I’ve been thinking about cake lots lately (mmm).My friend Claire (above) just started a cake business. She’s been inventing cakes and I’ve been helping her by trying them. It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it! I also came up with the name for her business (Home is Where the Cake Is) and these last three Saturdays I’ve ended up at an afternoon tea so with all that cake I started to realise…
Social Media is like baking
Well, sort of. Imagine you’re inventing a new cake. You’d try putting a few things together based on what’s worked before. You’d have some essentials but you’d maybe try new combinations or add something different. Then you bake it. If it’s good people enjoy eating it. If it’s really good they ask you for the recipe.
Leith Library was named as the best social media contributor to Book Week in Scotland. The cake we baked turned out well so now I’ve been asked to share the recipe at Social Media for Social Good in Glasgow tomorrow. I can tell people how to make our cake but really, I want to tell people to go and invent their own cake using the ingredients they already have in their organisation. My top tips would be:
Use the resources you already have
Don’t be afraid to try something different
Plan for some of what you’re doing
Make space for the spontaneous
Don’t forget to have fun
Often the reason we don’t just try new and exciting ways of engaging with people using social media is because we’re afraid. We’re afraid of what people might think. We’re afraid it might go wrong. Or other people are afraid on our behalf. Perhaps we’re afraid we don’t have a good enough idea but people are made to generate ideas. People are brilliant, they are the best resource. People make things happen not social media. Social media is just a tool to share ideas and make connections. It’s a giant tea party!
If you can’t be at tomorrow’s conference but want to follow online just follow the hashtag #begoodbesocial on twitter. You can read about what we did at Leith Library for Book Week Scotland on my blog here. I’m also speaking about Bookweek at the CILIPS Library conference in Dundee in June.
There was a big white envelope waiting on the doormat. Inside was my copy of the exciting new children’s magazine Firefly:
It’s a seasonal magazine which includes outdoor activities, puzzles, comics, wildlife, books, craft and cooking. The magazine is aimed at children 5 to 10 years or as the cover says “it’s for families who are wild at heart”.
Flicking through the pages you’ll notice Firefly is visually stunning. I think what makes it special is the contributions from many different illustrators and writers. I was commissioned to write a 2 page nature feature for the magazine and I chose to write about otters:
Why Otters?
Otters are an animal most children won’t have seen but would like to spot. They’ve got character, they do funny things like pooping on the tops of rocks or tufts of grass so everyone can see where they’ve been. Urban otters are getting much more common so even if you live in a city you won’t be too far from an otter. They’re inclusive but not too common to be ordinary. I’ve tried to spot otters myself a few times so otter spotting is something close to my heart.
The Writing Process
First I found out as much as I could about otters online, in books and by asking people. I interviewed an otter expert (Chris Cathrine from Caledonian Conservation) and I spent time choosing the best bits from everything I learned. The hardest thing I think is condensing all of that research. Which bits stay and which bits go?
I wrote sections in bite sized chunks and gradually and ruthlessly chopped out sections until I was only left with the best. I want to make children laugh or tell them something so weird and wonderful that they would want to tell their friends or family about it. That way they’re much more likely to remember it.
If I used a complicated word I made sure I explained what it meant. I used to write the Dino’s Dynamos Kids Club magazine for Dynamic Earth so that really helped with knowing how to write and plan to communicate science to children. I had a good editor back then so I got told which bits worked and which didn’t. Later I edited the magazine when new writers started writing it so I think that whole process helped me to be objective and to really weed out every word that isn’t necessary.
I included Chris Cathrine’s answer to “What is the funniest thing you’ve ever seen an otter do?” because I knew children would love finding out something like that from an otter expert. I thought about the illustrations we would need to go with the text and made notes and found examples in books so I could send these to the illustrator who was working on my section (Cat O’ Neil).
I spent lots more time rewriting and cutting to get down to the word limit I’d been set.
Help, I can’t think of an otter joke!
