sarah ayoub, Freelance Writer

You asked for her, and now you get her! It seems quite a few wordsmiths can’t get enough of freelance journalist Nicole Haddow, who, at 27, has done quite well for herself where women’s magazine features are concerned. She’s been published in RUSSH, Cleo and Madison, among others, and is the type of person who seems to fit seamlessly into the pages of our favourite magazines. Thank you Sharon Green for alerting me to her fabulousness, I think I have a new wordsmith girl-crush. I hope you all enjoy the interview

Tell us (in a nutshell) about your wordsmith career path so far:

Arts/Professional Writing was the third degree I started, and the only one I completed. I was first published in RUSSH magazine in my final year at uni. I had multiple features published with RUSSH, and then I landed a contract with Lonely Planet. My time at LP was bliss on a stick. Loved it. Then, I landed a role at boutique publisher Niche Media. It was a small company, so I was charged with everything from coordinating photo shots, to writing and editing stories. I think I gained about 12 years worth of experience in 12 months, and with that experience I projected myself into the Sydney stratosphere and landed at ACP magazines.

What are some of your current projects, and who are you writing for at the moment? 

I’m currently working on features for Cleo and madison. What are they about? You’ll just have to buy upcoming issues of the mags to find out. I also write for family and kids’ titles to keep things interesting…

What made you get into freelance writing?

The eventual realisation that nothing else was going to make me happy. I was sitting in a marketing lecture (my second attempt at a degree), reading a feature in Harper’s Bazaar because I wasn’t at all interested in the lecture and I thought, ‘this is where I need to be – magazines’. At that moment I gave into my love of mags and embraced instability.

How important is your blog/your website to you? Do you think it is essential for writer’s to have a web space?

I have my blog to thank for a lot of my current work. I started it when I didn’t have much work on but I thought it would be a good marketing tool to sit alongside my portfolio website. I have a friend who knows madison editor, Lizzie Renkert – my friend flicked my blog link to Lizzie and before long I was having coffee with their features editor and working on my first article for them. In this competitive market, you have to find a clever way to differentiate.

How useful do you find networking, and how would you recommend Wordsmith Lane readers network for their career potential, without coming across as pushy or annoying?

I’m all about building genuine relationships with editors. When you send a pitch email, do it with a tone that assures the editor you understand the voice of the publication. Over and above that, offer to meet in person and buy the editor coffee. I always offer coffee to perspective editors. Caffeine donations get you everywhere. They can only say no, and sometimes they say yes.

Do you think you have a niche, or is your writing portfolio more broad? How important do you think having a niche is?

 I’ve fallen into a niche I wasn’t planning. My first feature for RUSSH was an account of a personal experience. From there, I wrote another first-person feature for them about my quarter life crisis. Now my features for madison and Cleo are anecdotal first-person style too. It’s great to have a niche, but it’s also good to show diversity in your portfolio, which I also do.

What were some of the difficulties you encountered when trying to establish yourself as a writer? Did you rely on any tools, mentors, groups or writers centres/courses for help? 

My university course was invaluable. I had some stellar lecturers. Friends in the industry were great to bounce ideas around with. I also recommend some work experience to gain a working knowledge of magazines from the inside.

Are there any other writing goals you’d like to pursue? Like creative writing, non-fiction books or even writer’s festival panels, for example?

Absolutely, I’m open to everything. I’m sure there’s a novel in me somewhere, but you can’t write if you don’t live. I’m not convinced I have enough life experience at the age of 27 to pen something great. And I’d prefer to wait until it spews out naturally than to squeeze it into being.

What are your primary reasons for blogging? Does it get your ‘juices flowing’ in a sense?

I blog in equal parts: self-discipline and self-indulgence. It’s also one of the ways I build relationships with other people in the industry. I take an interest in other writers and their creative process and share mine too.

What is a typical day in the life of Nicole Haddow, freelance writer?

There’s nothing typical about my days. Some days I’m in the office at ACP, other days I’m at home smashing out a feature. Sometimes I’m out in the field conducting a social experiment for a story. Just last weekend I had to go bar-hopping for work purposes. The only constant involves chasing my word count and more work!

What are some of the perks associated with your job?

The biggest perk is that my job and my life intersect because I write a lot about personal experience. Something crazy might happen to me and I’ll think, ‘there’s a story in that’. Writing from bed never gets old. The occasional goody bag doesn’t go astray either.

And what are your career aspirations?

I love the idea of being a full-time staff writer on a women’s magazine. Although, I dare say there’ll be an enmeshing of print and online in years to come, and therefore the gig I’m dreaming of might not even exist yet. In short, I’m keeping an open mind.

What advice would you offer aspiring freelancers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path?

Start writing now – no excuses. Send completed articles to editors if you’re still making a name for yourself. Once they know you they’ll accept pitches and ideas alone, but until then you need to give them everything you’ve got. Start blogging. Look at things from a different angle. Get creative. Seek out mentors. Read.

Ten in the Hot Seat:

1. Describe yourself in one word:  Capricorn.
2. Biggest accomplishment to date: Not giving up after seemingly endless rejection.
3. You wish you wrote: The Time Traveller’s Wife. It’s sustained poetry. Gorgeous.
4. Can’t leave home without: my iPhone. I’m addicted.
5. One thing you are currently writing: A cautionary tale about modern dating.
6. First thing you wrote: a bi-annual letter to all of my friends diarising our high school adventures. My first published piece was called ‘driving the lesson home’ for RUSSH in 2005.
7. Addicted to reading: magazine features and biographies.
8. Top spot on your goals list: more feature writing jobs than I can poke an invoice at, and an invitation to cover the couture shows in Paris for one the Australian women’s titles (dream big, right?).
9. If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: I aspire to be any of Maggie Alderson’s heroines. They’re quirky and stylish, funny, acknowledge their imperfections and have wildly wonderful leading men in their lives.
10. The best thing about being a wordsmith: I can do it anywhere, anytime.

Kennedy Estephan, author of ‘The Day it Rained’

Tell us (in a nutshell) about your wordsmith career path so far:
It all started in a rather unexpected way. Initially I was planning to join a local acting group. When told there was no room left, I started looking into other options. A writers’ group was meeting once a month in the same building (Bankstown Arts & Crafts Centre.) So I joined them. The year was 1994. It was my first step in the thousand-mile journey.

Since finishing The Day It Rained, do you have any plans for new projects? Or are you going to rest easy for a while?
The bulk of The Day it Rained, I wrote in between manuscripts. Currently I am rewriting my very earliest work—a story of unrequited love set in a war-torn city. No rest, I’m afraid.

Most people seem to either excel in the humanities and arts or the maths and sciences. Yet you are a high school science teacher and a published author. Do you find it hard to reconcile those two aspects of your career?
To me the challenge is not in reconciling preexisting differences, but in finding the time to read enough of nearly everything to keep myself informed. Lately, I’ve been reading the history of science. The material tends to be informative, engaging and well-written. A good way, I’ve discovered, to satisfy a brain undecided towards which half it should lean.

Does your teaching inspire your writing at all?
Daily contact with students has helped develop in me a better understanding of  what is common in us. It is this universality which I try to carry into my work.

Publishing short stories is never easy. How did you go about getting yours into a book?
As we all know, short stories have a very limited market. Of course some collections do get published. But they tend to be of exceptional quality and/or written by some renowned novelist with established readership. That leaves many short-story writers out, which might explain why quite a few contemplate self-publishing at some point in their career. In my case I did so only after exhausting all other options. Mind you that many stories in ‘The Day it Rained’ had appeared in a range of anthologies following a placement/prize in some SS competition.  That was a source of satisfaction for a while. Then came the time when I felt the need to compile the work in one volume and have it out there for others to share. Thus, this self-publishing venture.

Do you think it’s easier to work on a collection of short stories on a novel? Explain.
Which of the two forms is easier to write depends on your personality and your overall take on life. I, for one, find short stories to be generally less demanding. It is like skimming in and out of water, without having to plunge too deep at any given time. The idea is to reveal, without having to worry too much about development. Of course, the catch is in having each and every word count. Economy is the key. You can’t afford to digress, tempted as you might be at times.

Your collection was awarded a grant by your local council that enabled you to self-publish. How did you go about securing the grant, and would you recommend self-publishing to other emerging writers? Why/Why not?
An opportunity presented itself. I submitted samples of the work. And I secured the grant. It was a humble amount, I dare say. But it lifted my spirits and provided me with much needed exposure. So thank you, again, to those involved. 
As for self-publishing, it is something I’d approach with care. If you were to tread that path, then this is my advice:

• Have your work assessed by professionals. What you need is a constructive and objective feedback—the more reason why you should avoid seeking it from relatives and friends.
• Have the courage and will to rewrite the work as often as needed.
• Enter as many SS competitions as possible.
• Secure a grant if you can. Financial help aside, it can draw attention to your work and help substantiate its literary merit.
• Invest in the services of an editor, if you can afford to.
• Secure a quote or two from people in the know. This will also help with marketability.
• Content yourself with a small print run. The idea should not be to make a profit as much as to test your writing skills and develop some readership before you progress to the next step: securing a publisher.

Of course, there are stories out there of monumental successes following a self-publishing venture. These tend to be the exception, not the rule. Again, my advice is that you tread carefully and be realistic with your expectations.

Your publishing process was helped somewhat by the services of an agent. Do you recommend an agent to us aspiring wordsmiths? Why/why not?
A literary agent can significantly boost your chances of finding a publisher. If you can secure an agent, please do. Mind you this is no easy task. Only a manuscript with a good potential is taken on board. After all, an agent does not get his/her money until a publishing contract is secured. The more reason why he/she has to be extra selective. The agent that represents me is quite renowned. Over the years she has been helpful and extremely supportive. In that regard, I count myself lucky. 

