Week 1 - Using my notes from watching the video

It was busy this morning. It looked as if half of London was heading out of town. Every other person seemed to have a wheely case. It was quite an obstacle course getting to the bus stop. Once I got there I settled down to some serious "observing", my notebook and pen at the ready. 

The first person to attract my attention was a young woman sitting alone nursing a sleeping bag. That was all she appeared to have with her, no handbag or backpack. Where was her other stuff? Why did she look rather sad?

At that moment a man in a blue Puffa jacket and black trilby gathered up his stuff in front of me and I realised that my bus had arrived. I followed him on to the bus and up the stairs to the top deck. It's not the easiest thing to do, people-watch on a bus, all you can see is the back of their necks. For instance the chap two seats away, from here he looks a rather clean cut young man, neat hair and smart coat. He's on the phone but seems bothered by it, he keeps looking at it as if he can't quite believe what he's hearing. Either that or he hasn't got a decent signal.

I must concentrate and really study somebody, anybody. The guy in the camouflage jacket will do. From the back he looks like quite a large man but I doubt he's ever been in the army. The long hair and beard don't fit with an ex-soldier, as for that pink bungie band, what's that all about? Perhaps his employer's a woman and she got fed up of seeing him with his hair all over the place and handed him that with orders to tie it up. I expect he thinks that jacket makes him look tough.

My stop coming up I'd better put my notebook away.

Coffee break. I haven't had time to take any more notes until now, in the canteen. I like this canteen, it's a great space, airy and full of light. Those big windows look out on Euston Road with all the traffic crawling past, the red buses, the lorries and cars, and of course the ambulances and police cars, wailing past, blue lights flashing. You can't hear much in here though, the double glazing mutes all the outside noises.

I wonder if I look a bit weird, sitting here scribbling away, trying to look as if I'm not looking! There aren't many folk in here and they all seem engrossed in their own affairs. That Japanese girl for instance, she hasn't looked up,from her Apple laptop since I sat down. She's got her earphones in and she's oblivious of anything around her. Her fingers are busy, busy on that mouse. She's not doing any typing. I wonder what she's doing? Maybe editing a video? I'll never know.

Those two young guys are intriguing. The Asian boy is doing all the talking and his friend in the blue jumper is just listening, nodding now and again. On the other hand those two men by the window, with all those papers strewn about, they are having a pretty enthusiastic exchange of views. There's a mobile phone much in evidence though as if the one man is expecting a call any minute.

At one of the round tables there are a couple of women. I think the older one, the blonde, is a tutor, I'm sure I've seen her about. The younger one, with the glasses and that crazy ring must be a student. I've got a feeling they are going over the students project. The student doesn't look as if she agrees with whatever the tutor is saying. I know that feeling. 

Talking of tutors I suppose I'd better get going to my seminar with these notes and return Barbara's keys or I might forget.

Introduction

 The following pages are exercises undertaken for the Future Learn course "Starting to Write Fiction", nothing more, nothing less.

I have written since I was a small girl. I not only wrote the books, I typed them up and bound them too. The only thing I didn't do was sell them!

That early confidence has since evaporated and although I still love to write I feel my writing has short comings, not least that my characters are rather flat. I have come to this course to try and improve this aspect of my writing.