Day 362: The gift of the gab...

Since a very young age I've been pretty chatty, especially on a one-to-one basis. Meeting up for coffee with a friend is one of my favourite things to do.

So why am I telling you this? Well, chatting away to people is pretty handy for a creative person.

Over the summer I'm going to be working with Bath Festivals who organise two literature festivals and a music festival each year, as well as going into schools and inspiring creativity through drama and writing. It all started when I got chatting to Karl at a book event I went to over a year ago now.

Yesterday I got chatting to this women on an art stall in Bath. As I bought a piece of her art, I was chatting about finishing Uni and doing my internship with Bath Festivals...then she asked if I wanted to come a work with them on the stall!

What area do your creative talents lie? Drama, dance, music, writing, textiles...? Wherever it is, talking to people in your field seems like the way forward. Just see what happens. Sometimes we fall into these things, but more often that not, it's not what you know, but who you know!

Day 352: My Guerilla Knitting Experience

For those of you who don't know what guerilla knitting is, it's basically anonymous knitting left in public spaces. So, people will do a bunch of knitted patches and then cover a tree or a lamp post in it.

Being into knitting I thought it was about time I got involved in a bit of knitting graffiti, so when the opportunity came up on campus, obviously I jumped at the chance.

This particular guerilla knitting is in aid of the 'Red Thread' exhibition going on at Bath Spa campus this Saturday, 28th May 2011.

Here's me preparing next to the lake on campus. Oh, the concentration...

Then I headed over to the site where guerilla knitting would commence and off we went. Now I have to tell you that it was guerilla knitting, but we weaved them into the installation with bits of fabric and wool and pom-poms...

The red knitted bit in the middle is my handy work!

Check out some more guerilla knitting on Google. It's amazing! How could you use your skills to have some fun and help a good cause...?

Day 302: Kilter Theatre

Kilter are a theatre with a difference. The three things they value are sustainability for the environment, interacting with local communities and create positive change. They have taken these values and used them in what they call issue-lead plays, where they share with their audiences something they think is important.

Their production Roots Replanted was held in an allotment where audiences interacted with the play, planting seeds and learning as they 'walked' through the play. What fun!

Here's a video about how they made their play:



So, what do you care about? Being creative is a great tool you can use to share with the world the things you think are important. Be inspired by Kilter's efforts. If they can do it, then so can we. Check out their website for loads of useful links.

How could you use your creativity to make positive change...? Why not share it below in the comment box? Let's inspire each other with the ideas we have...

Day 277: T. M. Alexander at View Art Gallary

How much creative inspiration can you get from one night? Well, last night I was blown away by the amount that was thrown at me as a creative thinker.

I was lucky enough to attend T. M. Alexander's book launch in Bristol. She's one of the judges for my writing competition and has just brought out her third book in the Tribe series, Labradoodle on the Loose. She gave a talk to the crowds of people attending, all about the fun author things she gets to do, including receiving the Hull Children's Book Award, doing loads of school visits and writing, of course. It was so exciting to listen to all the ins and outs of living a real writer's life.

Afterwards she spoke to me about how the publishers had decided to change her book order round and release the fourth one before the third! That's the reality of being a writer, I guess. Funnily enough, I don't get told stuff like that on my course.

On top of all of this, the book launch was held in the art gallery, View. So much creativity in one place I nearly died! And there were free smarties! What more could you want from one evening?

There are seven artists being exhibited at the gallery including a guy who'd graduated from Bath Spa only last summer. I was so impressed to see Will Kendrick's work on display, I had a big chat with the owner about it and learnt loads about owning a gallery too. A career change, perhaps...?

Opening yourself up to new creative experiences like this is so inspiring, so why not take a look and see what's going on around your area. Keep your eyes peeled, folks. Creativity really is everywhere!

Circle Painting, Will Kendrick >

Day 260: Get invovled in your town's creativity

Being at a creative uni like mine is such an amazing place to be. As you may know I have teamed up with film students and graphics students in various projects this year, but that's such a small representation of what's going on.

On my way to Sainbury's today I saw a friend who is running a film competition. She gave me a poster to put up at work and I thought I'd email the film student I'm working with to tell her about it too.

Last night was knitting group, which was loads of fun. We had new people come too, so it was great to see them joining in the fun. Tonight I'm going to an open mike night with musicians, poets and comedians. This weekend sees the launch of the Bath Literature Festival too. So many students I know are invovled in some way, doing readings, volunteering and loads more.

Creativity is part of where I am and I feel really lucky to live here in Bath. It's just a case of being active and getting ivolved.

What's going on in your town? What about your school/college? Can you get invovled? If you can't find anything you fancy, why not start it up yourself? What's stopping you? Why not share your creativity with the people around you...

Day 189: Elevator Pitch

What are you doing creatively at the moment? Maybe you're making an album or a series of paintings. Maybe you're writing a book or planning a massive creative festival!

If you were in an elevator/lift and someone asked you what you did (creatively) could you explain it to them in the few minutes you have with that person?

