What I've been up to: April 2018
Happy nearly end of April everyone! Read on for an update on what I've been up to this month so you don't have to make small talk the next time you see me.
What I've been working on:
Since the end of February I have been working with the fabulous Kajsa Tylen, Guinness World Record breaking cyclist and all-round lovely person, on a grand plan for sweat-based world domination. This month we have been focusing on developing a partnership proposal to send out to organisations and individuals who might want to support us on our mission to get more people off their bums and achieving physical goals they never thought were possible.
When I worked in Corporate Social Responsibility for Boots UK, I read about a bajillionty requests for sponsorship and/or partnership, so it's been interesting to be on the other side of things.
The Student Wordsmith:
I have also been working with the equally fabulous and awe-inspiring Dr. Sophie-Louise Hyde. I first met Sophie a few days before I left my job at Loughborough Uni; I had heard great things about The Student Wordsmith, the organisation she had set up to support up-and-coming and established creative writers, and wanted to connect. I am so glad I did – I was feeling anxious at that time, and she gave me plenty of advice and encouragement.
Months later she also hooked me up with my first freelance job, writing health-related articles for an app. This involved massively condensing and translating lengthy academic reports from academic-speak into normal-human-English. Presumably I didn't misinterpret or butcher the scientific research too badly, because I got paid for them all (always a bonus).
What's more, Sophie has also asked me to be her partner (not in a romantic sense), so I will be involved in helping to shape and grow The Student Wordsmith going forward – exciting times ahead.
Last Sunday I attended the TSW Development Day, which was a wonderful opportunity to take part in useful exercises and meet other writers, and great value (only £30).
Other freelancey stuff:
It's been a good month for me: I finally got my website properly set up after months of paying for it and not really doing anything with it. I gained (and retained) clients, including one in the higher education sector. Having worked in HE marketing for four years, getting back into it feels like taking my bra off after a long day (i.e. comfortable and reassuring, somewhat thrilling).
I will be focusing on my studies for the next few weeks, as coursework deadlines are looming, but after 16th May I am free as a bird. I am technically off uni for the summer (my full-time classmates will be doing their dissertation, whereas as a part-timer I don't do mine until next year), so I will have plenty of extra time for new clients and projects.
(Hire Tom Hardy too by all means, but hire me.)
Uni stuff:
I've been falling in and out of love with poetry over the past few months, but I'm feeling reasonably reinvigorated after a few weeks of workshops led by Dr. Lila Matsumoto. We've been studying and practising a number of very different forms, including prose poetry, odes and elegies.
I'm still not convinced that I'm a poet (I don't even own a beret), and fiction will always be my first love, but it's been getting the creative cogs whirring in all the right ways.
Until next time...