I was desperately trying to come up with a good otter joke but hadn’t managed it. I went along to the Edinburgh Literary Salon for a much needed break from writing. It’s a monthly get together for writers and anyone involved in books and publishing. My friend Alan McIntosh was there (I interviewed him on this blog here) and knowing how quick-witted he is I explained I was trying to come up with a good otter joke. Here’s how the rest of the conversation went:
Alan: Tell me about them, where do they live, what are the names for things?
Me: Their homes are holts, their poos are spraints, they eat fish…
Alan: What do you get if you tread on an otter poo?
Me (smile)
Alan: A spraint ankle!
It was perfect, exactly what I was looking for. Any joke about poo is a big hit with children but they also love to learn a new word that they can show off with by using it in a joke. Funny and educational. When you laugh you learn more so massive thanks to Alan for that one!
Finishing
When I finally submitted my feature it included a page of extra ideas, things like a dot to d’otter (otter dot to dot) or having a hidden spraint (otter poo) somewhere in the magazine for children to find. Firefly Editor Hannah Foley liked my ideas. She decided to add an extra page called ‘Otter Fun’ to include the puzzles and extra ideas so now I’ve ended up writing a three page spread on otters. My text went to copy editor Genevieve Herr and she was happy with it, she made some minor changes and that was me done.
It really is amazing to see the magazine in print. I just need to order a copy for my nephews and nieces!
Just a quick blog to let you know about a couple of digital storytelling projects I’m working on over the next few weeks with two quite different groups of people, teenagers in Leith and older people in Govan.
This weekend I met with four teenagers at Leith Library for our first podcast workshop. The teenagers are making a young adult fiction podcast (read more about how they applied to the project on the leith library blog here). It was brilliant to meet them for the first time. I was impressed with their ideas and how well they worked together even though they’d only just met. They’re preparing some questions and doing a bit of research before next week’s session where they’re interviewing author Keith Gray. The week after it’s Roy Gill. I can’t wait to see how they go and what they produce at the end. So that’s the teenagers, next it’s the older people…
Tomorrow I start a six-week digital storytelling project in Govan with older people from the Govan Reminiscence Group. I’m working with Brian Wilkinson from the Britain from Above project (find them on twitter @AboveBritain) and we’ll be working with the group to help them to create and share their own digital stories about Govan. We’ll be looking at aerial photographs and talking about how Govan has changed over the years. The group have done similar projects before but they’ve not been able to tell the stories they’ve wanted to tell so this time it’s different – the group are going to choose their stories and learn to add images to their stories and share them at a celebration event.
I’m excited to see what both groups produce and I know we’re going to learn from each other throughout the process. I feel privileged to be working with such interesting people and to have the opportunity to help them to tell and share their stories.
I did it – dressed as a pirate for World Book Night and had a parrot on my shoulder (well on my back but close enough!). I was giving away copies of Treasure Island with my Leith Library Reader in Residence pirate hat on. We wanted to encourage people to read by doing something a little different so we hid in a secret Leith Location with a giant golden macaw called Bongo.
There’s Treasure in Them There Books!
To find us people had to solve clues using a new library resource www.ourtownstories.co.uk. They used old maps and photos of Leith to solve the clues to reveal a secret pirate postcode. Then they just had to go there and look for a pirate flag. I had a lot of fun taking photos of the clues with various pirate backgrounds. Captain Colm had fun covering paper with tea and baking it in the oven to make it look old!
It was fab when people actually found us! We gave them copies of Treasure Island and let them choose from a range of prizes donated by local businesses too. We had a pirate wardrobe for people to delve into and we took photos of them in pirate gear with the parrot.
Pirate Portraits
Children were carefully positioned in front of the parrot so it looked like it was on their shoulder. Adults did the real thing. Check out the photos of all the pirates who came to visit here.
So what was it like to have a parrot on your back? To tell you the truth I was petrified. The parrot was very nice but it flapped and made loud noises and I’m just a bit scared of big birds with big beaks being close to my head!