What are some of the difficulties that you encounter when working on a book?
When in the thick of things, I find it quite difficult to juggle between writing and work. To write good fiction means to live through your characters with all their emotional peaks and troughs. To hold a full-time job means to wake up in the morning, disentangle yourself from the remnants of emotions lingering from last night’s writing episode and return to normality—whatever that means.

Another difficulty I encounter when working on a book is in the rewrite. Following a feedback changes are recommended. Some are cosmetic, but many are major. This means more hard work and a lot of heartache doing away with scenes and characters you invested months on end bringing to life. To make things a little more of a challenge, there is no guarantee the ms will find a publisher once those changes are made. Only that the new draft stands a better chance with many of its earlier flaws already addressed.

A few of the stories deal with the Lebanese civil war. As someone who grew up in Lebanon, did you find it hard to write it about something that hit close to home?
I certainly did. It was emotionally draining—let me put it this way. Another difficulty was in keeping away from cathartic writing. That would only have served my needs, not the reader’s. Rewriting those stories numerous times, and often when in good spirits, was one way to keep things on the right track.  

What are your writing goals now, in comparison to what they were before you were published?
I still crave for some recognition—no denying. It is something you’d expect, given all the hard work you put in over the years. Thankfully, I’ve grown more patient with time. Let things take their natural course, I keep thinking. Meanwhile, I work hard and try to be the best I can. That simple.

What advice would you offer to aspiring writers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path? 
Vanity is one’s worst enemy. No one is immune to it. Fight it off with every inch of your being. And work hard. 

Ten in the Hot Seat:

1. Describe yourself in one word: passionate.
2. Biggest accomplishment to date: becoming a father.
3. You wish you wrote: The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham.
4. Can’t leave home without: hugging my two children.
5. One thing you are currently writing: I am rewriting a manuscript—my first attempt at a novel. That was nearly twelve years ago.
6. First thing you wrote: a clumsy, melodramatic, poorly-written short story set in a war-torn Beirut.
7. Addicted to reading: anything of depth.
8. Top spot on your goals list: finding inner peace. I fear that might also be the day I stop writing.
9. If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: The nameless English patient in Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient.
10. The best thing about being a wordsmith: the ability to reach across and touch people’s lives.

Going freelance can be a pretty tough thing if not done right. I mean, I tried it, and within three months I was unbelievably bored and uninspired. Staying in my PJs all day was not good for my mind or my motivation levels, but I could have learned a thing or two from former Dolly Editor turned CLEO editor  Gemma Crisp, who proved that maintaining contacts and motivation levels by working around (and with) others could take you far in freelance world. In this interview, Crisp tells us how she got her start in magazines and how it feels to be back in the editor’s chair for one of Australia’s iconic women’s lifestyle magazines.

Interview: Gemma Crisp, The Show Pony (and newly-appointed Editor of CLEO)

How did you get your big break into magazines? 
It’s a long convoluted story and a lot of it comes down to being in the right place at the right time… but the defining moment was scoring a three-month unpaid internship with the features department of British Marie Claire while living in London a decade ago. I made friends and contacts who helped open doors in the publishing industry when I moved to Sydney.

Did you always want to work in magazines, or did you just want to be a writer? 
I wasn’t one of those people who knew what they wanted to do from an early age – I flirted with the idea of being a radiographer (despite not having a scientific bone in my body!), a French teacher, a diplomat and a hotel manager… It took a career crisis in my early 20s to make me realise what I really wanted to do – and that was journalism, specifically magazine journalism. I devour newspapers both in print and online, but I don’t think my tone and style of writing suit that particular medium. 

How did it feel to score the CLEO Editor’s gig, and does it feel like you’re coming full circle now that you’re going back to the magazine after being their Features Editor and then moving into the Dolly’s Editor’s chair? 
Being offered the CLEO editorship felt a little surreal yet also completely normal – I’ve always had a soft spot for the magazine, even before working there as Features Editor and Associate Editor, so it almost feels like it’s fate, as disgustingly cheesy and clichéd as that sounds. Walking into the office after three years’ absence didn’t feel weird at all, so I guess you could say things have come full circle – although six months down the track, I could be warbling a different tune!

You left Dolly not long ago to try your hand at the freelance life. How does a lifestyle of being your own boss compare to working for a company or magazine?  
I spent eight months freelancing and was really surprised at how much work fell into my lap – I was lucky to get booked for a couple of lengthy in-house stints at two of the celebrity weekly magazines, which was a nice change having previously only worked on monthly mags. I was also fortunate in that I didn’t have to send out endless story pitches and hustle for work – although that may have changed if I’d spent more time in the freelance world.

Freelancers tend to comment about being able to work their own hours, or work in their PJ’s all day. Is that something that appealed to you, or did you structure your day around a routine to keep you more productive? 
I told myself I’d get into a routine and stick to it, but I have to admit the snooze button on my alarm clock was utilised more often than not! I’m not great with my own company, so I rented desk space in a communal warehouse office so I had somewhere to go and could be around other people, as opposed to slobbing around the house in my pyjamas while talking to the walls!

What are you looking forward to the most about editing CLEO? 
I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty, adding my own flavour to the magazine and being part of a team again, which is something I missed while freelancing.

Most bloggers find that, at least initially, it’s very hard to get your writing read by a large audience. Do you think that your work on the glossies made it easier for The Show Pony to work?  
The Showpony was more of a “baby” for me to work on while freelancing – after two years of editing a teen magazine, I wanted to write about things that appealed to me – so it was never meant to set the world on fire. I did have ‘send PR release to magazines’ on my to-do list, but I never quite got around to it! Erica at Girl With A Satchel was kind enough to link to my site a few times and it was mentioned in Sydney Confidential and Mumbrella, but I didn’t take advantage of my contacts as much as I could have.

What were some of the difficulties you first encountered swapping from a very senior editing role to blogging? Was it hard to establish an audience, build up the site, find your niche etc?  
The major difficulty was trying to balance freelance work with blogging – I totally underestimated how much time blogging chewed up so it was hard trying to juggle my personal writing with paying the bills. Unfortunately my life got a bit hectic towards the end, and I began to find blogging more of a chore, so the Pony is officially out to pasture… but who knows if it’s forever?

Did you consult any mentors or magazine girls turned freelancers to make the process a little easier? 
Nedahl Stelio, who was my editor at CLEO when I worked there from 2004 to 2007, has become a good friend and she helped out with advice when I was thinking of leaving DOLLY to do my own thing. She had also jumped from magazines to an online venture (www.cocolee.com.au, a fashion site that has weekly online sales) so had plenty of advice and tips – thanks Ned!

Do you have a goals list that the Wordsmith Lane readers can have a sneak peak at? 
Not really – apart from making CLEO as successful as I can! I’m not really a goal/mantra/affirmation person, mostly because I haven’t needed to be…

Do you have any particular direction you’d like to take CLEO in now that you’re in charge? 
I definitely have a lot of ideas and plans for the title, but that’s for me to know and you to find out!

What advice would you offer to aspiring bloggers, freelancers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path? 
When it comes to becoming a journalist, there are so many different roads and paths that lead to the same place, so don’t feel like there’s only one way to break into magazines or become an editor. Never underestimate the importance of having a good attitude, a willingness to do anything you’re asked (no matter how menial it seems at the time) and the power of great ideas. 

Ten in the Hot Seat:

1. Describe yourself in one word: Can I have two? Pretty please? Go on, you know you want to… I can? “Pocket rocket.” Thanks!
2. Biggest accomplishment to date: Having a successful career in the magazine industry – if you’d told me I’d become the editor of two iconic Australian magazines back when I was a teenager growing up on a sheep farm in Tasmania, I would have thought you were on crack. (Not that I had any idea what crack was back then…)
3. You wish you wrote:  For my personal satisfaction – People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. Such a great story, I wanted to re-read it as soon as I’d finished the last page.For my bank account – Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy.
4. Can’t leave home without: Getting dressed!
5. One thing you are currently writing: Answers to these questions.
6. First thing you wrote: Professionally? An article for British Marie Claire that involved travelling to the Northern Territory to spend a week on a remote cattle station, interviewing the jillaroos who worked there. I had NO idea what I was doing…
7. Addicted to reading: Vanity Fair and the Bureau of Meterology website – I’m obsessed with the weather forecast.
8. Top spot on your goals list: To survive the next three months – for some reason I thought it’d be a great idea to start a demanding new job, spend a month in Europe, sell my apartment, buy a house and get married, all by October!
9. If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: Little Miss Lucky.
10. The best thing about being a wordsmith: Learning something new every day.

I am going to apologise to Zoe Foster right here on the spot. Zoe, I don’t know how I can get those two dots (wordsmith test: anyone know what they’re called?) on top of the ‘e’ in your name, so I hope you don’t hate me forever. Especially because I am about to say that I think you’re really funny, and anyone who can make this wordsmith laugh deserves a big fat load of something worthwhile (cash, cake, christian louboutins?). And I am also going to give you a load of compliments, and none that I am making up because I am yet to be published in the fiction genre. Those compliments basically centre on the fact that I am frighteningly jealous of you (but in that Christian, envy-is-a-deadly-sin-kind-of-way) because you’ve got the style, smarts and savoir-faire down pat. I love style, smarts and savoir-faire, and I constantly pursue it in my everyday life. In fact, I have copyrighted those words for my blog and memoir and God knows what else. But anyway, Zoe, I know that you possess these lovely qualities because well, you’re smart enough to juggle many wordsmith gigs while looking pretty awesome all the time (even if you, as I suspect, have not slept a wink because you may have been on deadline or something). And mostly because you had enough social tact (savoir-faire) to completely ignore the fact that the workie that I was at 20 was cleaning your beauty cupboard was wearing a Canterbury Bulldogs guernsey (jersey) on the day that your then-boyfriend’s team (Sydney City Roosters) were playing the Bulldogs. And to top it off, you gave me some treats to take home! Happy day it was, and it cemented your coolness in my mind for all eternity. But my Wordsmith Lane readers, you see, might not be so lucky to have encountered this coolness personally, which is why I have decided to feature you as my next interview subject in the Wordsmith Lane Friday Interviews segment. So Wordsmith Laners, I hope you enjoy her all-round awesomeness.   

