Blogger’s Desk: Surviving big change

In one way or another, I have always wanted to be a writer. It was a passion that started with Lois Lane when I was 10 years old, strengthened with magazines at 16, and grew exponentially with my love of great stories and funny tales by the likes of Jane Austen and Marian Keyes at 21.

I never thought it would be a far-fetched dream. I had never read about the merits or the perils of the craft, and did not know what I was getting myself into. I went to uni, did a journalism degree, and coupled it with many a (miserable) stint in work experience and loads of emails and job applications.

I watched Carrie Bradshaw live comfortably off the wages from a single weekly column – in a NYC apartment, wearing Vuitton and Dior, and running off to parties, dinners, and drinks in Manolos – and I began to see all the fiction in the hype. But I never stopped wanting the dream.

I walked down a different avenue in an attempt to get my foot in the door. I applied for jobs in magazine advertising, hoping that an editor would notice me across the office floor and I’d suddenly be inundated with many a by-line. That never happened, but my passion and ambition did grant me some limited success as a freelance features writer.

By the time I sold my first article, having just turned 20, I felt a little more connected. But eventually my full-time job and lack of solid clues as to how to practice this freelance gig caught up with me.  I did not develop the relationships and contacts and routine that could make such a career move work. But nothing ever changed, and sitting at my computer night after night, I still sought out that much desired career path.

I stuck it out in the second best that was advertising, but was served a redundancy letter five days before my 23^rd birthday. I was being granted a second chance at my dream, and this time I would not stuff it up. But I need to discipline myself, work at it, and find a niche and a routine. And do something differently. Three weeks later, I packed my bags and headed to the emerging writers festival in Melbourne, where I was to be a panellist.

I felt like I was in wordsmith heaven. All around me, established and aspiring writers, and everyone who loved the written word, hovered about – sharing their experiences, offering up tips and advice, showcasing their work in all its forms. I was learning a lot while sharing my own experiences, and I wanted to make it last forever.

The festival coincided well with my renewed desire to further my own writing career, and after speaking about the merits of self-publishing, I decided to take my own advice and publish my journey by blogging about my career path from redundancy to writing full-time. In between, I would seek the information I always wanted to know about other writers’ backgrounds while sharing it with others in my shoes; I would review the great stories and works that inspired me to choose this path in the first place, and I would divulge all that I knew about the skills, steps and opportunities that one could take on a similar journey.

In a way, this blog would act as my supervisor. It would teach me, push me and discipline me more than my fanciful dreams ever could. I would make something of the big change that came my way in the form of a job loss, and I could hopefully inspire others to do the same, in the same way that I have been inspired.

This week’s load of info includes a showcase of Women’s Health magazine (I am obsessed with the current issue – stay tuned to find out why) and my speech on ‘crashing, bashing and smashing through’ the writing dream from the Emerging Writer’s Festival (great for aspiring freelance writers). And in the coming weeks, we’ll be interviewing web-editors, freelance journalists, authors and bloggers from a variety of backgrounds and interests, plus reviewing great books, showcasing fantastic titles, and giving you fabulous little info bites on what is happening in the writing world.

And of course, Wordsmith Lane would not be complete without its weekly Editor’s Challenge, which for this week is:

• Sticking to this blog – I tend to have great ideas and then abandon them right when I begin
• Generating three pitches for three publications I have never written before – one for a bridal title, one for a fashion magazine, and one for an academic journal (I have decided to broaden my horizons, but more on that later)
• Finalising the first chapter of my novel, as well as a plot summary, for pitching to a publisher by the end of this week

Tough challenges, tough game. There may have been regular bouts of torrential rain on my parade, but I am still going strong. I sincerely believe that I can, and I will, write my way down this road. And I believe that I am not the only one who could do it.

So if you share my love of words and my love of writing and want to know how your favourite writers got to where they are, please continue to check in and join me on my challenges and my discoveries.

Sometimes a big change is the thing that plucks us from our walks in the mud, only to plant us on well-lit paths strewn with pretty flowers and massive realisations. My redundancy was the worst thing I could have imagined at the time, but now, the prospect of finally achieving a remnant of the dreams I held at 10, 16 and 21, wipes all that away.

I am finally making the move to walk towards Lois Lane-style journalism, magazine articles, and the great stories that constantly make my days. I’m writing and working, and working and writing, and finally taking that long, undisturbed walk on wordsmith lane. I would love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you will continue to join me.

Miss Wannabe Wordsmith xx