Andrea Mann

Andrea Mann is a British screenwriter

Wishin’ and Hopin’ and Musin’

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Not saying I had a mild panic attack halfway up those steps, but… I don’t wanna talk about things I’ve gone through

I have just returned from the most wonderful holiday on the most beautiful Greek island: Skopelos, aka where they filmed Mamma Mia!. Just as it took me approximately 20 years to start watching The Sopranos – no spoilers please, I’m still on season 5! – I waited for Skopelos’s ABBA-related tourism craziness to die down a little before heading there, ie I lay low for a mere 16 years. I can attest that the craziness has indeed died down, though I can also attest that a) the hour-long boat ride which took us from Skiathos to Skopelos played the soundtrack for the final half of that hour, as did our bus to the boat taking us back; and b) my husband and I ended up in a bar in Skopelos Town on Saturday night dancing to Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! with big goofy smiles on our faces.

So… I’m writing this because I realised on holiday that I wanted to start writing about some of the thoughts that ping around my head – and the ‘Musings’ section of my website seems like a good place to post these, well, musings. They will most likely my thoughts about writing, and screenwriting in particular, and creativity in general. But no doubt other things, too – like life after breast cancer.  

I hope these posts can be in some way interesting and/or helpful; I suspect that they will at least be the latter for me personally. Because I’m also doing this as a result of being inspired by a tweet I read some time ago (apologies but I don’t remember who posted it), which advised people who do creative work – especially those of us whose work and careers are very dependent upon other people’s decisions and actions – to do something creative which is purely for you, and controlled by you from start to finish.

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Ilkley Write-In

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I’m starting a fortnightly ‘write-in’ at wonderful local Ilkley café Outside The Box.

I’m usually writing a) from home and b) alone, so thought it would be nice to start up something like this for anyone who’s in a similar boat. I’m hoping that, in the words of a certain great screenplay/novel: If you build it, they will come. 😀

The write-in will be at the café on the first and third Wednesdays of the month (so: 5 June, 19 June, 3 July, 17 July and so on), between 10am and 12pm.

It’s not a writers’ group – ie. there’s no need to share or even talk about what you’re working on – just a friendly space where you can meet fellow writers and work alongside each other in a supportive environment. (And eat cake, if you so wish. Although by definition I think the mere presence of cake counts as ‘a supportive environment’.)

Everyone’s welcome, whatever your age and whatever you’re writing – whether it’s for work or pleasure, fiction or non-fiction, a play or screenplay, poetry, short stories, articles… or something else!

Just bring your laptop (or pen and paper!), and come down for the whole two hours, or just an hour, or half an hour… drop in/out whenever you like.

Outside The Box has a great full food menu – as well as serving fabulous coffees, teas and cakes, of course – so it’s a great place to stay on afterwards for lunch, too.

Any questions, just drop me a line at andrea@andreamann.com. And hopefully see you there!

Arts, Health and Wellbeing: My Speech to Westminster Council

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This is the speech I gave at Westminster City Council’s full council meeting tonight, in a debate about Public Health. I highly recommend reading all of Kurt Vonnegut’s letter to the high school students. 🙂

When a group of high school students contacted him as part of an English assignment, the writer Kurt Vonnegut gave them the following advice:

“Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.”

Whether we’re participating in them as creators, audience members, or something in between – the arts make our souls grow. They make us feel ourselves; feel connected; feel better – sometimes in more ways than one. Because there’s an overwhelming body of evidence to show that taking part in creative and cultural activities can dramatically improve our health and wellbeing.

This connection between health and creativity was backed up as recently as 2017, in the report produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing.

Their two-year inquiry found that arts engagement improves psychological, social and emotional wellbeing in people of all ages.

It can reduce stress, anxiety and depression, social isolation and loneliness; it can promote healthy ageing; help with the self-management of long-term health conditions; tackle health inequalities and begin to address obesity.

The report also found that engagement in the arts influences childhood development, and shapes educational and employment opportunities. It prevents illness and infirmity from developing in the first place and worsening in the longer term.

And it doesn’t just help us as individuals: it improves the wellbeing of groups, whole communities and our wider society – strengthening bonds between us, and promoting community cohesion.

And for those who care about the bottom line: the report also found that arts engagement saves money in social care and the health service.

Now, we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to arts offerings here in Westminster – but I don’t need to tell you that this rich cultural scene is not enjoyed equally by everyone.

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