The Write Stuff

I used to hate English at school.

I’m not really sure why.

Maybe it was because I didn’t like one of my teachers?

Perhaps its because I never really liked sitting still and in silence?

More likely it was because I got a detention once for swearing loudly when I was given an essay to write that I thought was, ahem, uninteresting? As Mrs Lord passed the paper to me I remarked, quietly under my breath (honestly) “oh for f***s sake!” – and just at that moment the whole class decided that what they really needed to do, more than anything, was hit the virtual mute button.

Yeah that was a great day, and fair play, I deserved it too.

Following this inauspicious moment I went on to excel in my end of school exams, achieving a fantastic D grade in both English Language and Literature, and no, that’s not D for distinction.

It’s D for ‘Didn’t bother to revise…’

Anyway, the point is, I didn’t really ‘get’ writing until I was much older. In fact, as a slight divergence, I didn’t really ‘get’ learning either until I was in my mid-twenties. But when I did finally go to university at the ripe old age of 25, what an experience it was. I guess you need the right combination of motivation and interest to really enjoy learning, and 8 years selling cars gave me all the motivation I needed to ensure I walked away with a first class degree in computing science.

I left university at the age of 30 and started a career as an IT consultant, which I’ve enjoyed. I’m also a flight instructor on small aeroplanes (yes I teach people to fly) and am part way through a second degree in Physics with the Open University.

Not bad for someone who walked away from school with a C in mathematics, 5 D’s and 3 E’s…

And so with that catalogue of academic excellence behind me, it was with some trepidation that I attended my first formal English / writing training in decades last week.

At Kings College London, no less!

The course in question was the biennial Association of British Science Writers Journalism Summer School, and it was the first ‘in person’ one since 2019, for obvious reasons…

It had been recommended to me by Nick Booth, co-author of The Search for Life on Mars, amongst many other books, and I’d signed up after reading through the agenda and spotting several sessions I liked the look of.

The day itself was superbly structured and was run by a combination of ABSW staff, and also members of the KCL faculties team. The sessions were all well delivered and I found myself in that rare position at a conference where I enjoyed every single session – although to be fair most of the conferences I’ve been to previously are IT conferences, which can have some erm, dry, topics… Anyway in this case, none of the agenda items were fillers, and all of them offered something to aspiring journalists and established professionals alike.

There was a great mix of lectures, discussions and also hands on practical workshops that kept things fresh and also really useful.

Interviewing Techniques

This session was a hands on session where after an introduction to interview ‘rules’ from the energetic and enthusiastic Alok Jha of The Economist, we got to interview academics from Kings College London ourselves.

Developing a Brilliant Story Idea

This was another interactive session where in small groups we got to read a press release and then work together on the questions it posed, the themes that developed and a story angle that resulted from our collaborative discussion.

Online Visibility

This lecture was full of helpful tips and pointers from established journalists and editors on how to make your hard work more visible online via social media, SEO, trending topics etc.

The day itself represented great value for money with coffee, lunch and early evening drinks all included in the fantastic student ticket price of £25 so for any aspiring writers or journalists I would highly recommend attending the next one – or at the very least joining the ABSW which has some fantastic resources available to its members. Again, if you are a student, its not costly and highly worth joining, in my opinion.

Overall, its was a fabulous day, where I got to meet and chat with some really interesting academics, got some great tips and input from established journalists and editors, and had a really rewarding day of learning about how to write interesting stories.

And to any teenagers reading this, I just want to let to let you know this well kept secret.

Are you ready?

#spoileralert

If you didn’t pass your GCSEs it doesn’t matter!

If you flunked your A levels for whatever reason, so what?

That doesn’t have to be the end of the story. You can write your story any way you want.

However, our traditional society doesn’t always want you to know that, it just tries to corral everyone through the one size fits all “school > university > career > house > kids > work until you might be lucky enough to retire” mould…

It’s never too late for you to choose a different path and to try something new.

So, what does that ‘D’ grade from all those years ago mean to me now?

It’s ‘D’ for ‘Don’t give up’.