One publication I write for intimidates me far more than the others. It’s called Pellicle. This might sound silly, but as an editor I can be pretty tough to work with. I have a strong sense of style, tone and narrative flow in my head that I want our writers to adhere to, and although I’m getting better at it with experience I fear I often struggle to convey this when I send back a marked up draft full of edits and comments. When it comes to writing my own work for Pellicle I get The Fear. If I am asking some of beer writing’s most prodigious talents to make lots of corrections and changes, then I too must hold myself to my own rigorous standards. Thankfully I have the wonderful Lily Waite and Katie Mather to hand my work off to, and neither of them are scared of being liberal with the red pen.
I really enjoyed writing about one of my favourite breweries, Macclesfield’s RedWillow, at the very start of the year. I know it’s not the most exciting of stories, but for me the desire to write it came from the fact that their beer excites and delights me, and I want to share it with everyone. That’s why, when you read it, I spend a lot of time talking about their beers in detail.
Then I got really self indulgent, pulling all the weight my self-appointed editor-in-chief title belays. First I wrote a 3000 word piece of fiction about getting abducted by aliens. Partly because I wanted to, and partly because I wanted other writers to read it and think outside the box in terms of what we’re looking for in the magazine. I’m not sure the experiment worked, but lots of people read it, and I hope they also enjoyed it. If we do fiction again, however, I’ll get someone else to write it.
But the piece of writing I am most proud of this year is my essay on reconnecting with my birthplace, Lincoln, through its pubs. I had to pull my big boy pants on for this one, as it meant unlocking the door in my mind behind which I keep all of my childhood trauma, and after writing it I got quite depressed for a few weeks, having let all of those skeletons out of my closet. The result was a piece that was way too long, and way too self indulgent. But now it’s out there I feel like I can move on. In the editorial schedule are all the articles I have intended to write for Pellicle for two or more years. Now, at last, it feels like I can crack on with them.
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I also did lots of photography this year that I am very pleased with, and have posted a bit more about that on my Instagram page. If you would like me to write or take photos for you next year, perhaps both, please drop me a line via the contact page. Happy new year!
