New for 2021 I have decided to look back at some of the writers and books that inspired me along my writing journey. The first is a writer from my hometown of Coventry.
Geoff Thompson:
As a child I read a lot but then as I became a teen, I only read fiction for school, in my spare time I tended to read non-fiction. I read anything to do with cars and fiction just didn’t compete with films or computer games.
That was until I was handed a copy of Watch My Back by Geoff Thompson. I think I was 13 or 14 when I first read it and it was unlike anything I’d read up until then. It became popular amongst young men across the country, but it struck a special chord for me as it was based in places I knew and Geoff had become well known. He was someone you might see in town and the pubs and clubs mentioned were places I knew.
I eventually began training in a gym Geoff used and drinking in some of the pubs mentioned in the book.
I think on a deeper level Geoff’s writing was the first time I could relate to someone who had become a writer.
I think it’s fair to say that the book won’t be to everyone’s taste but it’s certainly a book that had a big impact on me.
For a period, Geoff’s writing focused on the self-defence genre, I read a lot of this, but I won’t recommend them here. If you want to read about self-defence, then he is probably your best bet.
I revisited his books again as I hit my late 20’s or early 30’s. He has tended to be a writer I come back to at different points in my life. I don’t recall the order I read these in, but they definitely helped me and are worth a read.
Shape Shifter is a self-help book but not the typical type. It is down to earth, straight talking and will give you the tools and motivation to make some positive changes in your life. Coming out of the insanity that is 2020, it could well be the nudge you need to get going. As I write this, I am scanning my shelves hoping my copy isn’t in the loft.
The Elephant and the Twig: The Art of Positive Thinking is my final recommendation. This is another book well worth reading if you need a kick to get motivated. I first read this a long time before thinking of writing or creating a blog but it the messages in it still resounded with me.
Personally, the worst fears I have are those I don’t know I have. I knew I didn’t like heights, it was obvious when faced with a cable car. I didn’t know why I didn’t want to show people I knew my early writing though, strangers were OK but not people I know. Fears like that are easy to deny and those are the fears that I have found most damaging.
This book certainly helps you deal with fears, particularly those sneaky negative thinking type fears.
If you want to know more about Geoff, then take a look at the following links:
TED Talk
London Real
James English – most recent of the three links
Finally, Geoff has been one of the biggest influences on me at various points in my life. We don’t know each other, and I am in no way associated with him.
Without Geoff’s early books I may not have discovered a renewed passion for reading and without seeing someone from my town make it as a writer, I may not have tried giving it a go myself.
© 2021 David G Chambers. All rights reserved.
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