Thanks to The Crew
Captain Colm (he’s a digital librarian – he masterminded the clues)
1st Mate Victoria (Made the voyage from Carlisle with her parrot)
Pirate Jim (let us capture the Leith Agency’s Barge)
Leith Library Staff Pirates (who dressed up to mark the occasion)
I drove the parrot home, not to Carlisle but to Leith. He has two homes like the Queen. It was very strange – looking in my mirror to see Bongo looking back! That was yesterday, my day as a pirate.
I’ve written about our day and the treasure hunters who found us on the Leith Library blog here.
If you live tweet from a bird hide does anyone care? How can you capture nature as and when it’s happening? Can you create a story around something that may or may not even be there?
This Easter I challenged myself to try social reporting from the caperwatch 2013 at RSPB Loch Garten.
Social reporting is about capturing an event from the inside using audio, video and photos.
Caperwatch is about waking up at 4am to see if you can spot a big black turkey like bird dancing, while peering through the window of a little wooden hut on the side of a loch.
The bird I’m talking about is the capercaillie and here’s how I got on: Watch to the video on youtube here
I interviewed Richard Thaxton from the RSPB to ask why we have to get up so early to see the capercaillie dancing, here’s what he said: Watch the video on youtube here
On the way and during the caperwatch I live tweeted some photos, here’s a couple from the car
We watched the sunrise from the hide, wow!:
This is the osprey EJ, taken through a telescope with my phone on the eyepeice:
Can you spot the red squirrel in this shot?:
But the bird didn’t dance. Does that matter? We also went to see golden eagles but they didn’t fly in:
I didn’t mind and the things we did see were beautiful. Getting up at 4am was worth it just to see the sunrise. Eagles would have been a bonus but mountains were enough.
Life can be a bit like that sometimes, you don’t always find what we’re looking for, things don’t always turn out how you planned but if you didn’t look for things in the first place you’d never see the wonderful things there are to see along the way.
Just wanted to point out the kindest way to watch a capercaillie is in the loch garten hide. The capercaillie are critically endangered and when they dance every day they sometimes just drop dead. Bob till they drop. If you go looking for them in the wild and one sees you it will dance to defend itself. The purpose of dancing (or leking) is to attract a mate and you are not that. You will be wasting the poor birds energy and it could be enough to push that bird over the edge. Please let him save the last dance.
At the beginning of 2012 I was feeling a little bit nervous about the year ahead so I wrote my first annual general review. I’d just left the security of a permanent job to become a full-time freelancer and I didn’t know how things would work out. I hoped looking back would give me some confidence.
This year it’s different; I’m beginning the year with warmth. Quite literally – there’s a wood burning stove crackling away beside me. It’s new and I love it. I don’t have central heating so I’ve spent the last five winters feeling a little cold. Now, at last! I can afford to be a bit warmer.
I’m beginning 2013 with an inner warmth too. Perhaps it’s an assurance that things do work out when you step out in faith. Or a warmth that says it’s worth making sacrifices to pursue the things you really feel called to do.
I’m not long back from Kidscreen in New York. It’s a big children’s TV market (I wrote about it here) full of people from all over the world with ideas. They‘re there because they want to make something beautiful and something they believe in. It reminded me that life really is too short not to go for it!
And now to look back over 2012, here are my highlights. Click on the links to read more.
Children’s TV Commissions
Writing 5 new series treatments for CBeebies science show Nina and the Neurons
Greener Leith Zero Waste Podcast series (12 ten minute podcasts to engage people to reduce waste – I finished the last of these in 2012). Funded by the Waste Action Grant.
I was almost physically sick before my first comedy performance. I was so nervous but I actually really enjoyed it once we got started -the audience were fab. Here’s a Chris Scott photo to prove I really did it (thanks Chris). Find previous and upcoming gigs here.
For the Love of It (Voluntary Work)
Commissioned by Artist Alastair Cook as one of twenty poets to write a piece of flash fiction for his PechaKucha film project ‘Twenty Second Film Poem‘
Cycled down Leith Walk with camera attached to my bike basket to make an Indiana Jones style adventure film about the terrible potholes.
Wrote my last blog for Greener Leith in August 2012 after 2 years of volunteering (70 blogs in total!).
