In AA Milne’s Winnie the Pooh (the real thing, pre-Disney – oh, look, there’s a beautiful hardback to celebrate 100 years since its first publication), Eeyore says to himself:

‘This writing business. Pencils and what-not… Silly stuff. Nothing in it.’

Pencils and what-not, ipads, laptops, phones, we can write with anything these days. Yet the words can still flow like cold porridge. The solution is two interlocking things. One is that if you’re a writer, you need writing time, lots of it, securely ring-fenced, guilt-free. The second is being among other writers, especially warm, supportive darlings who are fun to be with. The combination is sometimes known as Writing Buddies.

Years ago, before I’d had any fiction or poetry published, I had a year and a half when no writing would come. Not a thing. I had plenty of plans and false starts, but a series of rejections had frozen me solid. So I booked an Arvon course led by a marvellous dramatist called Abi Morgan who sent me to my room for four hours to do nothing but write. It didn’t matter what I wrote or why. My instructions were just to cover page after page and not stop. It did the trick – bless you and thank you, Abi.

So, I’m setting up ‘Writing Buddies’ in a beautiful tea shop in Broadstairs called The Old Curiosity Shop (across the road from the cinema). On the 2nd Sunday of each month between 2 and 4pm, and on the morning of each 3rd Thursday, we’ll get together for undisturbed writing and cosy chats. I’ll post a flyer soon for you to keep those dates handy. There’s no charge (other than for what you buy in the tea shop) and you will be welcome to come to either or both, as you like. We start in February.

This is in addition to our ‘Quiet Writing’ evenings in another lovely tea & coffee shop, Sturry’s Chapters Coffee & Books, near Canterbury. We’re there next on Wednesday 11 February from 6.30pm.

In any of these groups, what you write is up to you. It’s space to find your feet or concentrate on your own project. I will bring prompts in case they’re useful but time and again I’ve seen that as soon as writers have this almost secret time to themselves, their writing runs like a hare across their page or screen. Writing Buddies is a place for you and your inner writer, with your laptop and what-not, to roam entirely free.

Snow buddies