My first ever published article

Papier Mache - Totally unrelated photo but I'm happy
and this cute magazine of kids' clothes makes me smile

Thank you everyone who supported me with taking this new direction - my awesome family, fabulous husband and rockin', rulin' friends. A very special thanks to Sharon Goldner for encouraging and editing. Thanks for believing in me you guys and gals!

How to Plan a Wedding on a Budget (Suite 101).

I'm officially a Sister Village writer!

Whee! I am so excited about this new adventure! It was truly a God-send.

I found Sister Village through IComLeavWe. In short, that is where you go around leaving comments on blogs of people who have signed up to be part of the project that takes place from the 21st to the 28th every month. I only signed up for one month.

One of my comments was to Robin Rouse, the founder of Sister Village. I asked how I could get involved as I ♥ this project she started to reach out to women across the globe. It really ties in with what I've had on my heart for years. Sister Village impacts women's lives through open and honest writing, get-togethers (they have Buzz meetings), community events and other great activities.

I also wrote to Sharon Goldner, the main contributing writer of the Sister Village blog, about getting into the writing industry as she is well established in that field. She responded so quickly and was incredibly warm and willing to provide guidance. I had been praying for a mentor and I believe Sharon is an answered prayer. She is incredibly encouraging and supportive but beyond that I have found a friend in her.

Sharon edited the two articles I wrote as samples for my application to Suite 101. I just got accepted as a freelance writer for that organisation, which is another major thing to be thankful to God about. One of those articles has been submitted to be published on their site. I had to revise it today as the editor, for the section I gave the draft to, explained that Suite 101 has specific requirements for web based writing. Hopefully I will be able to include a link to the finished product this week.

Both Sharon and Robin are amazing, passionate women and it is such a privilege to have been invited to be a contributing writer for Sister Village. You can read my bio here. It'll give a gist as to what I hope to achieve in the long run. They gave me access to post to the blog directly and even created a Sister Village email address for me. How cool is that?

Never did I expect to be able to do something like this, especially so soon after resigning. I am so grateful for having met them and for this wonderful opportunity.

Module Three done

Writing Tips:

1. Be clear and concise
2. Avoid flowery, abstract language that may confuse
3. Avoid jargon
4. Avoid cliches
5. Ban tautologies and drop empty words (e.g. the fitness program now includes the new feature of water aerobics can be written as the fitness program now includes water aerobics)
6. Remove words like "that" if overused
7. Use an active voice (e.g. he wrote the article instead of the article was written by him)
8. Hook readers in with a strong lead - make the opening interesting, unique or shocking even
9. Have good transitions to link sub-topics so the article flows
10. End well - do not leave readers dissatisfied or with unnecessary questions

me and my big mouth

"Oh I wish the course was more involved", I said just last week. Then BAM! Without warning, here comes the email on Monday morning about Module Two and our assignment for the week. We've all been placed in pairs to interview each other for a 500-word profile due Sunday. Oh, and I've got a bunch of readings to go through and analyse. Thank God I am unemployed and have time on my hands. Even though I will be busy on Tuesday and camping for the first time in my life this weekend (we leave Friday with the Lumleys to some relaxing beach spot). Well, this is what it's all about. Interviewing people and writing stories. I've just realised what a chicken I am already. "God, I hope my partner is nice...what should I ask her? What if she finds me utterly boring and cannot come up with something good to say with 500 words and our course instructor tells her she's done a poor job? What if the instructor does not think much of my writing?" Oh bung! Stop worrying, Jocelyn! I'm sure it'll be just fine. The lady I'm paired with lives on the Gold Coast, has three teenage children and runs a financial consulting business. Right.

My course mates are all well established and most have experience in writing (through being a journalist or editing for a particular publication or being involved in newspapers) or have connections (working in the radio industry or knowing people in politics). But I can hear God saying, "Don't start comparing yourself. This is your journey. The passion I have given you will take you on your own path. Don't define success according to what you see in the world. Let me define it for you".

Relax, relax, relax...breathe...

Update:

Ok, it's Tuesday and I'm back from Market Day already. Catch up with Elise and Anesu isn't until quarter past seven tonight. Met up with Angela yesterday afternoon which was good. Fab's keyboard class yesterday night went well too. And I am down to my last reading so am happy to have made good progress. Will need to read more feature articles on my own time to get used to identifying sub-points, transitions and writing styles and structures as a whole. I emailed my course mate yesterday morning and am now just waiting for her response so we can organise a time for the interview. Then it's head down, back straight and fingers ready to get the profile done. Lord, please give me inspiration and creativity to do a good job of this.

Module One

I finished it yesterday. I listened to the entire 3-part module pretty much in one sitting. Perhaps this course is designed more for people who work full time as it spaces the modules such that you complete one a week to make the 5-week course. I will need to go over the teaching and notes again though so make sure I have not missed anything and that the tools are more or less ingrained into my brain for me to readily apply them when necessary.

