Introvert. Doubter.
Take stock, uncover impacts.
Rewards of sharing.
This post was meant to be about a collection of board game haiku and the way that tabletop games can be a form of science communication (you can find that article here). Instead I got a little side-tracked taking stock of just what running The Sciku Project has given me over the years.
I launched The Sciku Project back in June 2017 and looking back there are a lot of amazingly cool things that have come about over the intervening years:
- I had an article about The Sciku Project published in Science, and the site was mentioned by Sam Illingworth in Nature.
- I interviewed the wonderful poet Mary Soon Lee and was sent an advanced proof of her brilliant book Elemental Haiku.
- I’ve run workshops and given talks on science poetry and writing sciku.
- I attended a media and communication skills residential workshop run by the Royal Society.
- I was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal about The Sciku Project and sciku in general (and promptly forgot a lot of what I learned at the media and communication workshop, hence there not being a lot about The Sciku Project in the finished article – I nervously blathered about nothing especially interesting! Lesson learned.)
- I was invited to be a reviewer for the science poetry journal Consilience (me, a reviewer for a poetry journal? Ridiculous!)
- I’ve made videos about getting started with sciku – I promise I’ll be sharing those in the near future.
- Teena Carroll and Lora Newman asked me for advice (again, me?!?) as they set up the fabulous The Math Haiku Project.
- I’ve met and engaged with a whole variety of amazing folk from around the world, all excited by scientific haiku and keen to write and share their own. Of everything I’ve just listed, this is the point I am most proud of. All those lovely people have taught me so much, I am in their debt.
There are also some more subtle impacts that have resulted from running The Sciku Project.
Firstly, I’m more interested in science communication than ever before, all the varied and fascinating ways in which researchers engage with the wider world, from haiku and other forms of poetry to comedy, videos, games and other methods that aim to create two-way conversations between scientists and non-scientists (and between scientists in different disciplines). In a world of fake news and recent breaks in trust of the experts, good science communication is more important than ever before.
A second impact of starting The Sciku Project is the effect it has had on my own confidence as an individual and as a writer. I’ve always written – fiction, non-fiction and verse – but I’d never really put myself out there before. I had never tried to get any of my writing published (scientific articles aside). I’d never even posted a Tweet. I’m naturally introverted and self-doubting, a potent and frequently restrictive combination.
In part, The Sciku Project started as a deliberate way to force my hand, to make me learn new skills and gain confidence in sharing my writing. I still don’t think it’s all that good but I have more acceptance that I’m not the best judge of such things. Now I have an awareness of what is ‘good enough’ to share (that’s not to say I subject visitors to The Sciku Project to poems that are half-baked, but if I waited until I felt a poem and its write up were perfect then I’d never post another word again).
I’ve put myself ‘out there’ and ‘out there’ has rewarded me in spades with kindness, encouragement and positivity. I now regularly post content on the internet with the full awareness that someone somewhere is likely to actually read it and, hopefully, enjoy it. In fact, talk about a boost in confidence – I’m now writing an update where I’m actually talking about me.
A year after founding The Sciku Project I took what felt like another huge step and applied to be a writer for a board game media outlet – I’d always enjoyed board games and had discovered that I rather enjoyed writing about them as well. Andy Matthews and the team at Meeple Mountain took me on and in the intervening time I’ve progressed from Guest Author to Contributing Author and now I’m an Associate Editor for the site. It’s not a paid position (my work as a research developer at the University of Liverpool puts food on the table) but, just like The Sciku Project, it’s paid me back in spades.
As I said at the top, I had originally sat down to write about science communication and board games, linking the two areas where I’ve been publishing my writing online. That idea got temporarily derailed by self-reflection so instead let me wrap up this ramble by saying:
Do you enjoy writing but have always held back?
Do you have an idea but think it’s too silly to work or that you aren’t capable enough?
Do you dream of writing and sharing your writing with the world?
Stop holding back. You are capable enough. Share your writing. Share the thing you love.
The process of sharing and putting yourself out there is just as rewarding as the response you get from sharing. It’s the old journey being more important than the destination idea. And if you want to dip your toes in the water and share a sciku or simply talk about the process of starting a science communication website or sharing your work then please do get in touch: contact@thescikuproject.com
Thank you to everyone who has visited The Sciku Project, contacted me to say how much they have enjoyed it, sent in their own sciku to be published, shared sciku and their enthusiasm on social media, and in anyway has interacted with myself or the site.
Running The Sciku Project is an absolute privilege and I will be forever grateful for the impact that all of you have had on my life. Long may we continue on this journey together!
Andrew Holmes.
Introvert. Self-doubter. Writer.