School holiday time, let’s stop hiking

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Education, education secretary, holidays, Mr Gove, train strike

I read in the #SundayTimes today that at present Mr Gove has restricted parents from the previously accepted 10% withdrawal rule; to allow parents to avoid expensive school holiday periods. However, “From 2015, schools will have the option to alter term dates to avoid peak-season holidays.” Is this not, putting the cart before the horse?

These days, I am not affected by school holiday hikes in charges as my kids are grown up and until they have children, I can avoid these busy periods. However, that said, it has never been clear to me why prices should be increased at school holiday periods as it is grossly unfair on families, ours included in years gone by.

Surely, the answer is not to cause massive disruption to school terms, with the inevitable, one child off and the other not, due to differing school holiday policies. The answer is for government(s) to legislate against travel companies that increase their prices during school holiday time.

So Mr Gove, as Education Secretary, ever concerned about budgeting, how about understanding the pressures families are under and allow parents to keep their money by driving legislation to prevent price increases by holiday companies during school holiday time. In my view, that would be a far better use of your and Government’s time than restructuring school terms.

Until then Parents, follow the lead of the train drivers and vote with your feet; a one year embargo on companies who hike prices would soon see prices tumbling.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

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Frack to the future, or the past?

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destruction, Fracking, fusion, future, geology, green, incendiary, new books, past, planet, seismic, stone

So, Fracking. Is it the incendiary for further seismic activity that will ultimately screw our planet, or is it the short term answer to our energy crisis? Answers chiseled on an tablet of stone please.

Methinks we need to solve fusion and fast.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

For a writer, is there a place for the Red Herring?

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50 Shades, deception, divorce, garden path, Red herring

I’ve just read in a newspaper that, as a result of 50 shades, a couple have decided to divorce. It seems that sex is the problem; the woman wants to spice it up a bit but, the man doesn’t want any of it. Now, I can’t believe of any man, that he wouldn’t be up for a bit more adventure in the bedroom department, or anywhere else for that matter, so I’m surmising that the journalist has it wrong (no surely not, I hear you say) or, that there must be a deeper reason for their divorce, 50 Shades being only the trigger.

In a similar vane (okay, not that similar, but equally ridiculous), I once heard of a couple divorcing over stollen mushrooms. That is to say, she was preparing dinner and he kept stealing and eating the raw mushrooms as she peeled them. Very irritating I’m sure, if she’s in the wrong mood, but divorce material? I don’t think so.

These two examples show how people in real life make up reasons for why episodes happen in their lives; the ‘red herring’, and it seems people are prepared to accept them.

This all helps when writing, leading a reader down a path that might have little bearing on the actual plot. This could be particularly useful when trying to draw a story out, if you’ve got too close to the conclusion too soon in a story, and could save hours of rewriting. However, I think it would have to be used carefully; if you feed your reader too much bull, they will not thank you for it, but a well written diversion could be fun. Or would it? Perhaps, in the way that I read between the lines on the 50 Shades reason above, the reader will accept it only if they just don’t care? Actually, on reflection, as I write this piece, I don’t believe that at all! If you have to ‘fill a story’, it can’t be a very good one. So, bite the bullet, ditch that work and re-write it.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)