Back again

I am back on the Mapping the Change project - this time with Hackney Museum.  This is the final course that Hackney Museum and Words of Colour will be running for Mapping The Change and the edition of Hackney Circuit that we are going to produce will have a theme of legacy.  As one of the graduates from a previous course, I am also part of the theme myself.

I want to focus my writing on the idea of legacy as something we inherit from the past, as well as something that is left to us for the future.  The constant use of the word legacy by the Olympic Committee and the Government always refers to future benefits, but what about the facilities we had in place already?  It is all too easy to forget them, or assume they were insignificant.

I've been researching and arranging interviews with the Eton Mission Rowing Club in Hackney, which is 127 years old, and borders the Olympic Park.  Things are starting to fall into place, and it looks as though I will be able to write the article about them.

Early morning coffee on the steps of Hackney Town Hall

Change all mapped

Yesterday was our final session at Mapping the Change.  I would be devastated that the course was ending if I wasn't so busy tying up the loose ends for my articles, which are due next week.

I have a couple of days free, at home, to chase press offices for information, and then I am planning on spending all Saturday at the British Library, writing everything up.  I like the practicalities of writing these articles - the books spread everywhere, the bookmarked websites, the paper, pens and voice recorder on my desk.

At the end of our final session yesterday we talked about what our plans were for after this course.  Mine seem very clear to me now - to earn money from my writing.  Once these articles are finished I'll be setting aside a few hours to make some concrete plans on how I'm going to go about this.

A mind map, drawn by my 9 year old

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