My review against plan for April 2021 is as follows:

  • Edit book chapters 1 to 6 and draft chapter 7. Done to some degree although I’m fired with renewed energy to do much more work on this in May.
  • At least 1000 words of new nature writing, over and above my book chapters. Yes, probably more like 3000 words.
  • At least 2 pitches for feature articles to magazines. I only managed one pitch this month but it was for a substantial feature which needed lots of pre-research and contacts. I was really pleased when the response was “possibly” which felt like progress for this particular publication.
  • 900 Twitter followers (up from 855) In the right direction but only 885 so far.
  • 60 followers for this blog (up from 57) A fantastic 64 lovely followers!
  • Botany learning plan to support creative writing: I’ve been busy designing my own pavement plant mini-id-guides and using a Vegetative Key.
  • Writing residency – I co-delivered an online writing workshop with my writer mate Jane Adams. We had 38 participants and lots of positive feedback and participation. The output from the workshop should be published on the London Wildlife Trust blog in May.
  • Regulars – regular blog posts and a nature-writing newsletter. Yup, absolutely!

My May 2021 plan is as follows:

  • Next edits for book chapters 1 to 8 and proposal for my second book.
  • At least 1000 words of new nature writing, over and above my book chapters.
  • At least 2 pitches for feature articles to magazines and deliver an article which has already been commissioned.
  • 1000 Twitter followers (up from 885)
  • 70 followers for this blog (up from 64)
  • Botany learning plan to support creative writing: May is going to be all about consolidating what I’ve learnt so far and grooving on grasses. My botany exam is looming on the horizon on the July 15th.
  • Writing residency – launch an online nature-writing support forum and work with nature-writer Chantelle Lindsay to prepare for the June writing workshop.
  • Regulars – regular blog posts and a nature-writing newsletter