Dear Diary....

It's best if I come straight out with it.

I'm a thief.

Don't be shocked. It's because I used to be a teacher. I can't speak for secondary school teachers, but, as a former infant teacher, I can assure you that in primary schools, the staff are a bunch of thieves.

You see a display in another classroom - in a library - in a gallery - a shop - on Pinterest - anywhere at all - and your first thought is: I could adapt that idea....

You see another teacher's lesson and you think: I never thought of doing it that way. I'll have a go at that.

You open birthday and Christmas cards, thinking: Could 6-year-olds make this?

So, yes, I've been pinching ideas for years. I'm no longer a teacher, but I haven't lost the habit. I'm still on the look-out for good ideas.

One that I have just adopted comes courtesy of Nicola Burggraf. Nicola is a writer living in Germany and in her blog, she shares her writing ambitions and experiences. Every time I open her blog, I know I'm going to be entertained and I'll also get something to think about.

Recently Nicola wrote about the writing diary she kept last year and this struck me as such a useful tool - a record of work and source of inspriation rolled into one. It so happens that Llandudno has a shop that sells more diaries than you can shake a stick at, so off I went to choose the one which offered the best format for my writing diary. (Don't you love stationery?)

Currently I'm working on a final edit. In my diary, I'm recording not simply how many pages I'm getting through, but also points and questions that I need to think about and return to, as well as important dates (RNA Conference, anyone?) and my own personal deadlines.

Now it's time for me to make a note in my diary of this blog. While I do that, why don't you take a look at Nicola's blog - here it is.