How I Wrote Programme Articles — And Beyond...

This is the way I used to prepare and write my articles for the matchday programmes. My fellow article writers in the Cray Wanderers programmes may or may not have had their own ways to reach the same end result, I am sure, as we all studiously brought supporters a varied selection of interesting articles to read.

To address the elephant in the room from the very start, I do not use artificial intelligence (AI) to either write my articles, to research my articles or to create graphics that occasionally appeared alongside my articles in the Cray Wanderers programmes.  That is not to say that I haven't dabbled with the likes of ChatGPT; of course I have.  But, I come from an era in which I was taught how to research and compose my written work and to create graphics from scratch, the hard way. 

The big concern with using AI to 'write' articles is the potential to breach copyright on existing work. Such use could also be riddled with plagiarism within AI-generated articles. Nobody really knows where AI websites obtain their information from, so my advice is, if anyone can't resist creating articles with AI then be careful and always, always, always check the finished work by running it through one of the many plagiarism checking websites — and then change whatever has been flagged up. Otherwise, steer well clear of AI, if it is the wish to carve out a future in article or book writing.

Google is everyone's friend nowadays when it comes to research. Don't let anyone suggest otherwise. It cuts down the time needed to plough through loads of reference books and papers at the library. Be very wary of what is published on Wikipedia, however, because most of the information contained on that website is generated by the general public and not by authorised sources, so it cannot be considered reliable.

I try to split my articles up into manageable paragraphs so that my potential readers don't just look at the page and say "blimey, I'm not reading that lot!" then quickly turn over the page or click away to another website. Sometimes, due to space constraints within the programmes, the typesetter often used to bunch up the paragraphs or even join two or more of them together. That wasn't the writer's fault; it's just the way that pages had to be laid out. On this blog site I am able to format my articles how I like them to be seen.

Subject matters can be anything that anyone is happy for their granny to read; not exactly Sunday School level yet, at the same time, not D. H. Lawrence or E. L. James standard. Football topics in a football programme are, of course, okay. That goes without saying. True stories, as long as they relate to the writer's own circumstances or they have been totally rewritten about somebody or something else, are absolutely fine. If football can be mixed with personal experiences then all the more I would say 'bring it on'. And the readers shouldn't be confused or bored!

Articles should be written in the manner that people know how the writer talks. Things shouldn't be 'poshed up' or long words tempted to be used that nobody or their dog can possibly know what they mean. I try my best to keep to these guidelines.

Some supporters may wonder where I get the time to spend on my research and writing, given that I am a full time carer. Okay, so the caring aspect takes up much of my days and nights but, there are also 'down' times and I have learnt to get into creative mode and grab those moments to research on the internet and in reference books and tap out some words on my keyboard. On the other hand, sometimes I can go weeks without finding some decent down time, which means I don't produce any written work for that duration. And, by 'decent' down time, I mean occasionally half-an-hour here or there.

Once I'd got an article written the way I was happy with it, I used to send it to Cray's programme editor Phil Babbs via email, in plenty of time for the print deadline. He then read through it and confirmed it was okay before he sent it to the printer to be included in the next Flamingo Park matchday programme. If, on the rare occasion, Phil wanted something altered then I got on with it until it met the required standard. The next time my article got read was when it appeared in print on match day. 

Now that I have my own blog site and the football club appears to have turned its back on its previously regular article writers (gone from last season are Jerry Dowlen, Del Pullman, Pete Goringe and myself), I have a different approach to how I get my articles seen and read. I still complete my research in the same way but now my articles are written and go straight to this blog site where many more visitors can read my work than could have possibly done so in the limited amount of matchday programmes pubished by the football club. No editors, no printers, no time constraints and no deadlines to meet, just straight onto the internet when my articles are ready. Easy peasy.

Of course, I currently feel a bit sorry for supporters who will be going to watch Cray Wanderers at Flamingo Park this season and find there is nothing to read when they open the programmes they've paid upwards of £3 to buy, due to the fact that the club has apparently chosen not to retain any of its previously prolific and popular article writers. Much how I love that football club, I don't know about you, but just reading a few adverts, a short page of club notes, maybe a brief interview with the manager and the players' listings doesn't do it for me. Supporters would be better off saving their three quid (or maybe more?) and spending it on a half-time mug of Bovril.

Apart from the books and articles I research and write, and now run this blog site in lieu of being banished from the matchday programmes, I do not spread my literary wings elsewhere, unless Jerry Dowlen has some space in one of his localised books that he wants filled with an anecdote or two from my own repertoire. There's several of his books available in which my contributions have been included. Those publications will probably still be floating around for sale in the charity shops of Orpington long after I'm gone!

Hopefully, every visitor who comes to this blog site will read and enjoy my offerings like they did when I wrote for the matchday programmes, as it will confirm to me that my work is still appreciated and is as worthwhile writing articles now as much as I've always enjoyed researching and producing them.

After careful consideration, and since receiving a couple of requests, I shall be revisiting my older programme articles from over the years with a view to including them all (eventually) on this site. Apparently, people like re-reading informative articles once in a while, so who am I to stand in the way of their enjoyment? Please don't worry, though, because I will still be trying to make time to research and write new material. Every one of my articles that I include on this blog site is original and unique, including the older ones that I shall now be resurrecting. Collectively, this will all amount to lots and lots of reading for visitors to look forward to.