Tell us about your wordsmith career path so far: For the sake of brevity and reader fatigue, I’ll nutshell it: Over the past eight years I have worked at Mania, Smash Hits, Cosmopolitan and Harper’s BAZAAR magazines, had a beauty blog (fruitybeauty), edited a beauty website (primped.com.au) and written two novels and a dating book. I write a dating column for Cosmo and an opinion column for The Sunday Telegraph, and occasionally I eat and sleep.  

You’ve gone from being a Beauty Editor on major magazines [Zoe has worked in senior roles on Cosmopolitan and Harper’s Bazaar] to beauty editing online, with extra writing supplements to boot. How has it been juggling the change?

It’s been great, especially since recently moving to editor at large (I lobbied for editor at small) and working from home. I’m one of those psychopaths who doesn’t feel ‘right’ unless they’re doing 389 things, so taking on multiple writing projects at once feels natural, in a perverse way.  The different topics and mediums add to the delight.

You also freelance as Cosmo’s dating guru, and have written a book on romance with Hamish Blake. Is having additional writing work outside of Primped a big appeal for you, a necessity, or something that keeps you more productive?

My passion for dating and relationships equals (possibly surpasses) my passion for beauty so it’s less that it keeps my brain whirring, and more that I would be unhappy if I wasn’t doing it. I derive such genuine joy writing on the male-female dynamic, especially when I receive emails from readers saying what I have written has helped them in some way.

What is a typical day in the life of Zoe Foster?

6.30-7am wakeup, and straight to the computer. My brain is at its best between 6 and about 9.30 so I keep most intense writing for that time slot. (eg my opinion column.) By 10 am my brain is doing cartwheels and forcing me to read  and dreaming of frothy caffeinated beverages.  

10 – 12 Primped blog, emails, tweeting, blogging. Maybe a launch/appointment.  

12 – 3.30 Thumping keys at my desk, grazing on nutritionally devoid food and trying to refrain from constant email send/receiving.  

4 – 6 More writing, emails etc. This is usually the panic stage of the day, where I realise I was, as usual, spectacularly optimistic about time, and have to scream through to finish and submit columns/jobs.

6 -7 Walk with a girlfriend or gym. Exercise is an absolute NECESSITY when writing all day. Otherwise Zoë go loopy. Right loopy.   

Most people pick a niche and stick to it. You have two (dating and beauty). How does sticking your fingers in two pots help out your career? 

It’s terrific! I have been afforded so many marvellous opportunities (speaking, writing etc) by having a few different hats to wear. Also, it works well with my career ADD; if I have several different content schools and a multiple of mediums and publications I write for, I have less chance of getting antsy.

Most writers find that, at least initially, it’s very hard to get your writing read by a large audience. Do you think that your work on the glossies made it easier for primped.com.au to work?

Without a doubt.   

Before primped, there was fruitybeauty.com.au. How did the idea for your blog come about? And why did it fade away?

It came about because I had been working at Cosmo for a few years and was competent at my job and needed a new challenge to sink my fangs into. Also, because I was frustrated at having all this awesome beauty information in my head and only three dot points to condense it into each month. Blogging felt like the perfect forum to write long, in-depth explain-its on beauty and also, my writing style is by nature very long and waffly, and I just wanted some more space, you know?

What were some of the difficulties you first encountered swapping from a very senior editing role to online beauty editing?

Because I had already been blogging with fruity for years, the transition as smooth as… that little piece of skin behind your ear. It was incredibly liberating to move wholly online, and I feel like I made the move at the perfect time for both my career and for beauty online.

We have seen the Beauty Writing industry really take off in the last two years or so. These days, we have the likes of beauty portals, beauty manuals, and beauty websites, which means that the beauty pages on the magazines are not as in demand as they once were. What is your take on the issue?

I don’t think it’s a case of them being less in demand, but rather that they have to focus on what they can deliver that we can’t. For example, beautiful, lush photos , or really in-depth, meaty beauty features. Online is, by nature, better at serving up extremely timely beauty news and on PRIMPED in particular, how to videos. Both mediums are relevant, and so long as we each remember our strengths and focus on them, we all win.   

A lot of people dismiss beauty writing as airy-fairy, but there’s obviously a lot of work involved in testing a whole load of product, looking at new research, writing about it in an accessible form for varied audiences (because obviously everyone has different skin tones, hair types etc) – and continuing to do so in an engaging manner. What do you say to this?

Obviously there is far heavier and more important content in the world than the latest mascara or fragrance, but I must defend my brethren by saying that it does take a certain skill to make shampoo or pimple gel sound fascinating, and that now, with all of the science and technology (stem cells, melanin inhibitors, ultrasound waves etc) going into skin care and salon treatments, we have to A) Have a reasonable understanding of science, genetics and cell behaviour and B) Be able to translate all of that sciency gobbledygook into simple language for our readers in order to be a good beauty writer. 

Tell us a little about how you went into book writing. 

For the same reason I started fruitybeauty; I had too much creative energy bubbling within and thought jotting down all my beauty anecdotes might be a good idea, because beauty editors work in such a fantasy world, and I was fatigued with fashion getting all the attention. From that Air Kisses was born. 

Do you find it hard to juggle your various projects? 

It all comes down to discipline and time management. Otherwise it just won’t get done. For me this is both the easiest and hardest thing in the world. 

How do you promote your book (with tours etc) with a full-time job?

I’ve been exceptionally lucky at PRIMPED – my boss(es) have always encouraged and allowed me time to go off and promote my books. That said, the amount of publicity I did for Playing The Field was one of the reasons I decided to pull back to Editor at Large… there just wasn’t enough time in the day to get it all done.

Do you have a goals list that the Wordsmith Lane readers can have a sneak peak at?

I don’t, actually. I am living very much day to day. I feel very positive about my new novel, which I will start writing in July (while on sabbatical in Greece/Italy for a few months… oh man… it’s the dream, it really is…) and am genuinely thrilled with all of the work I am doing presently. It was always my gaol to have columns and write books, and I am living it. I am extremely grateful that I have achieved this goal, and it was such an enjoyable, abundant journey that brought me here, too. BIG picture, I’ve love to write a film script one day.

Give us one good reason why we should all become members of Primped?

Because you get SPECIAL PRVILIGES! Like being a VIP prodz tester for us.

What advice would you offer to aspiring bloggers, freelancers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path?

Find your point of difference and hone it: why would people want to read your blog/work over everyone else’s? What do you offer them they can’t find anywhere else? And then, obviously, work hard. I am a firm believer in working your full time job then supplementing it with your passion project (blog, book, photography etc) on weekends or after hours. Eventually (ideally) you’ll see the full time work start to slip in importance, and the passion project build momentum, until you no longer need the full time job and can earn all the money you desire from your passion. And then, as if that weren’t enough: it doesn’t even feel like work!

Ten in the Hot Seat:    

1. Describe yourself in one word: Positive
2. Biggest accomplishment to date: Three books published by 30
3. You wish you wrote: That bloody Twilight series…
4. Can’t leave home without: Keys, BlackBerry, money, lipgloss.
5. One thing you are currently writing: Just finished proposals for two new books.
6. First thing you wrote: ‘Dangling Hoplessly’ (sic) A tale of danger and terror! And school teachers! And mean dogs that chase! Age 10.
7. Addicted to reading: Emails, test messages, tweets.
8. Top spot on your goals list: For one of my books to be made into a film.
9. If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: Grug.
10. The best thing about being a wordsmith: The ability to communicate with so many people. And, if you’re lucky, make them smile.

I remember a lot of things about my first foray into magazine land. Most of them bad. Most of them associated with the way my self-esteem plummeted as soon as I stepped into the foyer, or the way that I was judged because of my background or where I lived. It didn’t matter that I carried designer bags or knew how to pronounce Hermes, something about me was inferior. There was one thing that was not bad though, and it was that Sarah Wilson, then editor of Cosmopolitan, was nice to me. I knew this of course. It made the rounds among the workies. We knew who was fake, who was bitchy, who to steer away from. We knew which editor was fake in real life, despite what she preached in her monthly editor’s letter. But someone who did practise what she now preaches in her (Sun-Herald supplement) Sunday Life column  — basically, wellness — is Sarah Wilson. And it’s good to know that she is still nice, helpful and upbeat. So nice in fact, that she sat down and shared her career journey with us. She started out as a wordsmith, and has now moved onto many more great things. Good to see that sometimes, nice girls do finish out on top. So soak up her career know-how, and learn from her path. And most of all, enjoy the interview xx

Tell us about your wordsmith career path so far: Funnily, English was my weakest subject at school. I l loved maths and other things of certainty. But with most things in my life, I’ve always done best with things I’ve struggled a little with. My first gig was writing restaurant reviews for Sunday Magazine in Melbourne. While I was there at News Ltd, I started writing some opinion pieces for the Herald Sun, which led to a regular weekly opinion column. Opinion writing is what pushed me in my writing. I had to find a voice and a rhythm and I spent months (years?) experimenting with techniques. From there I went into editing other people’s writing (as editor of Cosmopolitan), then a column in the Daily Telegraph and now a column in Sunday Life. My “Better Life” column is my 11^th column in my career.

