Reflective Journal: Giving the Green Light to 'The Green Line'
Third-year student Denisa Folea sheds light on the process of planning, editing and launching the recent collaborative project The Green Line series.
Week One: Deciding on a Project
I didn’t know Ellen prior to the project. We were assigned to work together the summer before our third year. We had not spoken to each other until our first session of the module when we decided to brainstorm. It felt scary and overwhelming since other teams in our group already had their project set and we did not. We conceptualised a series written by us. I suggested something similar to Dan and Gemma in Tandem, a brief series on FalWriting, where Gemma and Dan wrote about the same topic from their perspective, and the pieces were placed side by side on the website page. I felt that this would be interesting for the reader.
We brainstormed topics that we could cover within this style of writing, like English vs Creative Writing, and whether we wanted to make this an open series, where we would commission students to talk about their choices and experiences within the different degrees our Department had to offer.
I sensed Ellen felt unsure of this idea as did I, particularly when embarking on such a big project. I was unsure about how it would all work together, whether it was even an interesting topic, and whether it was too obvious an answer? ‘Why did you choose your degree as opposed to mine?’ seemed like a fairly straight forward question to me. There are only so many answers, all of which reflect a banality and obviousness to the answer. However, ideas were sparse, and Ellen and I did not seem to have anything in common. The only noteworthy thing about us was that we were studying two slightly different degrees.
After some quiet reflection, Ellen suggested we keep the idea of a commissioned series, but change the topic and make it something people want to write about. We decided on climate change, for various reasons, most importantly because it is a popular current topic of conversation worldwide. I was more motivated by this topic. It was relevant, it would be both interesting to write about, to read and would encourage people to voice opinions, even be excited to take part. Finally, we had found a perfect project piece.
We set about deciding the details. We chose any form (critical or creative writing) because we wanted freedom for our writers, and we chose our brief (How does climate change affect you?) because we wanted it to be personal. We felt there were enough scientific articles about it, we wanted to demonstrate how everyday students were affected by it.
Week Two: Amber’s Input
The day after our first session, we got an email. Amber, who had been part of a different project, wanted to join us. I felt relieved as this would be another individual to brainstorm ideas and finalise the project’s concept before we started commissioning people. I knew Amber previously and I knew she was hard-working and diligent. She was a welcome addition to our team.
The previous week, Ellen and I had talked about how one of our weaknesses was time management, and I, for one, was scared that we would struggle with our project without a proper plan. Amber was good with deadlines, and with her help we made an initial tracker and settled on dates. That same week we agreed on a name for our series, The Green Line.
Week Three to Week Six: Setting up the Commissions
I worked on the poster that advertised our ‘Call for Interest’. I had experimented with some basic Photoshop as a teenager, but this would utilise new creative skills. Luckily, our tutor recommended Canva, a website for making posters. I found using this fairly easy to design our poster, which I feel proud of, as I did it on my own, and I feel the design worked really well. It has made me realise I have the creativity to design something visually appealing. I do not have a great deal of experience in art design, but this part of the project has given me the confidence to try and explore my artistic skills as well as writing skills.
We worked on the ‘Call for Interest’ together. It helped that we had a precise idea about what we wanted the series to look like because we could be exact in our wording. We debated up until the ‘call’ went out about whether to ask for pitches or direct submissions, but after advice from our tutor, we settled on pitches.
A lot of the following steps were done together, as we focused on writing and editing the pitch for the assessed portfolio and securing authors. I felt like I was part of a well-functioning, balanced team. We each had some individual tasks, such as messaging potential authors, however, we worked on the larger scale parts of the project together. Working well together helped to ease our worries. For example, when we did not receive a big response to our ‘call’ we resolved this by personally commissioning authors.
During the weeks before the submissions came in, I felt as if there was very little to do. However, reflecting on this, we worked on various things, from the pitch to securing commissions, communicating with authors and planning our approach to social media promotions. I felt this process flowed well, but I was impatient for week seven, to start editing as this was what I was most excited about, as I want to pursue a career in editing.
Week Seven to Week Ten: Putting Our Plan into Action
We had received all but one of the expected submissions when we started the editing process. I was at ease, falling into the mindset of the editor during this period. I had done some proofreading and small-scale editing before, for both strangers and for my own work, but editing on a professional level was exciting. I found this job the easiest task of the project, preparing the series for publication. Even so, we did struggle at times to come up with more than a few sentences in our feedback, but I think that our history in having to peer review other students in previous years helped.
With the editing done, we focused on creating the publishing schedule and writing our own pieces. This is where I struggled the most. I had thought of writing a short story initially, but after receiving all the commissioned works, there was no space for another short story. I was slightly annoyed at this, but after reflecting further, I realised that exploring ideas for a short story became too much of a challenge and writing an editorial would be a lot easier for me.
I spent a few days coming up with ideas of what to potentially write about. I have spent the last few years reducing plastic use, I shop for clothes in charity shops and I recycle. I felt that these were all interesting editorial topics, then thought how my birth country, Romania, and my upbringing, has affected my fight in climate change. A suggestion my tutor made was to talk about meat-eating, as Romania’s cuisine features a lot of meat dishes. However, I knew I could not do that, as I am still a meat eater and I was afraid a piece focusing on that may be considered hypocritical.
I decided to focus on recycling, as this has most heavily impacted my daily life, and it is something that I do in the United Kingdom, as Romania does not encourage recycling. My piece focuses on how I approach recycling in the UK whilst comparing and contrasting the two countries’ views and approaches to recycling. Even with the idea chosen, I struggled with writing the editorial, as I was unsure how to write my thoughts eloquently. This proved an issue to the group, as my piece was the last to be submitted for editing, before our final deadline. This came as my mental health took a turn and I felt like I had failed both the girls and myself and it was affecting my ability to work. Luckily, with support from friends, I managed to focus and write the editorial. Once I had started, the words flowed, and I was pleased with the outcome.
What I Gained
Whilst working on this series, I have developed a multitude of skills to help me in my professional life. I have further developed my editing skills and have been able to overcome my anxiety towards communication. I have learned how to upload and format using Squarespace and whilst approaching the end of the project, I have learned skills in how to run promotional campaigns on social media. Creatively I felt that the design of the poster was an achievement that helped me to explore my artistic imagination.
I have also gained knowledge on how to curate and run a series such as The Green Line, which will not only help my CV, but also any potential blog that I might want to start. Most importantly, I feel that I can work well in a team and I can work within a set deadline, even if problems arise. In the past, I have fallen behind on work, but this project gave me the confidence to submit on time a polished professional piece of work.
by Denisa Folea