Connecting Communities
Our online creative writing group had a treat on 5th May when they were joined by television producer and writer Kathleen Beedles who grew up in Rogart and who, in her long career in television, has variously worked as a writer, producer and Consultant, for shows such as Emmerdale, EastEnders, amongst others, plus the Chinese adaptation of Humans, as well as setting up long running shows Tanglin and Kin in Singapore.
The group were set a task ahead of the session to prepare a pitch for a second episode of a fake television series called Sutherland Heights, for which they were given character descriptions and a summary of what happened in an episode. On the day the group had to read out their pitch and were given feedback by Kathleen on their work.
At the start of the session each group member introduced themselves and shared their thoughts and experiences of writing. There was a lot of discussion about opening up with writing and concerns about what people will think of their work. Kathleen was keen to point out that there aren’t many places like the Highlands anymore so any observational work they did would be appealing to those living elsewhere. Group members were also encouraged to capture any ideas and inspiration and see these ideas through.
Although Kathleen now lives in London she was pleased to be able to spend most of the recent lockdown periods at home in Rogart and has, in recent years, realised the benefit of being in the Highlands to the creative life.
The Online Creative Writing Group began in early 2021 and has proven to be a great success. Classes are led by our Hub Project Lead Wendy Simmonds and members have given extremely positive feedback to date including ‘This is glorious. It’s so amenable and such a nice space’ and ‘Wendy has been really supportive and guided me. I would probably have given up by now otherwise. It’s a pleasure to be a part of the group.’
The group were delighted to have Kathleen join them and offer her advice. They hope to arrange an in-person meet-up with her when she is next home and restrictions on groups meeting are lifted.
The Online Writing Group takes place every Tuesday at 11am. If you are interested in joining email wendy@connectingcommunities.co.uk or call 01431 821655.