You went from being a foodie reviewer for Sunday Magazine, and straight on to editor of Cosmopolitan Australia. How did it feel to accomplish what many writers (or mag girls) take years to do so quickly, and by passing many a step? At the time, it happened too fast for me to really reflect on the whys and hows of it. All my energy went into surviving the learning curve. But I very much felt like a fraud! Looking back now, I can see I was lucky, but that luck is about working hard to be in the right place at the right time. And the right things happen when your intention is in the right place. All I wanted to do was communicate. I’d worked hard focusing on that intention…and it got noticed at the right time.

What was your time at Cosmo Australia like? A whirlwind. I’d just moved to Sydney when I got the job, so it was a condensed introduction to the industry. The job was mostly about juggling 20938409 balls at once. It was a pretty refreshing change as it forced fast decisions and dynamic creativity. A big part of the job is about branding and marketing which is so important now for any writer – you have to be a brand and know what you stand for.

I remember you for being nice to the workies, in comparison to other editors I worked under. Was that important to you? Why? Oh, that’s lovely of you to say!! There’s a saying in newspapers: “always be good to the copy kid (a junior admin assistant)….because one day they’ll be your boss”. Me, I was hyper-aware of how the magazine industry bred some very overly entitled young women. It’s the way the industry works and propels itself. But I abhorred it. I think coming in from the outside gave me perspective and I tried to stamp out instances of this hierarchical behaviour. Also, I took on the job because I really did feel I wanted to help and inspire young women. And as a leader you should always “be your message”.

I once read that most Cosmo editors spent on average, almost a decade in the editor’s chair. Yet you left before the five year mark (if I am not mistaken). How did it feel to be breaking the trend? I left when I’d done all my original ideas. A publisher in the mag game once said to me that after 3-4 years editors regurgitate ideas and should move on. I tend to agree. I’d hit a point where if I’d stayed it would have been for title (of editor), not for what I could contribute. I’ve seen a lot of editors who’ve become too attached to the title. I never want to be stuck in that kind of attachment – it’s very unhealthy.

I remember hearing/reading it was because you missed writing. And then, I saw a lot of your articles in Good Weekend, covering all sorts of things from New York etc. How did it feel to be back in the writing game? Did you know you made the right decision straight away? Actually, I didn’t really want to be solely a freelance writer as I’d already been a feature writer (for 5 years on Sunday Magazine). I was more interested in trying new ideas, with writing being one component. I don’t think anyone can be “just a freelance writer” any more.

As a freelance writer/columnist, do you agree with (some) other freelancers who tend to comment about being able to work their own hours, or work in their PJ’s all day. Is that something that appeals to you, or do you tend to structure your day around a routine to keep you more productive? I love working for myself. But the hardest bit is creating structure for yourself. In an office, someone else does all that for you. It’s taken me a long time to work out my structure, but it’s been a really important journey to go through. I’ve learnt so much about myself in the process, and it’s steered me to where I need to be. I get up at 6.30am and spend 2 hours getting ready for my day (exercise, meditation, reading). Then I work from an office outside my home and try to stick to 9am-7pm hours. I find it super hard to maintain this routine, but it’s also my freedom!

What is a typical day in the life of Sarah Wilson? No day is typical! I juggle 4 regular media jobs, as well as my blog, MC work that takes me around the country and I’m about to start writing a book. Oh, and I’m studying Integrative Nutritition via a school in New York. I literally set aside chunks of time each week for each activity. I have to be very organised with my diary!

I am a big fan of the niche that you have covered yourself – that idea of ‘wellness’ and living a holistic, healthy life. I feel that has done great things for you career-wise. What’s your take?  Thank you. Yes, I think it’s important now for writers to have something to say. Gone are the days of working on a newspaper for life, writing about whatever comes up on the news desk. Now we have to come to the different media – newspapers, mags, TV, online etc – with something to say, to share. We have to have opinions, a brand. Readers and consumers expect the message to come with relevance and care and experience. I think this is a great thing. Again, it’s about being our message!

How do you get on the topics that you do when you write your columns? Is it mainly things about your own life that inspire the themes? Yep! Each week I aim to be as authentic as possible with the themes for my Sunday Life column. That was how I structured it – to be an account of a period in which I make life better. I read a lot on the topic and talk to lots of people, but also, many opportunities come to me. I was invited to meet the Dalai Lama, for instance, because the publicist for his visit liked my column.

Tell us a little about your work for Lifestyle Channel and the program ‘You’. What’s it about and what is your role as a producer on the show? I describe the channel as “a chat over the back fence with the neighbour” – it features content that’s about understanding how we all tick. I’m a presenter and host and am working with the channel to develop new content – shows and instituals.

What are your biggest inspirations?  Radio National’s Life Matters program (it has been since I was 12), the ocean at 6:30 in the morning and, yes, the www.

Do you have a goals list that the Wordsmith Lane readers can have a sneak peak at? Ohhh, I don’t.

Give us one good reason why we should follow your work. If you have a yearning, too, to understand life a little more deeply and to have a sweeter experience of it, than you might connect with what I’m committed to exploring.

What advice would you offer to aspiring bloggers, freelancers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path? Simply write authentically and then the right things will flow your way.

Ten in the Hot Seat:

1. Describe yourself in one word: intense
2. Biggest accomplishment to date: interviewing the former PM John Howard and PM Kevin Rudd for Cosmo
3. You wish you wrote: a wonderful new book The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It’s my kind of book
4. Can’t leave home without: my glasses!
5. One thing you are currently writing: a book…the details of which I can’t share quite yet.
6. First thing you wrote: my name on a painting I did for my little brother Ben.
7. Addicted to reading: Salon.com
8. Top spot on your goals list: to be more grounded
9. If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: the little girl in The Lovely Bones
10. The best thing about being a wordsmith: being able to write emails quickly, with confidence. I feel for people who find writing a chore.

I first met Lisa Dempster when I was waiting to go up and talk about Trespass mag at the Emerging Writer’s Festival, and she was the perfect panel host. I was nervous and the fact that she made me feel a lot calmer was worth a lot in my book. That was 2009, and she’s come a long way since hosting that panel to be the festival’s Director for 2010. But that’s not all she does – in addition to copy writing, Lisa is also a writer, editor and author specialising in vegan food (a niche most of us would find limiting, but one that she has mastered the art of well). Check out her work and bio at www.lisadempster.com.au and read on as she divulges her plans for the busy year ahead.

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Interview: Sandi Tighello, Editor of Onya Magazine  

Sandi Tighello has good news. Not only has this lovely Australian-Italian bella launched a patriotic Aussie mag in ONYA to much acclaim, but in recent news, she’s defying the odds and taking her little beauty to print in 2010. Many people who launch online mags will never even dream of taking the leap, but here she is in all her glory, revealing how and why she became a wordsmith, in a testament to why she doesn’t let anything get in her way. You can catch Sandi writing for ONYA, Trespass Mag, and in her personal blog, www.inthethickofit.wordpress.com Plus, look out for her as she releases some delectable coffee-table books soon as well. This is one girl you need to read to believe. Enjoy!

Tell us about your wordsmith career path so far:

I started writing when I was six years old – I’ve always loved it. I used to write poems, songs, musings, stories – I still have quite a few of my old journals – most importantly the one I wrote when I was six that declared, ‘When I grow up I want to be a writer.’

It wasn’t until I hit high school that I pursued the idea further – working on the school newspaper and the end of year poetry anthology. When I was 15 I started writing for my local newspaper on a fortnightly basis – reviewing films and books and writing opinion pieces. In Year 12 I entered a competition being run by The Age. It involved writing a piece on maintaining balance throughout Year 12 and the winner would have their piece published in the newspaper. I got home from school on the Friday at 4.15pm and remembered that the competition closed at 5pm that day, and, even though I had every good intention to submit something, I had not written a word. In fact, I completely forgot all about it. So, I sat down, wrote and then submitted my piece without even reading back over it. On the Monday afternoon I received an email, from the Editor of The Age, saying I’d won the competition and that I had, ‘The gift of words.’ And that was it. From then on, I knew writing was exactly what I would do, because I loved it, and because someone else out there did too.

From there I wrote for university newspapers, print publications, street press, blogs and online publications. I was offered the position of Editor for Mink Magazine when I was 22, and stayed with them for two years. I then launched my own publication, Onya Magazine, on June 1^st, this year.

Writers that work from home tend to comment about the merits of being able to work their own hours, or work in their PJ’s all day. Is that something that appeals to you, or do you tend to structure your day around a routine to keep you more productive?

My days really do vary. Some days I have a brilliant routine – rise early, exercise, healthy breakfast, work, lunch break, work, cup of tea, work and switch off. Other days, I roll straight from my bed to my laptop (or sometimes have the laptop in bed) and am in my PJ’s until 3pm, having worked all day straight. Some days I’m in meetings, dashing from one meeting to another all over Melbourne’s CBD. Some days there are interviews to conduct, places to visit, things to see. I like the variety. I like being able to take a couple of hours out of my day to visit an art exhibit, or roam the streets, or catch up with a friend, or see a movie. In saying that, if have a fairly luxurious day, I usually pay for it by working late that night and on weekends. But I’m happy with the trade.

In addition to having a general media degree, you also have a postgraduate diploma in media production. Was it always important for you to have an additional qualification in production so that you can work with various technologies/opportunities that could take your writing to new heights?

I have a Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne University, with a double major in cultural studies and cinema studies. Throughout the course I also studied history, politics and creative writing. I loved it. Arts was, despite some people’s preconceptions of it being a course people head into when they don’t know what they want to do in life, exactly what I wanted to do. It was my number one preference. I initially thought I should do Journalism at RMIT University – I even completed the entrance test and got accepted – but the thought of studying short hand and interview skills and analysing media issues for three years made me want to tear my curly hair out. I wanted to do Arts because I wanted to know more about the things I loved; history and politics and popular culture and film, and I wanted to debate and research and be immersed in it. Journalism was so restricted, and I felt it better to be more educated, rather than more qualified.

