by Clarissa | Aug 13, 2018 | family
For Christmas 2016 I was given a Dutch 5 year diary, but rather than just having the spaces to write in it had a question for every day. The idea being that every day of the year you answered that question, and then at the end of five years you can see how much...
by Clarissa | Aug 9, 2018 | personal, writing |
Since starting to write more seriously, and in so doing learn more about story structure, I find I’m reading more critically. And I can better articulate why I don’t like something. I still need to work on understanding why things work well! This makes me...
by Clarissa | Aug 6, 2018 | family, personal |
My biggest childhood regret is that I never learned how to cartwheel properly. My legs never go straight over me and I end up in a heap at the end, as I don’t land on my feet again. Not that I’ve tried in years. Why didn’t I learn to cartwheel? Lots...
by Clarissa | Aug 2, 2018 | family |
This summer I want to try and do the activities that the children want to do – let them lead in choosing, and executing what we do each day. Or at least as much as I can. I have ideas, but I’m going to try not to push those. Ideally we want to have a mix...
by Clarissa | Jul 30, 2018 | dutch life, family |
The Dutch have a great system where you can buy an annual subscription, and then visit pretty much all the museums in the country for free. This is a museum card, and it is personalised, so has your name and the adult cards have your photo on too. Children’s...
by Clarissa | Jul 26, 2018 | dutch life, family |
What I hadn’t thought about when learning a new language was that it’s not only the words that are different. The sounds that things make are different too. For example in Dutch cows say “boo” and cockerels crow “kukuleku”. And...
by Clarissa | Jul 23, 2018 | writing |
The last few weeks I’ve mainly been working on three short stories – one as an exclusive for newsletter subscribers, and two to submit to other places. When/if they are published I will post links and tell you more about them. What I have learnt from doing...
by Clarissa | Jul 19, 2018 | personal
Most people describe their dreams as vivid pictures they see in their mind’s eye. But I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that. While I very rarely remember my dreams, but when I do I’m sure that they are narrated. It’s like the voice in...
by Clarissa | Jul 16, 2018 | writing
I am launching a newsletter to let you know how my writing is going. I will send out a message once a month with an overview of how I’m doing, as well as something I’ve written. This maybe a short story, a character interview, or an excerpt from something...
by Clarissa | Jul 12, 2018 | dutch life, family
The Dutch take a relatively pragmatic view to the issue of school summer holidays, and stagger them across the country. School holidays are set nationally, though some of the dates are only advisory and individual schools can choose their own. But the summer ones are...
