Writing West Midlands – Writing Groups

I started my role as Assistant Writer to Ian MacLeod back in February, this month I was asked to cover another group too, which gave me an opportunity to visit another town/ group/ writer. This was something we were told at the meeting, that seeing other groups could be beneficial for us.

Ian and I had a great session with our young writers, using drama and character building activities to start writing that could really go somewhere.
It was a treat to work as an assistant writer twice in as many weekends, back to back.

I was supporting Jean Atkin,

© 2014 Jean Atkin

a fantastic poet who I first came across when she was on a panel at the Writers Toolkit last November.
Her group are the next age up to most of our group and incredibly creative and talented teen writers. We used photographic stimuli and composed Cinquains, (fortunately I wrote some last month, so it wasn’t too much to revise).

It was a great experience, I have another session with Jean and her group next month!

Assistant Writer

 Yesterday I worked for Writing West Midlands as an Assistant Writer at The Hive. I work with the lead writer – Ian MacLeod – with a group of budding young writers – whose ideas and passion constantly amaze me. It was a really good session and I think everybody got a lot out of it. The group was slightly smaller than last time, which meant we were able to create a lot.

Ian also suggested that I might shadow some of the other WWM Lead Writers – as it is a role I hope to have in the future. I know 3 of the other writers; Brenda Read-Brown, Jean Atkin and Jenny Hope as they are all poets and our paths have crossed at various points since last October.
It is a good idea and one I will try to block into the already heavy writing schedule.

 Last month I drove in, the city was flooded and it took as long to find parking as my journey from home, in the end I parked miles away and walked back to the Library. This time I decided to use public transport (never again) – last month the bus went sailing past as I walked to my car…. this time I missed both the bus out and in by less than 2 minutes! The journey in was pleasant and it gave me chance to catch up reading my writing magazine (which now I have subscribed is something I never seem to finish before the next issue drops through the letterbox!) but the journey back was diabolical!

First it was late, we all piled on, then there was a problem with the ticket machine, we all had to get off – it left about 20 minutes late. I got home at 6pm the session finished at 4 and the city is less than an hours drive away!

Next month, I am taking the car! It was a shame that the journey was so rough because the group itself made me feel wonderful!

Can’t wait until next month!

Much Excitement! New Opportunities.

 This feels like the night before Christmas! (That would be Christmas Eve) – tomorrow is my first day as a writer in role, working at The Hive with Ian MacLeod as an Assistant Writer. I have just read the emails from the first session in January and now I am EVEN MORE excited!

How will I ever sleep?

In addition to this, as I was raking through emails I came across one from the Arts Network. I will be displaying my poetry in a local library in March, very exciting.

Many local libraries are hosting Poetry On Loan events this next week, I know several poets who are involved in these events, I dream of such an opportunity one day, but for now am happy to let my poems speak for themselves.

Exciting NEW Prospects!

Even a rejection email cannot dampen my spirits this evening! I have just spoken to IanMacLeod an award winning Novelist who happens to be the Lead Writer for the group I am about to start work with in the City this weekend. In the role of Assistant Writer.

Chatting to him made this new venture suddenly very real! I am now looking forward to Saturday even more than I was before, a few butterflies, but it will be creative and fun!

 

My New Opportunity! Writing Work

I am so excited I can barely write this post! I HAVE A WRITING JOB!

Back in my past (the 1st time I attempted life as a writer in my early 20’s, a few years before I ran out of money to buy bread) I worked as a writer.

• I wrote for performance (having graduated from a Performing Arts Degree),
• I worked as (a mostly unpaid) performance poet
• I already had a decades worth of YOUNG WRITER publishing credentials from the age of 15, in print form (as the internet and e-publishing were still things of the future…) Well the internet existed (I’m not that old!) but people wouldn’t catch on and start using it personally in the way we do nowadays for some time.
• I spent my spare time training the writer in me and attended a fabulous creative writing course in Leicester, in a place I now believe is Creative Writing college.

This is where I met real writers who all told me I had what it takes and to keep going! (1998)

(This is the point I should had started sofa hopping or squatting (soon to be made illegal at the time) as gone were the days artists could sign on in between jobs) the money I achieved through royalties and the odd gig wouldn’t cover rent and before long I took a serious last look at my dream and started moving towards being financially independent!

