Tuesday 7 April 2020

The Podful Truth... by Dawn Finch


Like most people, I went into this lockdown with the best of intentions. Oh yes, I was going to finish that novel and start another. I was going to complete all that research I had roughed out in my notebooks. My whole house was going to be redecorated and cleaned, and oh all sorts of stuff. I was going to come out the other side of this with a spick and span house and a whole bunch writing done, and probably speaking another language. I've been working from home for years so this should just mean I have even more time away from meetings and stuff. That should be fine... right?

Well, that’s not exactly been how things have gone, and I’m pretty sure that’s not how things have gone for most of us. I very quickly found that the uncertainty and the Cold Dread and the lack of sleep would make a mess of all my plans. Stuff was cancelled (including publishing dates and events), meetings and conferences delayed or gone completely. Travel and visits to family, all gone with no idea when those plans can be remade. This was not "business as usual", this was something completely different and I didn't have the tools to deal with it.

A new way of thinking was needed and I decided to throw out the entire new “working from home” plan and to stop feeling guilty about it. I took a week to settle myself into this new way of living and instead of making grand plans, I made small ones. Lots of tiny achievable things like growing tomatoes, and baking a good sourdough, and finding out what that smell is in the larder. Stuff like that.

The first step of my plan was to reduce my watching of endless news reports and social media scrolling. I was finding that it was akin to picking a scab and my mental health was suffering. I limited that to a look at the news every morning to see if any rules had changed, and then a look at the website of the National Allotment Association in the evening (I'm the Secretary of our allotment association and I keep a careful eye on those guidelines too) Instead of wading through repeated news and depressingly rising numbers, I decided to continue my explorations of podcasts. 

Anyone who has also dipped their toes into the murky waters of podcast listening has probably discovered the same thing as me. There are some truly excellent podcasts out there, but there are also some absolutely awful ones. I mean, I know there is some poor quality tv in the world but even that looks classy next to some podcasts. Some podcasts are so poor they defy description and are so bad they are not even funny.

This virus has certainly thrown us all in the digital deep-end and I suspect a lot of us have quite fancied the idea of doing a podcast of our own but aren’t sure where to start. Many of us have stumbled across the appalling ones and that’s put us off even trying. There also seemed to be hundreds and hundreds of people offering conflicting advice. I thought I’d have a hunt around for something a bit more accesible, and a bit more reliable.  I have written in the past about MOOCs for authors and FutureLearn have a brilliant new online course for anyone thinking of starting podcasting.

It’s a free two-week course with lots of advice on things like writing narratives, potential pitfalls and the tech you might need. The thing I like about FutureLearn courses is that you will also have access to a forum of other people doing the same course. I think this is one of the most important things about these courses right now because it means you can all chat about something you have in common that isn’t… well…y’know… that other thing. The course officially started on April 6th, but has many start dates and you can start at any time and you have access to the course materials for four weeks.

Give it a go, and maybe see if there is something else on there that could keep you occupied and positive for a while. You can dip in, and drop out if it doesn’t suit you. No pressure, and if something dazzlingly creative occurs to you while you're doing something else... brilliant.

Dawn Finch is an author and librarian who is currently filling every windowsill with seedlings and not decorating.
@dawnafinch
www.dawnfinch.co.uk

Start Your Own Podcast course from FutureLearn - click link to register


1 comment:

Anne Booth said...

This is such great post, and so timely, as I have just shared it with my daughter who is on furlough from work and worries she might lose her job. She is so creative and I think this course will really cheer her up. Thank you so much.