Organised some get-togethers for freelancers called Freelance Friday
Wrote my first stop frame animation script as part of a call for submissions on the theme of ‘The Library at Night’. It was selected to be performed at the Portobello Book Festival Opening Event.
Helped to lead a weekly community group in Leith (that’s ongoing)
Continued as trustee of the Speygrian Education Trust (artists, scientist, writers and educators interested in outdoor learning) and helped them to set up twitter and Facebook
I was one of 12 writers to be selected to take part in the CBBC Lab, a competitive entry training course on how to write for CBBC run over 4 days by the Scottish Book Trust and BBC Scotland. It was brilliant.
Olympics related poetry job with West Lothian Council
To get mentoring with The Scottish Book Trust
Internet dating
This is just to point out I’m definitely not successful at everything. There are plenty of things I hope for but I keep learning and trying. I applied for 2 residences before I got the one I’m doing now at the library but this one is just perfect for me so it goes to show things often work out for the best in the end.
People Who Really Inspired Me
Elspeth Murray, a wonderful freelance poet. My poetry mentor and friend.
Peter Hynes, a brilliant screenwriter and creative thinker. My screenwriting mentor
Josh Selig, creative genius and President of Little Airplane Productions. Encourager.
Sara Harkins, Head of BBC Scotland Children’s. Sara is wonderful.
I want to thank the people above as well as everyone I’ve worked with in 2012. Also to my friends and family and to everyone who’s supported me on this journey – you’ve been amazing!
2013: What’s ahead?
The good news is I’m booked up with commissions and projects until early September. So far I’ve completed my tax return, got a stove put in and I’ve been to New York to pitch some kids’ TV shows for Visible Ink Television.
I’m working 2.5 days a week at Leith Library as Reader in Residence. Over the next few months I’ll be writing the Leith Library blog and working with teenagers to make podcasts about young adult fiction. I’ll also be supporting the library staff as they get blogging too.
The library part of my residency finishes in June and then I have three months where I still get paid but I do my own practice. What’s that? Well… I’m considering:
Starting a series of science related young adult novels; I have 13 planned.
Rewriting my first attempt at a sitcom using feedback from the BBC and screenwriter Adrian Mead
Writing picture books. I showed drafts of a science series idea to Agent Lucy Juckes in 2012 so I’ll work on her suggestions.
Cycling around Scottish Libraries on a ‘Banana Me Beautiful on a Bike’ book tour. My paperback should be out by then and I’d like to go on a journey and help to promote positive mental health.
This March (a sample month):
I start working as a digital storyteller with older people in Govan for the Britain from Above Project - can’t wait for that!
I’m writing some episodes on commission for CBeebies (that’s secret – will blog about it when I can).
I’m visiting Flora Stevenson Primary P1 classes for their Book Week – hurrah for children!
I’m working for Third Sector Lab to create audio and video content and run a training session for the 2013 Poverty Assembly. Ross is brilliant, looking forward to working with him again and on something so worthwhile.
I’m working with P6 and P7 in Mid Lothian to help them to create Haikus for their litter bins (for the Scottish Poetry Library).
I’m developing and pitching some ideas to promote fish in nurseries on commission from Seafish (the fishing industry) with writer John Stoddart.
One of my best friends gets married in September, so can’t wait for that (and I need to organise a hen do).
Hopes for 2013
I’m hoping to do the Great North Swim in the Lake District in June with my friend Judith. I hate wearing a swimming costume and I figured training will force me to overcome that fear. Plus I’ve never been to the Lake District and I like Judith. I also ate too much chocolate over Christmas. And exercise helps with creativity. I’m trying to talk myself into this!
I’ve written four children’s TV science shows so I’ll be pitching them to channels and independent production companies in 2013. I’ve especially enjoyed working with puppeteer Josh Elwell (and Bounce) on one of these shows so I do hope we make it!
Hopes for the Future….. I want
to encourage others.
to have an ideas box that I add to throughout the year.
to make one day a week my day for writing.
to write a list of things I’m thankful for every night.
to go walking more.
to start painting again.
