Even if you are not writing a festival tale, it is possible to adapt the activities outlined in Chapter 6 to create the perfect piece of devotional summer writing.

Although it does not explicitly state a location in the story, I get a feel of the county in the agricultural landscape described. My Summer Solstice story is set in my home county of Warwickshire and I feel really echoes the landscape when I read it again.

During the autumn months I always gather together a large number of books to see me though the winter; they are the ideas I will encounter and internalise as darkness permeates the landscape.

There is something about the epic, questing narratives of the stories which encourages me as I make my way through the winter months. Just as his characters descend into darkness and emerge changed, I know I too will arrive in spring being, somehow, different. Going through the darkness leads to amazing revelations as you discover new strengths.

A very good example of how to use wild detail can be found in Richard Adams’ wonderful book Watership Down.

It is no coincidence that training as a bard, or poet, is the first layer of Druidic studies; it is the knowledge of and ability to create poetry which was so important.

One approach I favour during the spring is the use of a commonplace book, which I encountered through my studies of a Jacobean playwright called John Webster.

My advice, in terms of addressing both the development of our writing skills and our own spiritual path, is to develop a number of shorter pieces of writing first before you tackle something longer. And the best place to start is with the everyday.

To this end I would urge you to keep your story to around 1500 words long. Even that will seem long when you read it out, believe me!