A little bit of encouragement from Susan Swarbrick

I used to really look forward to reading Sally Magnusson’s regular column in the Glasgow Herald. You know who I mean? Daughter of the late host of Mastermind and current BBC Scotland News presenter? Anyway, I loved the knack she had (and, I’m sure, still has) of making her readers laugh, cry and nod their heads in agreement with her accounts of ordinary, every-day events. I remember one column that described the stress of sorting out her kids in the morning. I could totally empathise with how exasperated she felt - as she tried to placate her squabbling children while they fought over who had the biggest bowl of Coco Pops -  and then with how relieved she felt to get into work and do something as straightforward as interrogate the Chancellor of the Exchequer over the latest budget proposals! (Not that I’ve ever had to interrogate the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but you get my drift!)

However, that was way back then; nowadays the feature writer I look forward to reading most in The Herald is Susan Swarbrick. I’ve kept up with her regular wee column in the Sunday Herald for some time but, more recently, have also been enjoying some of her longer articles. In last week’s magazine there was a brilliant account of her interview with Dean Karnazes (an incredible endurance athlete and one of Ross’s ultra-running heroes) and today’s article describes – in a thoroughly entertaining way - what happened when she was assessed by the Institute of Sport to see if she could meet the criteria required to be one of the ‘new talents’ for the Gold4Glasgow programme. The feature also describes how the journalist fared when she tried out for three different Commonwealth Games sports. I won’t spoil the ending by telling you how she got on; suffice to say her account of the experience was interesting, made me laugh - with such gems as “the bowl was still far enough away from the jack to need its own postcode”  - and it added a bit more cheer to an already sunny day!

Now, as I’ve recently come out of the closet - and admitted that I’d love to be a ‘proper’ writer - I can also confess to wishing I could do Susan Swarbrick’s job! (And not just because she gets to meet amazing folk like Dean Karnazes.) I’ve mentioned before that I was put off pursuing journalism,  as a career, when I was at school; it was done with the best intentions, but I often wonder if I would ever have made it to the giddy heights of someone like Sally or Susan if I’d not been dissuaded. Instead, I went off to Glasgow Uni and studied ... Zoology! I’ve never actually been able to answer the question, ‘Why Zoology?’ (which usually comes after the question, ‘Zoology! What’s that?’), but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I seem to remember my handsome biology teacher, and the influence he had over me, having something to do with it! The bits of my course that I enjoyed most were the projects and dissertations - because I got to write. And my favourite parts of Alex’s Civil Engineeering course were his essays and dissertation, because I got to write some more...(has enough time passed to let that cat out the bag..?!)

I’ve always loved to write, whether it means taking over an hour to compose an email that should only have taken two minutes (because it’s got to be right), writing wee ditties for my friends and family on special occasions, or scribbling notes and articles and squirreling them away. But, I’ve never had the confidence to believe that I could write in such a way that readers would want to come back for more. So, starting this blog in January was a bit scary; I wasn’t quite sure if anyone would read it at all, let alone read it then come back to read it again. I’ve been told time and again that I shouldn’t look too keenly for any kind of positive feedback or get too hung up on the statistics (like numbers of 'followers' or number of 'hits') but, since it’s the only bit of ‘public’ writing I’ve ever done, these things have become a bit of a gauge for me to decide whether I’ve got just a little bit of what it might take to eventually see something I’ve written in print. Now, that was all a bit of a long-winded way (I really need to work on ‘less means more’) of getting to the point of this post; I was absolutely chuffed to bits when Susan Swarbrick actually took the time to read a wee bit of my blog and comment (on Twitter) that she was looking forward to reading my next installment. It was just a wee tweet for Susan, but it was a massive compliment for me. Having someone that I respect as a writer say that she would come back to read a bit more made this middle-aged wifey very happy. And, even if I never do see anything I’ve written in print, I’ll always have a soft spot for Susan Swarbrick! Her comment doesn’t mean I’m a wonderful writer, it wasn't an appraisal of  my writing style or capabilities, but it was a wee bit of a thumbs up that, in turn, has given me a wee bit more confidence to carry on doing something I love to do - and that has certainly made me feel good!