Excitement levels have been high over here. I’ve been Uploaded!
No, that’s not a reference to a freakish thought experiment or a Netflix series. I’ve been interviewed by the effervescent Rob Jelly at BBC Radio as part of his drive to encourage more creatives to put their work out into the world. An ambition I can get behind, give a shove, and chase after.
It’s tough enough creating a new piece. Finding the idea, carving out the time to develop it, carving out even more time to craft and refine and polish and shine it so that you’re proud to release your work into the world. And that’s when most of us have a day-job plus some ‘people’ in our lives who might need more than a passing nod every few weeks. Needing to promote our work and talk about it, positively and constantly, after we’ve wrung ourselves out just creating it can be daunting and exhausting.
Cue Upload.
The BBC has been running the Upload initiative for years and it’s a free way to share your words with a huge audience. I first came across it in 2018 and it was a lifeline to me during the pandemic. I’ve since had two podcasts featured and now I’m talking about what it’s like to be a writer. Upload is there to encourage writers to write, to share their spoken word pieces, to bring scripts to life.
Rob Jelly bounces through the show at breakneck speed, bringing together a wildly eclectic mix of creatives and their words. He gives space to the quiet writers as much as to the more obvious work. That’s an unusual approach in this world of attention-grabbing, disposal art. It’s appealing and essential to bring unheard voices to life. Something that sparks my creative passion.
So, I’m allowed to join in this wordfest with some observations and ideas from my writing life. This isn’t a light-touch or glossy take on writing. It’s a chance for listeners to ask any questions (yes, any questions) about how to become a writer and what to do when you are successful. From sources of inspiration to the practicalities of finding the time and space to write, I’ll be talking about all of the gnarly bits of a writing life. Not that I’ve made all the best choices in my writing career or that I’m wildly famous. Oh, no. I’ve made some catastrophic choices along the way that have tripped me up, but I’ve learned and I’ve got back up again, over and over. That’s what I’m sharing. My journey, my experience, my tips for making your writing journey less bumpy and more fun.
I’ll be back for more each month and the content of the chat will be down to the listeners. So if you’ve got questions about the writing process (oh, we all have questions), please email me at bev@marvellousmindscreatives.com or contact Rob on X @theejellyman
