My Story 2: But Before We Go Any Further - Me And My Writing.

Before we go any further about life in general, I thought I should start with a little more about my writing, or attempts at writing. It is something I wish I had done much more of. Maybe I should have looked at obtaining further adult qualifications, maybe taken courses or classes to help me out. I don’t have many regrets in life, but not writing more would possibly be one of them? 

I didn’t enjoy school, to the point I tried to avoid going whenever I could get away with it. Bunking off, or ‘skiving’ as we called it as kids, was a lot easier back in the day. Teachers would accept an excuse letter written by a good friend with different handwriting than mine. It was too easy not to go.

But the one thing I did enjoy, other than rugby and most other sports, was writing stories in my English lessons, and this is why, during my life at different stages, I have continued to write – or try to. We all have pastimes we love; I love writing.

I wrote my first children’s story when I had to use an A4 pad, a pencil, and a rubber, now long forgotten and in a far-off bin. But it was about a group of cars that were friends and helping people, something I believe is important in life and again something already mentioned in my bio and that will be mentioned later.

It was in the days when I could write about Freddy Fiesta and Minnie Metro as two of the friends, and as you know, we have moved on a few years since then! My second attempt was about a time-travelling young boy, accompanied by his dog, who, after using his time machine to travel back to another century, helped a young boy in trouble, putting his own safety at risk. It was written for my daughter, at the time a very young child, and to give you an idea, she is 32 later this year.

(Who remembers these little beastie boys?_

(Metro - "The first Austin Mini Metro" by harry_nl is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Fiesta - "1984 Ford Fiesta 1.1 Ghia" by charles cars is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

It was around the time that Harry Potter surfaced and also in the days when a synopsis usually had to be handwritten separately and sent off by Royal Mail, and nothing ever came of it, though I didn’t really try too hard, and I have since written the 2025 version, which may be put on the site at a later date.

The birth of my granddaughter 4½ years ago encouraged me to write again, and so I wrote another story about friends helping each other, and it had a similar theme yet again to the others and also my philosophy in life; this time the friends are fairies living in Wardija Woods, with the 5 main characters based on my female family members. My wife, daughter, granddaughter, late mother, and sister. It is out there, as I used the self-publishing option. The book is called ‘Floriana and the Lost Friend,’ and there is a link in that section of the website should anyone be interested.

I looked at an AI programme to help my writing, but on trialing the product, I didn’t like the changes it made, so I decided to stick with my style; it’s nice and simple – I think!

There will be stories about my love of cycling and what we encounter, both the good and the not-so-good; how it helps me with my mental health; and there will be my views on many other subjects, including our love of our motorhoming life and definitely sport. I will share my love of very amateur photography, and each will have its own subsection on the website, maybe with the same story shared within 2-3 different subsections.

I had another website up until about 3 years ago, mainly chronicling my life with my anxiety after the cycling accident and hopefully helping others to realise the problems that it brings. Both for those having the issues and for those living with someone who has the problems. There were modern-day topics; however, a random comment from someone close to me put me off writing, so I decided not to bother. I think my logic was, ‘if they don’t like it, no one will.’ A pretty poor way of thinking because it wouldn’t be true.

However, two things have happened in those three years. Probably, and most importantly, I have missed writing and putting my thoughts out there for people to read, because the one thing I do guarantee is the truth or that my opinion is explained so that people understand why I have said what I have. You may not agree with me, but that is how I write. We are all entitled to opinions; it is how we put that opinion across that matters, and that is important to me.

Secondly, I read some of the same Sunday paper that this unnamed person reads on a regular basis, and I realised that many of their writers write, using that same philosophy as I do, truth or opinions with explanations and facts. So, after some thought, I decided that I wasn’t really doing anything different from some well-known tabloid and broadsheet writers, maybe, or, should I say, obviously, I just wasn’t doing it quite so well, but it doesn’t mean it was that bad either!

I suppose it was a bit like football players who play for lower league, maybe non-league teams giving up playing because they know they will never play for any of the Premier League giants, but they don’t give up, do they? They go out there, usually twice a week, giving heart and soul, but they don’t give up because someone says they’re not so good, not exciting, rubbish, or any other negative description of how they and their team play or did play in one specific game – they try again and again, and so I decided it was my time to try again!

(Who knows, maybe one day Old trafford or Wembley)

So here I am, trying again, being 63 from 63. I have a philosophy when it comes to TV: if you don’t like it, don’t watch it, and the same applies to written work: if you don’t like it, don’t read it. I’m not saying my writing will be your preferred style; I’m not saying you will or won’t like it, and it may even get the same criticism, but this time I will take it on board. Criticism won’t stop me from writing, and I hope you can enjoy some of it, though I’d prefer it if you enjoyed all of it.

I think I am a reasonably helpful and generous type of person, or so I have been told, and if I were the opposite, I would know, and I would tell you. But at 63 one of the things I have learned as I grow older is that I am doing this for one person, and on this occasion that person is me!

I hope you can enjoy my blogs; there will be many topics, from my semi-autobiographical life, my ups and downs, and regrets (though few,) to my battles and issues with my diagnosed mental health problems following a cycling accident, to the present day. UK and worldwide topics in today’s society, but maybe even historical or assumed futuristic opinions.

And there we are, folks; that is an introduction to me with my front-page bio and my writing with this post. It’s not meant to be exciting or so different; it’s just good old me and a start to who I am. I will tell more as I write. Hopefully we can get to know each other through time, and if you feel you would like to contact me, please do so through the website, and I’ll try my best to answer.

Thank you for reading

DJ