I don’t want to EVER stop doing things that scare me.
And One Day..
I’d like to write an episode of Doctor Who and a bunch of books and some screenplays. I’d like to live in an eco home in the mountains with a cat and a man and perhaps some kids.
Finally a few numbers from 2012….
Blog posts on this blog (40), Blog posts produced for Leith Library (30), blog posts produced for Greener Leith(8), Dog Poo and Litter Films made (6), guest blogs I wrote (4), Cocktail naming competitions won (1) and I attended 4 weddings and a funeral.
I’m in New York! I’m here for Kidscreen 2013, it’s the worlds biggest kids entertainment industry conference. It’s at the Hilton Hotel and includes seminars, talks and even Zumba. Here’s the agenda.
Who comes to Kidscreen?
In 2012 there were:
1,600 delegates
46 countries represented
350+ content buyers
900+ producers/distributors
What am I doing here?
I’ve been developing a live action eco comedy drama for Visible Ink Television, it’s for children age 6 – 9 years. I’ll be meeting people during the conference to pitch the programme to them. I’m part of the British Delegation at Kidscreen too, there’s around 50 of us.
Kidscreen runs through to Friday night and then I’m heading on to The Academy at Little Airplane for 3 days of training.
Just now I’m researching the people I’m going to be pitching to and planning my agenda (and writing this blog!).
All Work and No Play?
I’ve been to New York City twice before so I’m not trying to pack too much sightseeing in this time. Saying that I’m in an amazing city and since I arrived on Saturday I’ve managed to say hello to Woody in Times Square:
I’ve pondered humanity while gazing from the rooftop terrace of my hotel:
And wondered are we pips? While standing in front of the big apple in the big apple:
I’ve been snowed on. I’ve eaten a burrito and I’ve smiled at the doughnut shaped soap in my sink (for the love of doughnuts). Speaking of doughnuts, the creator of the Simpsons is here, he’s the keynote speaker at Kidscreen.
I noticed fruit is much more expensive here, all fruit except for bananas! I brought two for less than 50c in celebration. I unpacked to discover I’d accidentally brought 8 pairs of tights with me, what was I thinking!?
I asked for lemonade to discover it’s a completely different drink. I enjoyed a Dr Tim Keller talk about unconventional heroes, irony, Les Miserables and Lord of the Rings. I went back to Times Square at night:
Hopes for the week?
I want to visit the Highline, an inner city park up in the sky on old railway lines. I want to do a spoken word open mic somewhere (any New Yorkers reading this – do let me know where’s good).
I’d like to have a wander round Central Park and see the snapping turtles.
Most of all I want to meet some brilliant creative people and make new connections.
If I sell the show I’m pitching I will go on a horse-drawn tour around central park in celebration. Otherwise I’m walking…
How am I feeling?
It’s my first Kidscreen so I’m a little nervous. I’ll be meeting lots of new and highly successful people.
What if I’m pitching and I accidentally spit on someone? Or I meet the creator of the Simpsons and notice I’ve spilled part of my lunch down my top? Or I could laugh and snort? I don’t usually do these things so I don’t know why I’m considering them. At the end of the day we’re all just people, regardless of our achievements. The person I’m pitching to could just as easily spit on my face and I wouldn’t mind.
I guess we’re all here to consider new ideas and to make money but most of all I’m here because I want to make something wonderful for children. So I can’t wait to get started at the party tonight, spitting, snorting and spillages aside. I just need to decide which pair of tights to wear…
If you’re on twitter you can follow all of the twitter action on the hashtag #KSS13. JAM Media Animation have put together a twitter list of delegates here. Anne Richards from No Crusts has published a great list of pickup lines to break the ice so if it’s your first time you could always try them…
Go Engineering, the seventh series of CBeebies flagship science show Nina and the Neurons starts today at 4.30pm. I’m excited to be the screenwriter for two of the episodes and I worked on the storylines for seven of the episodes.
What’s the difference between Screenwriting and Storylining?
