The best stories are the ones you've lived...

The 5/6 October was Fun Palace weekend. Fun Palace is an idea which is really taking off - all over the country, arts and community centres organise a weekend of creative activities for adults and children to try out for free. In Ware, Southern Maltings Arts Centre held its third Fun Palace, and the building was packed with people experimenting with everything from fused-glass art to being a radio presenter.

Myself and blogger Ceri May gave a workshop on 'Life Writing' - which could be memoirs and family history, or telling your present day story through a blog.

I believe everyone's story is interesting, if told in the right way. When I've done historical research for my writing, it's always a delight, and a rare one, to come across an account of everyday life written by a person at the time. In our fast-changing world, the detail of even our grandparents' daily life recedes from us, but I'm convinced that future generations will want to know that detail of our lives, which will allow them to connect with us on a human level.

The workshop produced some marvellous writing, much of it from people who had not tried to write before, but just had an urge to have a go - which is the spirit of Fun Palaces.

I'm looking forward to what we'll do next year...