The Diploma in Media Production was, honestly, my way of staying at University for another year (without having to do Honours) – because I loved Uni, and the lifestyle (good training for a freelancer) and the people. The environment is hard to let go, and being at Melbourne Uni was honestly a dream – the lecturers, the resources, the best place for what I loved. The Post Grad course I did included some hands on photography skills – which is another passion of mine – as well as more of the hands on side of media – tech and computers. It was something I was interested in, but knew little about, and it has been invaluable – particularly in this era, when online and digital media is not just the future, but also the present.

Why did you create Onya Magazine, and how have the first few months since its launch been like for you?

There were many reasons as to why I decided to create Onya Magazine, the main ones are because:

• I wanted to do something that was mine. That I controlled, and drove, and could do as I felt with. Something I was passionate about. Something that I loved.
• I was sick of perceptions, from abroad, that we’re a country of singlet wearing bogans that have kangaroos hopping down our city streets.
• I was sick of reading about clothing designers from Denmark and shampoo from the US and shoes from Spain, when there were people and businesses here making the same things and getting no exposure.
• I was sick, and still am, of picking up item after item and seeing them all imprinted with Made in China.
• I was over mainstream Australian media that constantly over exaggerates, people bash and saturates everything – I wanted to create, and portray, a slice of Australia that was positive, whilst still being honest.
• And mainly because I was sick of Australians themselves – for thinking that Australia Day is just an excuse to get drunk. For not supporting our artists and designers and creatives. For thinking that to be somebody you’ve got to hop on an aeroplane and go somewhere that matters, because Australia doesn’t. For thinking anything that’s associated with Australia is cringe-worthy. You see, I believe, and my Australia is one that’s filled with class, and humour, and intelligence, and beauty and a hell of a lot of talent. And I wanted to showcase and support that.

On December the 1^st, Onya will celebrate its sixth month as an online publication. We are still so young, but I often think of Onya in much the same terms as Australia – a country so young, bursting with talent and ideas, but with such a long way to go. The first few months of being at the helm of Onya were great – and they still are now. Each week we’ve grown, and each week, each day, I’ve learnt something new. I’m so fortunate to have such an incredible bunch of writers to work and collaborate with, and to be able to provide their work a platform to be published on has been one thing I’m very proud of.

What were some of the difficulties that you encountered when working on such a big project? And how did it feel to complete it?

I still don’t feel like I’ve completed it. It’s a constant work in progress. The ideas are never ending. But, when it went live an hour before our launch party on June 1^st, I felt incredibly proud. Because whatever it was at that moment in time, it was good. And it could only get better. And it has. And will continue to.

One thing I’m very insistent on is quality – because I believe, particularly in online media, there is too much rubbish around. I will not publish something of terrible quality, or something that I do not believe falls in line with Onya’s values, just to get website hits. My stance on quality has proved challenging at times – I’ve not accepted work from writers because it’s under par, and Onya doesn’t do under par. I’ve knocked back more businesses (for content and advertising) than I can remember because their company may be Australian owned, but their product is certainly not Australian made.  It’s about ethics and values and I won’t budge on those.

The other challenges are time and money. There never seems to be enough of either. I do most things at Onya and I am most people. I’m the advertising sales manager, and the editor, and the director, and the online content manager, and the receptionist and the list goes on. My inbox seems eternally full. My to-do list never ending. And just when you get on top of it, it fills up again.

You can spend all day working on something, but see very little in terms of results. You can have a lot of brilliant ideas, but not necessarily the money to bring them all to life.

Doing so many things is what I wanted though – I wanted to captain the ship. I wanted to steer it. And I’m learning so much, and meeting so many amazing people.

You also do a little bit of blogging, and write columns for various print and online publications. How important is it for you to stay abreast of other editorial opportunities despite having created your own in Onya?

Oh, it’s incredibly important. I’m trying to balance it further, to ensure I don’t spend every moment on Onya, because it’s not healthy and you can lose sight and focus very quickly. There is so much more I’m interested in beyond Onya and I still want to be able to nurture that. It’s important for my writers that I keep it up too – so I don’t become stale or my ideas stagnant. And it keeps my foot in the door with other publications, other personal opportunities. I’m the Editor and Director of Onya, but first and foremost I’m a writer, and I always will be.

What is a typical day in the life of Sandi Tighello, freelance writer?

Well, it’s pretty typical for me to not have a whole day devoted to writing anymore, because so much of my time is devoted to Onya, but a typical day (and one that I’m working towards perfecting and re-enacting more) is; kick starting the day with some exercise and then a big breakfast and coffee, replying to emails, writing or attending to Onya editing/uploading, having a break, organising future articles, liaising with writers, and then doing some personal writing for my columns, blog or future book – or even some photography.

What are some of the perks associated with your job? And what are some of the difficulties?

The freebies. Beauty products, books, tickets…the freebies are a definite perk. It’s funny, I went to see a movie the other day and I was almost slightly annoyed that I had to purchase my ticket (I’m only joking, well…half joking). Also the people I’ve met and the friends I’ve made. The media industry really isn’t that big and I’ve made some truly incredible friends from it. The best perk, hands down, would have to be what you can do and learn. One day you’re interviewing a musician, or a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor, the next you’re creating a media kit, or brainstorming with a team of creative folk and then the next day you’re writing a review on a theatre show and having a nice dinner.

Time is a perk. When everyone is commuting, stuck in an office, then commuting again, it makes what I do seem rather luxurious. But it’s not. And that’s one of the difficulties – some people don’t take you seriously. They view your work as frivolous. It used to bother me, but I couldn’t care less anymore. A steady wage is another difficulty. And because the media industry is so small, there never appears to be enough jobs available – especially when companies are chopping people from publications left right and centre and using the GFC as an excuse.

But you don’t launch into this career without knowing that. So, I believe, if you accept it before you launch into a career as a writer, then you shouldn’t complain. Because I don’t know many other people, honestly, that wake up every morning with the same zest for life and enthusiasm that I do.

Have you consulted any mentors or guides to make the process of establishing writing career a little easier?

I haven’t had any one mentor that I’ve consulted with over and over again, it has been more of a case of collecting small gems of wisdom along the way. I’ve certainly met with various people over the past couple years – some incredibly accomplished, famous authors, like Tara Moss, that I’ve had coffee with for an hour and have drilled and had wonderful advice passed onto me, but I’ve also been just as inspired by the randoms that I have come across – the bookshop owner, the café entrepreneur. If you’re interested, everyone has a story and you can learn something from every person you meet.

What is the freelance feature writing like? Did you find it difficult to establish contacts that enabled you to get some freelance work?

It’s usually fairly easy to find a contact, but sometimes getting work from them can be hard. Once you’re in though, you’re usually in. And if you’re a good egg, you can usually stay around for a while. Feature writing is great – so many words and so much to say – but doing so effectively and clearly can be difficult.

Who are you writing for at the moment? / What are some of your current projects?  

I’m writing my column, ‘The Small Matter Of…’ for Trespass Magazine, and I’m also writing articles for Onya. I started a new blog called In The Thick Of It a week and a half ago, and it feels great to be back blogging. I’ve also got a few projects lined up with other publications – print and online – but none are set in stone as yet. And I’ve just started working on a coffee table book, which will be a merging of my writing and photography, and it’ll be incredibly motivational and pretty.

Are we allowed to have a sneak peak at your goals list?

Sure. My current goals involve completing and publishing my coffee table book, marking Onya’s place in the print world as a publication of brilliance and uniqueness, building my new blog, and writing, writing and more writing.

How does it feel to be able to take Onya Magazine to print?

I feel the best way to sum that up, because you can probably get a sense that I tend to waffle rather than be succinct, is to read this post that I wrote when I broke the news: http://www.onyamagazine.com/articles/extra-extra-read-all-about-it/

What advice would you offer to aspiring novelists, freelancers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path?

Every writer has a style. Don’t be afraid to embrace yours. The best compliment I’ve ever received was someone who told me that when they read my work it was almost like I was sitting there next to them, talking. It was uncomplicated and fresh.

And there’s my next piece of advice – don’t overcomplicate things. I’m a strong believer in keeping things simple, but that’s just my style. I’ve always thought that there’s no real reason to be overly academic in your writing unless you’re writing an academic paper – because if you’re work is not accessible, then no one will access it.

Don’t be afraid to put out a strong opinion – you’ll always get strong opinions back, but that is only fuel for a stronger fire within.

To write well, you must read well.

If you start your own business, do it because it would be an injustice if you didn’t. Don’t do it to be cool or popular or to get discovered. I guarantee you that three months into your growing business, the work will swallow you, and if you don’t love what you’re doing and if you’re not prepared to put time and effort into it, then you will be a world away from cool and popular.

Don’t expect to be a brilliant editor, if you are not a brilliant writer. As far as I’m concerned the two are intrinsically linked.

