Process

I need to write with blue Bic biros

My article for the Mapping the Change - Hackney Legacy project has been submitted.  I wrote a long feature article, that incorporated elements of both an interview and an opinion piece. 

Once I'd done the interview with Eton Mission Rowing Club, I knew that the final stage of the process was about to start - actually sitting down and writing the article.  This is the stage I am always most confident about - because it just involves me and some pens and some paper.  Nobody else needs to get involved, and whatever else is going on with me or the rest of the family, I can pretty much always make an hour or more at a time to write.

I make a plan of the article first - usually as a mind map.  I decide what I want to say, and what I must make sure I include.  Then I write a first draft - always longhand with my pen of choice and some nice paper.  This first draft looks very scrappy, with much crossed out, extra words added in the margins, new paragraph marks, underlinings and arrows everywhere.

The second draft is usually typed into Word, and then I print it out and leave it alone for a few hours or a few days - as much as I have time for.  When I come back to it, I read it through, marking the pages with any corrections I want to make, or anything that needs to be cut or expanded.  Once again the pages are covered with arrows, crossings out and underlinings.

Then I type it up into the final version, put it aside once more if I can, and then do a very final read through before I send it off.  This is how I've written for years, and it works very well for me, but I do need to build in plenty of time for all the drafts and re-reading that I like to do.

Still writing

The tricky chapter of the Sheffield book is coming along nicely.  Not finished, but looking less tricky all the time and with just one more chunk of about 1,000 words to write.

After yesterday's day with Mapping the Change though, I have decided to put the book down for the next month or so and just concentrate on the journalism.  There is much to do and even more to learn.  We had a guest speaker from The Guardian this week, talking about interviewing and writing.  I do love to meet actual writers - it makes the whole process of trying to become one myself seem much less ridiculous.

So this week I am heading off to the local museum to research lidos, ordering a digital voice recorder and a voice pick up cable, doing an interview, writing full outlines for four articles and starting a fifth one.  This new busy-ness of writing is starting to feel normal.  And that is a very good thing indeed.

My tin of blue bic biros - I am slightly addicted to them

Note taking



I love reasearching and making notes.  I've done a good amount for my Sheffield book this week, and need to get on with the writing now. 

I am hoping for some clear time at the weekend to finish the tricky chapter I'm wrestling with at the moment.  Getting the chapter finished and moving on to the next is proving quite a motivating thought.

Mapping the Change - week 2

Last week's session was all about excitement and inspiration.  This week was all about getting down to the writing - and all the planning, research and preparation that goes with that. 

I have known for a long time that the biggest barrier in the way of me becoming a writer is the assortment of distractions that drift in and out of my day, to entice me away from my desk and pens.  Sometimes the distractions are legitimate: doctors appointments, urgent trips to buy hen food because there is none left, testing someone on their spellings, cooking supper.  But more often the distractions are utterly ridiculous: rummaging on Pinterest, descaling the coffee machine, admiring the athleticism of the neighbour's cat, fretting about the straightness or otherwise of my fringe.

Sometimes you just need to sit down and bloody write.  How difficult can that be?  Really?

So this week I have a style guide to read, journalism protocols to understand, homework to write and research to do.  I'm also setting aside a big chunk of time to do some more reasearch for the book I'm writing.

Let's see if I get it all done.  It's not the planning that's impressive - it's the doing.

Research for my Sheffield book