actually members and after a while were invited - is that the word? - to move on. We ended up on the fourth floor, where we each sat a desk and wrote. Relatively uninterrupted, other than the odd other person who joined us in this lovely space to talk loudly into mobile phones! Here's a picture of where I sat working.
Sara wasn't far away at an identical desk. We broke off mid-afternoon for chocolate cornflake cakes, the calories surely burned off by all the moving about!
Sara and I both got a lot of work done and I felt that we had both packed away our nerves and anxiety for an afternoon at least. At 5pm we went our separate ways and I wandered past red spotty trees to walk back over to the Embankment.
What a lovely afternoon of writing. How unexpectedly entertaining. I got home to discover that my nextdoor neighbour had locked himself out. With the help of a ladder and a shed, he was able to climb over into his own back garden and let himself in. That and the X Factor have meant that the day's entertainment has still not ended. What on earth will happen next?
You put me to shame! I'm like the princess and the pea I'm so fussy about where I write! Maybe I should try new locations!
Love the spotty trees!