Technical challenges have been overcome, creative decisions made … my humble brain has got itself into the right gear …

My Words and Music Show has landed on YouTube!

In Episode One, I interview violinist and composer Sue Aston about Cornwall, creative courage and cake.  Oh, and there’s music, adventure … and you get to see me in a party hat!

It doesn’t seem that long ago that my friend Melissa and I used a toy telephone, strung between our two bedroom windows (we lived next door to each other) and used it to communicate without having to leave our homes (well, we did until the batteries ran out!)

We thought that this was pretty cool and miraculous, but now I can talk face to face to a friend who is 260 miles away in Cornwall – and have it automatically converted into a split-screen video interview!  This stuff only happened on Sci-Fi films when I was a child!  Technology has developed at terrifying pace.

So … two levels of courage and adventurousness have gone into this first show.  Firstly, I had to battle with my own technophobia, in order to make my show the best it could be.  And then Sue spoke powerfully about the creative challenges that all us writers, musicians and other arty types experience on a daily basis: the isolation, those nagging thoughts which say, ‘Will anyone like this? … Will anyone hear it or read it? … Is it any good?’  She had some great advice, too – and I will leave the last words with her:

‘I think you have to really enjoy being creative, and just do it for it’s own sake.  And if people enjoy it, that’s wonderful.  The trick is to keep going.  Don’t give up!’

TO WATCH WORDS AND MUSIC WITH FIONA BEDDOW, YOU CAN SELECT THE ‘VIDEOS’ TAB IN THE TOOL BAR – OR CLICK HERE TO WHIZZ OVER TO YOUTUBE!