Storylining is creating the story behind the episode. For this series it involves coming up with science demonstrations that will lead a child through the answer to an engineering question step by step. A finished storyline can be given to a screenwriter without a science background and it gives them enough detail to be able to visualise the episode and write a good script. It’s generally a few pages long and includes images and links to further info. It’s a challenge to write because it needs to work well visually, be simple enough for children to understand and tell a story with complete scientific accuracy.
Screenwriting is writing a script for the dialogue of an episode and the screen directions (NINA GIGGLES) using the storyline as a template. It’s a challenge because you need to be able to explain science to three to six years olds in a language they can understand but also using dialogue in keeping with Nina (and her Neurons) and it has to fit the timings required. The Screenwriter writes the script and sends it to the Producer who sends back any rewrites needed.
I loved working on Nina and can’t wait to see my episodes and rest of the new series!
I’ll add transmission dates for the later episodes once they are published (a couple of weeks before transmission). Find out more about Go Engineering on the Nina and the Neurons Website.
Leith has a litter and dog poo problem but these films don’t focus on the problem. Behaviour change research shows rewarding people for good behaviour is more effective than fining people for bad so we’re celebrating the positive here in Leith and focusing on the solution.
Watch the local Environmental Wardens present prizes to people who pick up after their dogs and put litter in the bin below. Find out more about the making of after that.
Love Leith 1: Dog owners rewarded for picking up poo on Leith Links (watch it on youtube here):
Love Leith 2: Janet wins a cream tea in the Kirkgate for binning her litter (watch it on youtube here)
Love Leith 3 (Mary picks up after aero the dog and gets a rewardwatch it on youtube here)
Love Leith 4: Shore smoker gets a reward from Mimis for binning litter (watch it on youtube here)
Love Leith Extra: Megan from Little Remis cafe sings praises of pocket ashtrays (watch it on youtube here)
Planning
The idea for the project came from Greener Leith’s Ally Tibbitt, his idea was to reward good behaviour with prizes from local businesses. The idea was so good it won funding from L£ith Decides.
After we secured the funding I approached local businesses to ask them to donate prizes. Mimi’s Bakehouse, A1 Pets and the Haven Cafe were all delighted to take part. We already had tickets coming from the Royal Yatch Britania thanks to Ally so I just needed to pick those up.
I filmed quick thank you clips with each of the local businesses while I was collecting prizes. I also bought some sparkly envelopes to put the prizes in too, to make it like the oscars.
Filming
I spent an afternoon filming with local Environmental Wardens Paul and Kevin. We met up and headed to the litter and dog poo hot spots of Leith. We needed to catch the action when it happened.
We had a problem, what if the dogs we saw just didn’t poo on camera? We kept seeing guide dogs and unfortunately for us guide dog owners don’t have to pick up.
Suddenly I saw a dog squatting in the distance. When the owner went towards it to pick it up I sprinted across Leith links with my camera shouting triumphantly “he’s picking it up!”. That’s him in the first video above. After that they just kept on pooing.
I had some disguises for the wardens to wear and some christmas gear for the Christmas special (see love leith 4 above).
Editing
I loved editing the films – especially timing it so a dog’s mouth opened in time with the woofs in the music composed by Sam Gallagher. The Warden’s had a good senses of humour, it really was a pleasure to work with them.
Afterwards
Since that first afternoon the Wardens have given out a prize every day and they’ve been sending me highly entertaining emails documenting people’s reactions when they’re given a prize.
I’m delighted to be part of this innovative project. You can read more about it on the Greener Leith website here.
I’m excited to be running a ‘Social Reporting: Storytelling with Audio and Video’ workshop at Scotland’s third sector social media conference, Social Media for Social Good.
Social Media for Social Good is a day of expert talks and workshops to help charities, community groups and social enterprises get the most out of social media.
The conference takes place on 22nd November in Glasgow and it’s being run by Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS) in partnership with Third Sector Lab and Be Good Be Social.
It looks great! I’m looking forward to finding out more about Martha Payne’s Mary’s Meals blog and getting top tips from the tweeting Policeman. I’ve posted the programme below.
Bookings can be made for via the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS) website.