Valerie Khoo, who directs the Sydney Writers' Centre and delivers the course I am taking - Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers, is really easy to listen to and follow. For one thing, she's got a great voice. I know that can seem irrelevant or shallow but considering all my lessons are in audio form, being an online program, it would get under my skin if she mumbled her way through or was shrilly or had an accent that made it hard to decipher her words. I could certainly attribute that to her professional experience. An obvious expert in her field, I am assured there will be much to gain from the knowledge and skills she has already begun to impart. Valerie has structured the course well. The material is informative yet digestible, and having handouts to accompany the teaching helps me gain a clearer perspective on what she is saying. I took a lot of notes.

To recap yesterday's lesson, and this is purely for my sake (as I cannot imagine you would be too fascinated), we covered the following:

What is a feature article? How does this differ from an article covering the news? How does one develop a feature article from a reported newsworthy event? What are some of the topics covered in feature articles?

Where can you source ideas for a feature article? What makes a good idea?

What are some of the avenues for feature articles? (As in where are they published, a question that gets us thinking of whom we can pitch our ideas to)

What is the difference between a story and a subject?

What are some of the styles of writing a feature article?

Valerie also taught us how to analyse a publication. This is basically working out how frequently the publication is distributed (indicating the lead time), who the target audience is (looking at the age group and stage of life - say, a single or a parent, gender, interests, income level and tastes or preferences), what the main topics or themes of the publication are, how many feature articles there are and how long each one is generally, whether the publication allows for contributions from freelance writers or if the articles are by staff writers, and the tone and style of writing. This will be my exercise for this week, apart from coming up with a story idea.

As a result of what I took away from Module One, I was (and I stress this was beyond my control) immediately drawn towards the magazine section in the supermarket later that afternoon. Although my wallet was not so proud of me, I convinced my husband to not get me a birthday gift or organise anything for me so that I could justify the purchase of a Real Living magazine (which did come with a Good Food magazine absolutely free!) and a Notebook magazine (with a complimentary notepad I just fell in love with! Ok, I confess, it was actually a grocery list pad but who uses something so beautiful for a list you toss out after passing through the checkout counter?). See how bonus giveaways make all the difference. Anyhow, I felt better after he promised this would be my turning-30 (happening on the 18th of April) present. I analysed both of them last night but have a couple of question marks resting above my head.

Branching Out

It may soon be time to start a new blog. This one will be kept as my personal space to voice out pretty much everything - updates, feelings on issues that are more important to me, random thoughts, and most importantly the God related things. The other one will be more, well, professional (less personal and diversified in terms of content) in a sense.

I'm starting a 5-week online feature writing course tomorrow so the other blog will give me room to test-run what I'll be learning. Module One was meant to be accessible since Friday but the link is 'dead'. Oh well, I shall wait for tomorrow. The anticipation grows. I am wondering how demanding this course will be. This will definitely require sincere attention and discipline. I cannot afford to get complacent and put in the bare minimum. Hopefully there will be much to gain from this programme. In part, I am taking the course out of interest, but I do hope that it leads to something more. I am not keen to simply return to the mundane life of a basic administrator.

I've been inspired by the movie "Julie & Julia", and have seen it twice so far. The story just makes me feel good and I kept thinking about it since seeing it the first time, so I got my husband to watch it with me last night and he enjoyed it too, perhaps mostly because of all the food! I love the way it was filmed and something about Julie's life, as portrayed in the movie, resonated with mine.

Could it be that she too was turning 30, felt trapped in her emotionally-sapping secretarial job, and was in a way lost? Or that she wanted to write and was searching for a way to creatively release the tension she felt with where she was at in life? Or that she had a short attention span and found it hard to finish something she started? I would say 'all of the above'. Plus she was married to a wonderfully supportive man who was stable and calm, even in the midst of her emotional storms - just the way I am. My husband is all too familiar with my little meltdowns and drammatic responses to things not going as I expect them to. Yet he remains patient and unperturbed and pulls me in, with kind reassurance, for a comforting hug.

What struck me as interesting is that Julie's blog on her Julia Child project was simple. It did not have a fancy background design to go with it or a pretty format with attractive fonts, or even photographs. Yet readers found her and loved her. And her brave attempt to give something new a shot led to many wonderful opportunities. I can only dream of having a similar experience. This is step one. I have finally taken action towards learning something for real instead of merely imagining it all day long.

If you're reading this, please feel free to send along some encouragement my way.

Wallpapers downloaded from the official website for the movie

Writing

Am thinking of taking up some short courses from February after ending work to explore new possibilities and broaden my (very lacking) skill set. Here's a list of options to consider (will need to check the costs involved):

1. Sydney Writers' Centre (5-week online course for $395): I'm sure they'll start one in February after the Jan one finishes up.
2. Study Now Australia - I've ordered the free info pack for both the Creative Writing and Freelance writing courses
3. Lifestyle Learning Direct - I've ordered the free info pack for the Comprehensive Writing course and have just realised that it costs close to $2000! Oh dear, hope they won't bug me to enrol after sending me the brochure. They offer Creative Writing ones as well and I think they're less expensive. Will take a closer look at a later time.

I entered in my work address so they don't harass me at home. Ha! On a separate note, I accidentally sliced into my finger while cutting up some wombok to go with my lunch earlier. Still stings a bit.