polypockets

I know, I couldn't dream up a more intriguing title if I tried. The naked truth is that I love them, polypockets.

And anyone who's ever had an affair with these lightweight, transparent creatures, will know how slippery they can be. Finally, after months of reading, taking notes, digesting, I have revamped my definitive guide to writing. Last night I printed out 305 pages of different aspects of the craft. This morning I put them into two maxi-sized polypocket folders. That took nearly as long as preparing the text. Checking and rechecking to see I hadn't missed a pocket.

Now the task is completed - for the moment, and my declaration not to go near another technical book on writing for a considerable period still stands - there is no legitimate excuse to procrastinate on rewriting my current novel. Not one, I tell myself. I have more than enough information to absorb, and, I think, dare hope, a burgeoning interest to see how I can deploy it in my writing. And the pleasure of skimming through these lovely plastic pockets will be immeasurable.
























I confessed all this to my writing mentor last week - my preoccupation with getting my polypocket folders in order, and she laughed and gently teased me about not having much of a future in polypockets, compared, presumably, with a possible one in writing. But maybe she was wrong about the limits to where polypockets could take me.

Perhaps, with a little imagination, I could invent a large multi-functioning polypocket. This would be vast enough to shelter us from inclement weather. It would be subdivided into innumerable sections, some containing clothes and food, others housing mini laptops, iPods, DVD players and cash machines. Upmarket versions would accommodate a section dispensing herbal remedies, massage and acupuncture. Our new mobile home would contain special qualities which lightened the weight of everything, and could change colour to suit the mood of the moment. And finally, it would have an engine that would take us anywhere in the shortest time. Within minutes of waving a Harry Potter-type wand, we'd be transported to the Rockies or the famous Djemma el Fna Square in Marrakech, where a friend will be next week, though, in the absence of such super-polypockets, she is flying there.













Insanely yours

Jane