Or, perhaps more realistically, one of your relatives at Christmas asks you what you are doing with your life at the moment, could you confidently tell them about your creative work?

People like a confident, well thought out answer, don't they? Think about it today. How could you put what you do into a few sentences?

Here's my elevator pitch for my project:

I am running a creative writing competition for secondary school pupils, accompanied by workshops and one-to-one session to improve writing and creative thinking. All entries will be made into an anthology with proceeds split between the school and a charity chosen by the winner. An awards ceremony will follow with readings, prizes and anthologies on sale.

What does yours sound like...?

Day 106: Volunteering at the Bath Kids Lit Fest

I have got a really busy week ahead because I am volunteering with the Bath Children's Literature Festival in Bath and with The Write Team (also part of Bath Festivals). It's going to be great. Not only am I likely to meet authors and go to some really interesting/helpful talks, I am also going to help kids learn about it all too. This is basically what I'm about. That's why I'm doing this blog, to encourage young people to be creative.

What are you about? Are you interested in dance, music, animation, writing...a great way to get experience in it is through volunteering. See what's going on in your area. There are loads of activities for children going on at weekends and in the holidays, so get on board. Maybe you don't want to work with children long term, but give it a go for now and see what you learn. Send them an email, ask if you can help. Make sure you're 'pushy' too. If they don't email you back, email them again. People are busy, so make sure they keep you in mind!

Volunteering is a great way to learn more about what you're interested in and meet some people who already do it! I'm going into schools all year (with The Write Team) to encourage young people to be creative, which is exactly what I want to do! I got this great opportunity through talking to someone at another event I went to. (Oh, the importance of Networking, see Day 69 for more of that...) You never know where these things might lead. So I encourage you all to get involved in whatever you can and be creative at the same time. A winner all round!

Go...

ps, if you're into writing and you live near Bath, check out the link above 'cause there are some brilliant events on at the Bath Children's Lit Fest this year! It starts this Friday so get moving...

Day 69: Networking

Networking? What's networking?

You know they saying, 'it's not what you know, but who you know'? Well, that's networking!

If you're a creative person and you take yourself seriously as one, then you need to know about networking. Everyone who is creative as part of their job speaks to each other and makes contacts. Then they all help each other out.

I'll give you an example of my own networking. I went to a children's event as part of the Bath Literature Festival earlier in the year. Frank Cottrell Boyce (who wrote Millions and Cosmic) was speaking and he was really good to listen to and learn from. At the end of the event, I was cuing up to get my book signed by him and I ended up chatting to this guy called Karl. Turns out he is one of the managers of the event, so I gave him my card (which has my name and contact numbers on it) and now, because I made that contact, I am volunteering with the next festival.

I know what you're thinking, 'I'm not doing creativity for a job, so why do I need to network?' What do you do? Dance, craft, animation, blogging, art? If your into dance, do you go to dance shows and events? If you're a blogger, do you follow other blogs? The great thing about being young, is that you've got everything ahead of you! Learn from people. That's what I'm doing. That's why I'm volunteering, to learn from those who know more than me.

So, be brave and talk to that person at the event. Give them your email address or ask for theirs.

If you liked some of the recycled craft from yesterday's blog, then get in touch with them. Check out their websites and ask them how they started...

There is so many ways you can network and anyone can do it. If you're creative, then be inspired to make things happen for you.

Oh, here's another saying, 'if you don't ask, then you don't get.' True, true, true!

So what are you waiting for, go ahead and make things happen!

So yesturday I went to a networking event! It was my first one and it was pretty fun. There were lots of interesting small businesses there, all based in the Bath area. Unfortunately I didnt get any contacts to help my writing, but it was good practice and I gave out some of my little cards, so who knows...!

...in other news...I submitted a story called 'the party' for a compatition. It's intereactive fiction,so YOU get to chose the stories direction. Fun huh! Pretty hard to write tho! Here's the first section for you:

It’s Friday afternoon and you and Becki are having a milkshake in Cafe Willow. The place is packed with people from school, but you and Becki are so engrossed in chatting, you barely notice the people around you.

But then Becki comes out with, ‘Don’t look now, but there is this guy sitting over there and he definitely keeps looking at you, El!’

You look at her with a frown. ‘What? Don’t be stupid Bec, he’s probably just-’

‘No seriously.’ She looks past you and smiles. ‘I recognise him. I think he’s friends with Luke’s brother.’

‘Luke’s brother’s called Ben. I’ve told you a million times,’ you say.

‘Okay, he’s Ben’s friend then. I guess I really should remember, you go on about him so much! Anyway, the point is, the guy staring at you is in Sixth Form,’ she says, still staring at him.

‘Maybe it’s you he’s looking at,’ you suggest, but Becki isn’t listening.

She moves her head slightly towards you and leans closer. ‘Well?’ she smiles at you. ‘What are you going to do?’

You look down at your milkshake for a while. You are feeling uncomfortable about it all. He’s older than you. What about Ben? So, you can either, tell Becki to drop it (go to section 2) or pluck up the courage and look round (Go to section 3).

Which would you chose I wonder?

Thats all for now folks

Ems x