Ten in the Hot Seat:

1. Describe yourself in one word: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
2. Biggest accomplishment to date: I take nothing for granted. Every piece I’ve ever had published makes me smile. Every time I publish a writer’s work in Onya I smile. But, if I had to choose, probably building a business on my own, from the ground up, all on my own with no backing, and succeeding so far, has been a point of great satisfaction in my life.
3. You wish you wrote: Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr Suess
4. Can’t leave home without: My BlackBerry, notebook, pen, lip balm, keys and wallet. And sometimes my MacBook Pro and Canon EOS.
5. One thing you are currently writing: I never leave a piece unfinished. That’s why I haven’t dared to write a novel yet. But I’ll get there.
6. First thing you wrote: Without retrieving the journal, it would be hard to say, but one particular pearler that stands out is this line by six year old me, ‘If a kid ever beat me in a running race, I’d probably bash them up.’
7. Addicted to reading: Yes, entirely addicted to reading. It’s safe to say I devour words, so if it’s in a book, magazine or online, I’m generally reading it. 
8. Top spot on your goals list: I have a couple, in equal place. Publishing Onya Magazine – the print version – in late 2010. It’s going to be one hell of an adventure. And getting my coffee table book completed, and published.
9. If you were a character in a classic, you’d be: I’d love to say Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s but I’m much more like Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird.
10. The best thing about being a wordsmith: Being read. Every time someone reads your work you are making them think or feel or remember. You might even teach them, or inform them, or better still inspire them.

Elsie Kassis, Blogger at www.diaryofafashionmuse.blogspot.com

Tell us about your wordsmith career path so far: I have been writing for as long as I can remember. As a child I kept journals which I kept going right through my early high school years. After that, when it came apparent that a career within the fashion industry was my ideal path, those journals simply evolved into scrapbooks. During my years of studying fashion design and then production, along with sketching and sewing for classes, I continued to write in my spare time at home. Those scrapbooks became my world. I filled them with various forms of inspiration from magazine cut outs, to quotes, to drawings, to article and story ideas and so forth. After years of studying and working within the fashion industry, I finally decided that writing about fashion was my real love and Diary Of A Fashion Muse was born.   

You’ve gone from being a fashion student to establishing a widely-read fashion blog that has now been nominated for ‘Best Fashion Blog’ at the Australian Fashion Awards. Does it feel like you’re heading in an entire different direction in terms of career? Absolutely. I started Diary Of A Fashion Muse due to my complete and utter obsession with all things fashion and my love of writing in general. It was an opportunity to see the ideas and thoughts in my head come to life. Almost like an online ‘scrapbook’ if you may. I started out wanting to be a fashion designer and along the way, it evolved into becoming a fashion commentator of sorts and I couldn’t be happier. Being nominated by my Industry peers for Best Fashion Blog when Diary Of A Fashion Muse is still less than a year old has certainly made me one happy little blogger!

What appeals to you about blogging, and how often do you post and why? Diary Of A Fashion Muse is a Fashion Industry Blog which covers all the latest collections from around the Globe, designer information, store openings, celebrity and model style, current trends and how to wear them, Industry news, the latest Advertising Campaigns, what is hot right this minute plus personal anecdotes of the trials and tribulations of fashion and shopping from myself, my friends and my readers. Diary Of A Fashion Muse is for the Fashion Obsessed as well as the Fashion L-Plater. 
I like to constantly inform my readers of the happenings within this Industry whilst giving them some personal information about my life as well and I love how I am able to do this instantly. I love the immediacy of blogging. How as soon as I get an idea about anything at all I can communicate it with the world in an instant and I think (and hope) that is what my readers like about it too, that they are constantly informed and ‘clued’ in. Due to this I happily post several times a day.

What is a typical day in the life of A Fashion Muse? It truly varies. Some days I will have meetings or interviews to attend, other days I am holed up at home typing away on the blog or for various other websites. If I have a full day at home I get up, shower and dress (as if I am physically leaving for work) and walk the 5 or so metres to where my PC is situated (a long and tedious commute clearly) where I will check and reply to my emails. I then reply to any messages I have received both on facebook and twitter and then go on to reply and approve any comments that have been left on my blog. If I have any assignments I need to complete or get started on I concentrate on those first and once they have been completed, I begin researching my next blog post. If I do have a meeting scheduled, I then obviously would take more care in regards to my outfit selection, do my hair and make up and grab my very cute LV Agenda and head out the door, stopping along the way to grab various newspapers and magazines to devour and to check my post box. I take breaks throughout the day to clear my head and regroup where I take my dog Harley for a walk, meet friends for lunch and go window shopping (it’s research, honestly).

Are you writing freelance for any other fashion publications, or do you prefer to concentrate solely on your blog for the mean time? I do contribute to other websites so when I am not blogging on Diary Of A Fashion Muse, I am pitching ideas or working on articles for them as well as pitching ideas for other publications  (ahh, such is the life of the freelancer!)

Most bloggers find that, at least ininitially, it’s very hard to get writing read by a large audience. What do you think has helped AFM succeed? Shameless promotion usually helps! Seriously though, I find that by posting relevant links on networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook helps spread the word however I have also realised that word of mouth seems to be working in my favour with Diary Of A Fashion Muse. The power of the Internet is truly amazing as I constantly receive emails from various readers informing me that they stumbled across the blog by accident. It has really has just grown on it’s own.

How did the idea for your blog come about? I had been wanting to start a blog for such a long time for me to really just share my love for all things fashion with other like minded people. It was Christmas Day 2008, I was at home aimlessly surfing the Net and just thought ‘Why not?’ and so I did. It really was the perfect step for someone like me who loves fashion and loves to write so by fusing these two areas together, I found that having my own blog was the perfect platform to successfully communicate both my interests to a wider audience.

What were some of the difficulties you first encountered when trying to establish an audience, build up the site, find your niche etc? I knew from the beginning that Diary Of A Fashion Muse would be for anybody interested in the fashion world, whether or not they were already in the industry, trying to break in or just had pure love for it. I also knew that the blog needed to be filled not just with industry news and information but it also had to have a personal slant to it as I found that when I shared any personal experiences, my readers tended to respond positively as they could identify with my anecdotes themselves. I have been extremely lucky in the sense that I never really encountered any difficulties when I established Diary Of A Fashion Muse as due to the various contacts I had within the industry, getting the blog out there was never a major issue for me.

Did you consult any mentors or guides to make the process a little easier? Not particularly. From the moment I decided on setting up Diary Of A Fashion Muse, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it so I just kind of went with what was in my head I guess!

Niche fashion and beauty blogs have really taken off in the past couple of years. Why do you think this is so and does that make you continue to strive hard to ensure AFM always has a point of difference? I think it is due to the aforementioned immediacy of it. With the popularity of the Internet, people are able to visit any website to get the information they crave constantly and in an instant and I also think it is because readers can really relate to the bloggers themselves and to what the blog is really all about. I know that before I started, I would read other blogs religiously and think to myself that I could possibly do something along those lines as well. I think Diary Of A Fashion Muse is fairly unique in that it is professional yet not intimidating. It really is just me in a nutshell as I share the things that I love in a way that is fun and enjoyable. I am approachable and have such a love for what I write that I believe (and hope) it comes across on screen.

How do you work with your blog? Are your postings inspired by press releases and industry news, your own sense of style and shopping patterns, or do you rely on the questions asked by your readers to write up your bits and pieces? A mixture of all of the above. My posts cover industry news, the latest collections, information on designers and the new advertising campaigns. There is also quite a strong focus on both model and celebrity style as well as personal photographs of my own style and anecdotes from my own various experiences. Readers will also quite often email me queries on particular subjects that they would like to know about and I happily oblige.

How do you think the layout, pictures and colour scheme of the blog enhance the overall writing experience? People respond well to images which is why I tend to use a whole range of photographs and illustrations throughout. I try to keep the layout fairly simple and straightforward as I prefer to keep the focus on the actual content of my posts.

Do you have a goals list that the Wordsmith Lane readers can have a sneak peak at? I don’t tend to plan too far ahead to be honest however at this stage I really would like Diary Of A Fashion Muse to keep expanding and to continue to reach the fellow fashion obsessed all over the world. Establishing my blog has really opened many doors for me and if anything I would like that to continue!

Give us one good reason why we should follow your blog. As I mentioned before, Diary Of A Fashion Muse is really for everybody, from the fashion obsessed to the fashion newbie. Come here to learn about the industry and to get to know what I am all about.

What advice would you offer to aspiring bloggers, freelancers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path? My advice for bloggers is fairly simple: know what industry you want to write about, find your target market and just write. If it is truly a passion for you, it will come fairly easily. For freelancers, you will need to pinpoint exactly which area of the media you aspire to be involved with. You need to know that particular publication inside and out when pitching your ideas to them. For everybody who wants to write one way or another, you will need to become a vicarious reader if you are not already. Read everything from newspapers to magazines to press releases to newsletters. You need to be like a sponge and soak up all sorts of information from all areas of life in order to be a successful writer.

 Ten in the Hot Seat:

1.    Describe yourself in one word: Curious

2.    Biggest accomplishment to date: Being nominated in the 2009 2threads Australian Fashion Awards for Best Fashion Blog

3.    You wish you wrote: The Alchemist. Such a simple, beautiful tale that has changed the lives of so many across the Globe.

4.    Can’t leave home without: My purse, which is simply an extension of my body (albeit a stylish one).

5.    One thing you are currently writing: A piece about ‘Store Stalking’ – when you constantly visit the same store to lovingly stare at or repeatedly try on a particular item that for what ever reason you just can not bring yourself to purchase. This is what I call ‘Store Stalking’ and we are all guilty of it!

6.    First thing you wrote: An Illustrated children’s novel I was working on at home and which I gave to my 8th grade English teacher to mark!

7.    Addicted to reading: everything and anything. My tastes are endless.

8.    Top spot on your goals list: To expand Diary Of A Fashion Muse into an ‘interactive’ website.

9.    If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: Jo March in Little Women.

10.  The best thing about being a wordsmith: Being able to communicate in various mediums when you have a love for the written word is priceless.