This is the point I ran out of food money. The irony was writing press releases and doing some free PR for other performers (who were big at the time and now are MUCH bigger!) was my last freelance gig before I jacked it in and drowned my sorrows in applying for a 2nd degree in an area that would PAY the other end of university with a job.

In the meantime I spent some of my free time volunteering in schools and working as a Workshop Poet in schools with Key Stage 2. It was here that I decided training in Nursery Education was costly and would take time, I could be a teacher, earn more and have fun like this (workshops) everyday! (DELUDED!)

The rest is history and although I have done lots besides teaching (including running a fabulous community website that was no. 1 in the rankings for most of the time it existed, a site this blog is named after) the rest has mainly being steps away from where I truly want to be.

My true self, the writer, the poet.

I stepped back into myself in January 2013 and started making a go at realising my dreams before it is too late and all my hair turns grey!

(Not that that is too late, if you are reading this with a head full of grey hair, GO FOR IT!) It is never too late apparently.

So with heart on my sleeve and dreams in a backpack I set off along the yellow brick road determined to make this work – inspired by London Olympics I hatched a vague 16 year plan – and jumped!

Many successful (and it has to be said also stupid) people have taken RISKS – you have to be in it to win it and all that… my career hung on 60- 80 hour weeks, 50 weeks a year. I couldn’t write around that, there was barely time to sleep as it was. I actually pushed too hard for too long and my struggle became illness in 2012. It was from this dark place that I had time to listen to myself and start taking leaps of faith (on the medication I really wasn’t thinking about negative consequences) I was jumping because I had no choice – there was no longer a bridge there. The sign said NO OTHER WAY —->

Work went part-time towards the end of 2012. Although I didn’t realise it at the time this allowed me a step towards doing what I now do, my income already slashed by 50% and here I am still, and I can afford bread! By the end of the summer 2013 I decided to drop off the career ladder (I had become stuck anyway as I am scared of heights! I would be great on top of a ladder but you will never get me up there to prove it to you!) I jumped off. I know writing pays peanuts and poetry not even nuts, kernels if you’re lucky! So I needed a financial plan and this is where flexibility in my career (which was a factor for qualifying for teaching to begin with!) came into play. I signed with 2 agencies. 1 of which not only gives me plenty of work, but also (within 7days of signing up) found me a regular cover job, 1 day a week and just before Christmas I signed for another school too, so I now have 2 days a week confirmed and the rest of the week I am either the writer or the teacher depending on my last minute bookings. It is great because I have 100% flexibility 3 days a week and generally manage to be involved in all sorts of things in the writing world that I simply used to miss because I was at work.

The extra salary loss means I can’t just go around buying  3 pairs of shoes at a time anymore, but my wardrobe and shoe racks were bulging anyway. And actually I don’t miss shopping (well okay, I do, just a little bit) now I write and perform again after 15 years away and that makes me happier than any heel or skirt ever did!

WHAT’S THE BIG NEWS????

In 2013 I spent the year training, workshops, classes, network events, I met lots of people and hoped to build up contacts, I did and better than that I made friends (awwwwww)!

By September I had been published again and decided that Poetry IS my thing. It has claimed me. I can write across genres but poetry is where my writing heart is. I haven’t looked back since. (As you know from all my posts about Open Mic night’s which started back in October with Julie Boden.) In September I also spoke to Jonathan Davidson, Chief Executive, Writing West Midlands  about the possibility of paid work as a writer. Having already taken classes they ran and gone to a few events I wondered if I could be involved somehow. To be honest I was thinking in a few years once I have up to date writing credentials. Jonathan’s response was, why wait? What about now? How about working with some of our young writers?

I knew my teaching career wasn’t a complete waste of time 😉

In November it was confirmed that I could work as an Assistant Writer (with the View of becoming a Lead Writer in the future) on what used to be called Writing Squads but are now called  By the end of the year I wasn’t sure this opportunity had been confirmed as I had to go through an official application, systems had changed and I worried that this opportunity was about to fall out of my grasp.

Today I had a meeting  in the City and I am DELIGHTED to confirm I have the job of Assistant Writer, for the 12– 16 group which is new for 2014 and is led by Ian MacLeod.  I start in February!

WRITING JOB (2013) REALITY (2014)