You know that old cliché about there never being a bus when you need one, then three come along at once? Well, it's often like that when you're a freelance writer/illustrator.

I was given a couple of great bits of advice when I was at college. One was that artists tend to spend more time pitching for work and advertising themselves than actually being artists. I soon learned that this was true and luckily (having been warned) I'd prepared myself for all the cold-calling, art editor shmoozing and endless fee negotiations.
The other was that freelancers are very lucky if they get a steady stream of work arriving at manageable intervals throughout the year (even with an agent), allowing them to pay bills each month, buy food and perhaps even keep a car on the road, like a normal person. I was warned that I might have to last for several months without any work (living on baked beans and pound coins picked out of the fluff behind the sofa) and that, when they did come along, …

Oh dear. I think I may have opened a can of worms... and not just for breakfast (see right). I did two days of creative writing workshops with Year7 at The Howard of Effingham School and the result was some seriously ingenious lying. I know, I know, it's my fault for introducing them to Verity Fibbs, truth-twister extraordinaire, but they did seem to have a natural inclination for telling massive whoppers when asked what they had for breakfast, how they travelled to school and what they saw on the way. Here are a few of my favourites.

Year7 at The Howard of Effingham School are outrageous liars!  Potential there, I think, for a life of crime... or writing fiction, of course. Here are some of my fave fibs from today's workshops.

Back tomorrow for round 2...