Izzard Inspiration Anyone?

Oh my, I'm in shock. I've just had the most PHENOMENAL day's writing. I wish I could say that I have no idea where this came from (ah, the deep mystery of the craft) but I have an inkling there's one person to thank. Not the most obvious person. He doesn't write a blog, edit manuscripts, run a consultancy service or make me cups of tea. He does, however, wear dresses and run marathons. Eddie, if you're reading - thank you.

Last night I sat down to watch the documentary Ian had recorded for me about Eddie Izzard running 43 marathons in 51 days in aid of Sports Relief. I took up running three years ago but the most I've ever achieved is a half-marathon. I was really curious to see how the heck Izzard pulled this off with only two weeks prior training. I am now at liberty to tell you how: through sheer bloody-mindedness. The mental strength that went into that feat is still utterly beyond my ken. I spent the entire programme shaking my head in awed disbelief, turning round to Ian and asking, 'How does someone DO that?' I know what I'm like - a soppy cow. I knew I'd probably start crying at some point. I wasn't prepared for the moment when I started bawling my eyes out. It was really one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen. One of his trainers said something that rang a loud bell with me: 'In order to succeed, you need tenacity and a big stubborn streak.' I went to bed stubbornly thinking, If Eddie Izzard can run 43 marathons I can ruddy well finish a manuscript.

Inspiring Indeed. And it hasn't stopped there...

I arrived at the Royal Festival Hall this morning, ready for a full day's writing. I didn't realise how much more inspiration was going to be all around me. These are some of the things I've seen today:

• A group of taxi drivers with wipe-clean maps spread, testing each other on The Knowledge. You know, when they memorise every single street in London? I can't even remember what I did last night.

• A woman reading sheet music, sat on her own, waving an invisible baton in the air.

• Teenage girls revising together, talking in low considerate voices.

• A drama group rehearsing.

I'm telling you, if you want a kick up the derriere for your own writing, get yourself down to the Royal Festival Hall! You'd think it would be hard to concentrate with all this stimulation, but not at all.

As I said at the start of this blog post, the writing has gone superbly. I've been nursing self-doubt for about a month now. You know when you decide that you've been creating nothing but a big fat waste of trees? But today I've worked really hard and had a breakthrough. I wrote a chapter that was working great, until I arrived at the end and realised that I'd just made my main character totally unlikeable. Um... Easy! I made her sister do all those foul things and suddenly everything fell into place. Big time. Like a big thing falling into a big place, a round peg going into a round hole, a... Oh dear, stop that now, Karen. Let's just say, it works.

Now, what is that you're whispering in my ear? Pride comes before a fall? You're quite right. There's another big plot thread that I still need to tease out. That one's got to work, too. But for now I am happy to blog about a good day's work and mosey off to the cinema for some well-earned R&R.

When I first saw Eddie Izzard on my telly all those years ago, with his red-painted lips, would I ever have thought he'd be one of the hidden contributers to my current WIP? It's a funny old thing, life. It throws up the most unexpected plot twists.

I leave you with one of my usual random photos, this time of snowdrops in Derbyshire. Is that the sound of plants growing? Spring is finally here - hurrah!