Writing and radio

I have been writing again.

Really, properly - since the 21st of February, I have done at least 100 words a day, and on one occasion as many as 7000 in a day, on a new novel project. Except for Saturday, when annoyingly I just plain forgot, and didn't write anything at all.

There is a reason for that, however. I was buried deep in the finishing-off of a new documentary, which went out today. In fact, I have made two documentaries since I started this new novel, which partially explains why the process has been slowed down a bit, when it really ought to have been finished by now.

The other reason the novel isn't yet finished is that it is, far, far too long. It's definitely unsalable and almost certainly unreadable. I still have a little way to go and it's already over twice the length it should be. I suppose part of the problem is making it like homework, making yourself do at least a certain number of words per day. Yes it gets it done, but on the other hand it makes it too easy to make the writing flabby, to write for writing's sake rather than because the words need to be there to tell the story.

But at least I've been writing.

The new documentaries have also bred writing - or rather, today's one has. The one last month was a fairly cheap-and-cheerful, but nonetheless quite effective I think, tie-in with a film that had been shot locally last year. The new one broadcast today - Jimmy Jewell: The Lost Voice of Football - was much more of a researched and authored piece, the story of former top-level football referee, manager and TV commentator Arthur James "Jimmy" Jewell.

I hadn't intended at all to make another football documentary after Canaries in the Air, but I happened across a brief summary of Jewell's life on the England Football Online website and got bitten by the bug. Especially as it was doing something nobody else had ever done - his story had never really been fully told before.

I'm proud of it in the sense that I really dug this one out of the ground. There were virtually no easy sources of detailed information about him, no children or living close relatives of any kind, so I really had to hunt out information and interviewees. I was reasonably successful in that, even though I didn't manage to find anybody who'd met him. But this did mean I was still chasing sources and interviewees until very late in the day, resulting in a much more telescoped editing period than I would have liked. So I'm not sure it's quite as well put together as soon of my other efforts - but it's still not at all bad, and I think the licence fee payer more than got their money's worth.

The Eastern Daily Press once again kindly printed a piece by me in their Weekend supplement, and as there's a Sussex link the Argus also ran a piece. This was quite pleasing considering I used to deliver the Argus for a while in my teens. My colleagues at BBC News Online also put a piece up and generously gave me the byline, although really my colleague Zoe Applegate put it together from a kit of parts I gave them.

Even the BBC's live text commentary of Norwich v Chelsea joined in with the promotion on Saturday, after I cheekily emailed in to ask if the link could be punted out. I also felt quite proud of cutting six different preview packages - one each for our Saturday Sport, Sunday Breakfast and Bank Holiday Breakfast shows (although Saturday Sport weren't able to use theirs due to the delayed King's Lynn kick-off), and on-spec pieces I punted out to London, Lancashire and Sussex due to their links to the story, pointing to the doc on BBC Sounds. I've no idea if they'll get used but London have said they might. Oh, and I also did news clips for us.

Rampant self-publicity! It feels strange for it all to be done now after how intensely I have been working on finishing it over the past week. Rather relaxing.

But oh yes, there is that novel to try and finish...