TO VOTE FOR DIARY OF A FASHION MUSE IN THE  ‘BEST FASHION BLOG’ CATEGORY OF THE 2THREADS AUSTRALIAN FASHION AWARDS, CLICK HERE: http://www.2threads.com/fashionawards/vote#u

As mentioned earlier today, I feel it will be just as beneficial for us to follow the tales of aspiring writers who are just starting out in the game as it is to learn from those who are well-established. This week, Wordsmith Lane regular Sarah Hannah Fisher takes us on her little journey. Don’t you just love her picture here? I feel there’s a lot more than wordsmith to this lady! Check out her blog  at www.deathwearsdiamondjewellery.wordpress.com

Tell us (in a nutshell) about your wordsmith career path so far:

I’ve been writing my whole life: journaling, poetry, short stories & novellas… So I knew that I wanted to make a career out of the written word from a young age.

I did a BA Media & Communications degree at Sydney Uni majoring in English. However, life got in the way and I ended up taking a fairly long time to finish my degree- I only graduated last year. I’m a bit of a free spirit and at the moment, working 9-5 stuck behind a desk sounds so unappealing to me! I started doing a small bit of freelance work last year, but this year I’ve worked really hard to feel like I deserve to call myself a ‘freelance writer.’

Who are you writing for at the moment? / What are some of your current projects? 

I’m currently working on two articles: one for Australia’s premier eco fashion magazine Peppermint and another for Urban Animal.

I am constantly sending pitches to editors and negotiating possible upcoming commissions so tomorrow morning I may get an email back from Marie Claire with the good news that they want to publish my story, so check back with me!

I’m also working with another freelance journalist to set up a new online portal for writers, which is set to launch on November 1st.

Have you ever attended or been a part of any writer’s festivals? If so, how do you think they aid your career? 

Sadly, no I haven’t! I planned on attending this years Sydney’s Writer’s Festival, but I ended up interstate the whole time. Next year…

What are your favourite topics to write about?

There are so many!!! I like writing about issues that I can personally relate to or are interested in. Things like animal rights, body image and mental health are all topics I am passionate about. That said, I also love fashion & beauty writing and I love analysing pop culture too.

Are you looking to concentrate on a certain niche, or do you want to continue to vary up your topics at this stage?

I like keeping things varied. I would love to one day end up writing on topics that are relevant to teenage girls. I had such a hard time as a teenager and just out of high school but now I am on the other end of it all… The idea that something I have written could help a girl cope with serious issues such as depression, body image, self harm etc would be amazing.

You are currently interning at Dumbo Feather Magazine. How did that come about, and what does it do for you to intern?

It’s actually a fairly new gig for me! I’d heard about the mag for a while but for some reason never got around to buying an issue until a few months ago. I fell in love with it- it was just such a refreshing change from all the usual celebrity saturated magazines. I basically just emailed the editor to tell her how much I admired her for creating Dumbo Feather and straight out asked to intern one day a week with her!

Kate Bezar (editor) is an amazing woman and I am learning so much from her already. It is a fantastic experience.

What are some other avenues that you are taking to further your career? Have you ever utilised networking opportunities or writer’s groups, or are you more reliant on your blog and mediums like Twitter to make a connection?

So far I’ve just been relying on things like my personal blog and twitter as well as recommendations from other writers and friends.

I’m looking into joining some writer’s groups and things, but I’m still a little lost as to where to start searching! Wordsmith Lane post idea maybe?

You have had work published in Cleo and Girlfriend. How did it feel to get published in the mainstream publications and how did this come about for you?

The first time I saw my name printed in a magazine I was so excited! I bought multiple copies and gave it to pretty much everyone I knew!

What are some of the difficulties you encounter when trying to establish yourself as a freelance journalist? Are you reliant on any tools, mentors, groups or writers centres/courses for help? 

The main difficulty I have is having my proposal’s approved by editors! My portfolio is still fairly skeletal and a lot of the mainstream publications, especially in the current economic climate, find it risky to commission such an unknown writer.

I find that when I get stuck with something I am unclear on, I tend to ask for advice from a couple of freelance writer’s that I admire such as Katrina Fox and Rachel Hills. Both women have been extremely generous in unofficially mentoring me!

Great writers read a lot. What are some of your must-reads?

Oh god, I am a huge book nerd!! Unfortunately my apartment is so small that 90% of my collection lives with my mother as there is just no space to put them all!

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Dracula by Bram Stroker, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and The Chronicles of Narnia are a few of my all time favourite books.

Works by Anais Nin, Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, Kurt Vonnegut, Jeffery Engines, Henry Miller, Scott F. Fitzgerald, Hunter S. Thompson, Johnathan Safran Foer… I could go on!

Writers that work from home (part-time or full-time) tend to comment about the merits of being able to work their own hours, or work in their PJ’s all day. Is that something that appeals to you, or do you tend to structure your day around a routine to keep you more productive?

It definitely appeals to me; I have a slight issue with authority and being told what to do and when to do it!

I generally keep a pretty loose schedule that I like to stick to every day, but it changes depending on my motivation and my social life! I make a ‘to-do-list’ and as long as I complete it each day, I am happy.

I do need to be a little more strict on myself thou. I have slight issues with the fact that a 25year old should be a grown up already and having a live in boyfriend who works nights is hard sometimes as I’m often tempted to just leave the laptop and spend the day mucking about.

What are some of your current writing projects, and what are some of your writing goals?

The biggest goal I have is to complete my book. I am currently writing a sort of loose memoir on some of the hardships I’ve experienced in my very early 20s- mental illness and psychiatric hospitalisations and such.

I want to keep it in a diary-like format, so I’m in the middle of transcribing entries from my original diaries and writing journals.

Tell us about your blog ‘Death wears diamond jewellery’.

I basically just write about whatever pops into my head! Some posts are inspired by current topics in the media and other’s are just random thoughts I might have on something like Disney songs.

What are your primary reasons for blogging? Does it get your ‘juices flowing’ in a sense?

I started blogging earlier this year when I became serious about freelance writing. It definitely keeps me in the habit of writing regularly and gets my brain moving.

I also just got sick of reading the same old blogs by people my age- photos of what they are wearing or what they ate etc. I thought having a blog with a more insightful edge to it and that was written less formally than a news site or something, would be appealing.

What is a typical day in the life of Sarah Hannah Fisher, freelance writer?

Every day is different! One day a week I am interning and once a week I volunteer at the Cat Protection Society. I’m trying to put roughly 2hours a day aside for working on my book, but I’m not very good at it yet!

Most other days I get up when my body clock does, around 10am. Late I know, but I am a big believer in sleep! I start the day with a coffee and checking emails, new twitter updates, reading & replying to new blog comments and browsing some newspapers and blogs. The rest of the day I usually spend replying to emails, planning new blog posts, doing research for new proposal ideas and writing and editing whatever articles I am currently working on.

That said, some days I don’t really do anything but play with friends!

What are some of the perks associated with your job?  

Writing what I want to write, whenever I want to. I am lucky that it’s not my main source of income, so I do have the freedom to take on projects that I am passionate about.

What advice would you offer to aspiring freelancers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path?

That it’s never to late to start! Also, I think having faith in yourself plays a huge element in perusing freelance work; there is a lot of rejections!

Ten in the Hot Seat:

Describe yourself in one word: Vampiric

Biggest accomplishment to date: Finally finishing my degree! I hated university with a passion. My respect goes out to writers like you who tackle thesis’s!

You wish you wrote: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Can’t leave home without: Saying goodbye to my cat

One thing you are currently writing: A proposal to Girlfriend magazine

First thing you wrote: A story about visiting the zoo

Addicted to reading: Mags that combine quality content with gorgeous photography like RUSSH, Oyster, Lula

Top spot on your goals list: To stay happy

If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: Some one from Alice in Wonderland. Probably the Cheshire Cat

The best thing about being a wordsmith: Playing around with words to paint an image in the reader’s head.

Rachel Hills does a lot of things. She writes for a number of online and print publications of both the high and low brow, blogs about life and other catastrophes at www.rachellhills.tumblr.com , helps to run the highly-visited NINEMSN home page in her role as Deputy Editor, speaks at festivals, forums and media events, and conducts copius amounts of research for her big thesis on sex and gender. In between, she’s working on a book, plotting her intellectual takeover over our media spheres and guising me through many a crisis as my mentor.

You can see here that I have a lot of nice things to say about Ms Hills, but these are not going to give her enough justice. How about you read this fabulous interview instead, and see for yourself what a goal-oriented, groung-breaking and awe-inspiring wordsmith she really is. Have a fab weekend, wordsmith laners xx

Who are you writing for at the moment? / What are some of your current projects? 

I’ve worked with a pretty broad stable of editors (see here for more info), but who I work with at any given moment is determined more by the stories I want to pursue than anything else – it changes over time. This year, though, I’ve done most of my work with Cleo and the Fairfax newspapers. I’m also working on a feature for Vogue, which I’ve jokingly started to refer to as ‘the story that never ends’. And then there’s my book and thesis.

You sold your first article when you were 22, an age where most young people are still trying to figure out who they are. Not even four years later, you have had over 100 articles published, all while juggling various part-time jobs, expansive speaking gigs, and most recently, a postgraduate research degree. How has this experience been for you? Does it seem surreal, or fast? And how are you able to stay focused on your major career goals and objectives while, in a sense, diversifying your avenues of getting there?

If anything, it’s seemed too slow. Too slow when I was figuring out how to get published, too slow when I was first starting out and couldn’t get the major mags to pay any attention to me, and too slow now that I realise this bloody book is probably going to take me another three years to finish (but when it is finished, I’m sure people will think it was fast, too)! There have definitely been some crises of confidence. That said, I still get a real thrill whenever I get a pitch accepted, and over the past year and a half especially, it’s been really wonderful to reach a point in my career where even editors who haven’t worked with me will usually take on my ideas, on the strength of my portfolio and reputation. That’s what this whole thing is about, really – being able to get your writing out there, and get it read. As for staying focused – obviously it’s hard sometimes when you’ve got so much going on, but overall I’ve found it’s reasonably easy to stay on track if your end goal is consistent. 

