I sat up to write this thought piece after reading an article in my copy of the latest edition of 'Writing Magazine' on how to beat the burnout by author Simon Whaley. It caught my attention because that's what has happened to me in my second stab at a fairly fruitful career in writing. I was reading the magazine because whilst working on an assignment (which is a bit late I'm embarrassed to say) I hit the dreaded wall ... with a thump, and so needed a helping hand to get over it. The article cast a very bright spotlight on why the last three years or so I've struggled to get my writing career back into full throttle.
When Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) Alex Seabrook, during a regular press briefing, questioned Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees about his flying all the way to US to speak at a TED conference on climate change, the response was somewhat unexpected. The clip of his exchange with the Mayor went viral as was the dressing down received from Bristol City Council’s Head of External Communications Saskia Konynenburg. The furore that followed resulted in a ban on LDRs from attending or participating in his briefings to the press.
It was a car accident in 1994 that changed Glen Stanway’s life. So severe were his injuries Glen was told they were permanent and he would need to take painkillers indefinitely. Unable to work, and past the point of frustration with the constant pain Glen enrolled at his local Chin Woo wushu school hoping that kung-fu would give him his life back. The training he underwent gave Glen back his strength and flexibility, and a new passion. Over the next two decades Glen travelled and competed all over the world representing the Chin Woo name, and founded his school the GMAX Academy, based in the town of Royston, Hertfordshire.