How did it feel to head up and participate in projects such as election tracker [which sent four journalists aged under 25 on the 2004 federal election campaign], interface and the Media Bistro events? Do you think that your creative community building efforts aid your career?

Fantastic. I was absolutely in love with electionTracker – at that point, it was the most exciting thing I’d ever done in my life – and Interface was my baby. I was incredibly passionate about both of them, and there’s nothing like working on a project you care about that much. They were also a great opportunity to meet some really talented young writers (if I hadn’t done electionTracker, I wouldn’t have started freelancing until much later) and learn ‘how things work’: things like how to negotiate access, how to get a panel up at a writers’ festival, how to get media coverage, how to manage people and be managed, and so on. That said, they were also exhausting – I was burnt out after both of them. When I was editing electionTracker, I had to be available to my writers between 8pm and 2am each day. I was also working another job four days a week, so I was editing ten articles each day and coordinating seven staff in the evenings. I was working so hard that I managed to come down with a different illness every week.

I got involved with Media Bistro when I met Laurel Touby, the company’s founder, on my first trip to the United States in 2006. She mentioned that she’d always envisioned her events as “salons”, a concept I’m quite passionate about, so I ended up volunteering to co-run her Sydney events. It was a great way to get to know a few more people in the industry, and to get to know those I already knew better, but I had to give it up when I started my thesis last year.

These projects were really good experiences in and of themselves, but they also introduced me to a lot of really interesting, inspiring people. Vibewire [the organisation that ran electionTracker and Interface] has always attracted very talented people, and I think this was particularly the case at the time that I was an editor. A lot of the people I worked with on electionTracker and as editor of Vibewire.net’s politics section are now doing really good work in the media and arts. I didn’t do the work for the purpose of networking, but the networks I developed through doing it were probably the best thing I got out of it.

What was it like to be an ambassador at the Emerging Writer’s Festival in Melbourne this past May?

It was great – one of the most flattering things I’ve been asked to do (and following on from the last question, I later discovered that it was someone I’ve worked with at Vibewire who recommended me to do it). I love meeting people and talking about writing, so it was pretty much heaven. I’ve been involved with four writers’ festivals, and the EWF was definitely my favourite: all the panels were really insightful and well-targeted, and it created an environment that was very conducive to interaction between the audience and participants, which is very different to most festivals.

How useful do you find networking, and how would you recommend Wordsmith Lane readers network for their career potential, without coming across as pushy or annoying?

That’s a tricky one. I suspect most people would say I’m great at networking (whether they mean that as a compliment or not is another matter), but I don’t own businesscards, and I tend to get quite shy and stick to people I know at networking events. That’s what was great about the Media Bistro events, actually. As hosts, we were told our role was to help meet each other - introducing people, checking to see that they were okay and so on - which I think makes it easier for most people to strike up conversations. And as host, it was my job to approach strangers, which made it much easier for me to do than it would have been otherwise.

In a professional sense, networking is about two things: letting people know who you are, and hoping they end up liking you. A good networker, in my opinion, is not someone who shoves their businesscard in your face, or someone who is only talking to you to get a job or freelance work. Good networking is simply good social interaction with people who happen work in your industry – it’s about being personable, passionate about your work and interested in other people. It’s literally about making someone a part of your ”network” and becoming part of theirs. Its professional payoff also hinges, I think, on doing good work – people won’t think of you or recommend you for a role if your work isn’t up to scratch.

If you want to network without being pushy or annoying, my advice would simply be to reach out to people you genuinely admire, and whose work you connect with – whether they’re editors, authors, bloggers or whatever. I do it all the time – not for personal gain, but simply because I want to be in touch with people I think are cool. Most writers love hearing from people who appreciate their work, and passionate, sincere, talented people will stand out every time.

You seem to have carved up a little niche for yourself in the areas of sexuality and gender, and also write quite a bit about politics and social issues. At the same time, you write a lot for magazines such as Cleo, which are obviously a different kind of publication for a different type of audience. How do you think you are able to tailor your writing topics and style to a variety of varying publications, without actually compromising on your interests or areas of expertise?

Quite easily – most of my writing falls under the broad umbrella of social and cultural analysis, and I just tweak it to make it interesting for different audiences. You do need to make an effort to learn the voice of each publication you write for, but even so, I think my individual writing “voice” comes through. And all my work is shaped by the same basic motivation – to write about the intersection between the personal and political in a way that challenges conventional wisdom.

How does your academic research and writing differ to your freelance work? /What are some of the similarities and differences between the two, and do you find it difficult to switch between them?

I think academic research can make you a better journalist – it’s made me think more carefully about how I approach interviews and phrase my questions. On the other hand, because I’m so accustomed to writing in a journalistic voice, it can be hard to turn off the colloquialisms when I’m writing academically - but then, that also makes your work easier for the markers to read. Overall, I think both use a very similar set of skillsets: talking to people, making sense of information and writing it down.

What were some of the difficulties you encountered when trying to establish yourself as a freelance journalist? Did you rely on any tools, mentors, groups or writers centres/courses for help?

The main difficulty I faced when I first started out was the same as the one most budding freelancers face – building relationships with editors who have no idea who you are (and because I had no contacts in the industry, they literally did have no idea). I think I was equally held back by my own fear and inertia, though. The first 9-10 months I was freelancing, I only wrote for the Fairfax papers - I understood how they worked, and I was afraid to pitch elsewhere. How did I overcome these difficulties? By asking freelancer friends for advice, by devouring websites like Mediabistro.com (not a plug – it’s how I got involved in the organisation!) and The Renegade Writer, trial and error, and good old “time”.

Writers that work from home (part-time or full-time) tend to comment about the merits of being able to work their own hours, or work in their PJ’s all day. Is that something that appeals to you, or do you tend to structure your day around a routine to keep you more productive?

I’m not a very structured person by nature, and when I was freelancing fulltime I would work all sorts of odd hours. I would also procrastinate a whole lot, reading blogs and the like for “research”. It wasn’t all bad – it meant I was incredibly well-informed about the issues I wrote about – but it also meant I could never switch off from work. I still don’t have a very clear delineation between work and non-work (I’m writing the answers to these questions at 11pm the night before I’m due to go on holiday), and I still don’t have a set routine, but I’m more organised now because I have to fit so much in. I recently downloaded a ‘to-do list’ application to my iPhone, and I love it. It’s a really effective way to keep track of everything I need to do, and it’s also really motivating – much more so than a paper or online to-do list, because I take it with me everywhere.

What are some of the difficulties that you encounter when working on a big project such as a book/doctoral thesis?

Staying focused. And not being swayed by the temptation to work on projects with more immediate gratification, like freelancing or blogging. I haven’t quite mastered that one yet.

What are your primary reasons for blogging? Does it get your ‘juices flowing’ in a sense?

I started blogging because I wanted to connect with people who read and enjoy my freelancing articles. The way in which I’ve done that has evolved over time, and will no doubt continue to evolve. As Erica Bartle once told me (quoting Jeff Jarvis), “do what you do best and link the rest”. So, I’ve learned that my “comparative advantage” as a blogger is in writing slightly longer, more considered posts - although still much less considered than my paid writing. I’m not about publishing 10 posts a day, or providing an immediate reaction, or post non-stop photos of myself and my life, although I’ve tried all those things from time to time. I’ve also learned that the audience I reach through my blog is quite distinct from those I’d reach through my mainstream media work – they might not buy the publications I write for, or happen to pick them up on the days or monthsI write for them. If I’m honest with myself, blogging definitely cuts into my paid and thesis work, but I also see it as a vital part of my vocation.

What is a typical day in the life of Rachel Hills, freelance writer?

Not nearly as much freelancing as I’d like! Generally I get up at around 8am, read some blogs while I eat breakfast and get ready, then write for an hour or two (thesis, blog, article research etc…), before heading into work for the afternoon – I work as a part-time editor for a major media company. I get home around 7pm, do some exercise, eat dinner, write some more and head to bed around midnight. That’s a very general outline, though – I go through phases where I get up at 6am, and others where I work until 2am and sleep late. And of course I don’t work late every night – I do have a social life.

What are some of the perks associated with your job?

Free books, movie tickets, the occasional concert (although it’s amazing how quickly journalists tire of these). Being immersed in information all day long. Being able to write and have people read what I’ve written.

And what are your career aspirations – especially now, compared to those at 22?

Well, I have most of the things I wanted at 22, now! I’d like to finish my book and for it to do really well – I’m aiming for influential international bestseller, but I’m also well aware that most books don’t do that. As wanky as it sounds, I’d like to be a kind of new school, highly accessible ”public intellectual” - with a presence across books, research, freelance features and essays, blogging, and whatever other media emerges over the next 20 years.

What advice would you offer to aspiring freelancers and wordsmiths who want to follow a similar career path? 

Work really hard and be persistent. The difference between people who want to be writers and those who actually do it is just that: working hard and not giving up. It took me two and a half years after I finished university for my writing career to even start to look how I wanted it to, although I also had plenty of fun doing other things along the way. That might sound like a really short period of time, but as any uni grad knows, it certainly doesn’t feel like it when you’re living it. I’m also a big fan of sticking to stories you’re passionate about and publications you enjoy reading yourself – if you like a publication, that’s usually a good sign that you and the editor have similar ideas about what constitutes a good piece of writing.

Ten in the Hot Seat:

1. Describe yourself in one word: Friendly. And analytical. That’s two, I know.
2. Biggest accomplishment to date: I don’t think there’s any single one I’d single out, more a whole bunch of little ones that all add up. I think my biggest accomplishment is the one I mentioned before – that for the last 18 months or so, I’ve been able to get some pretty hardcore pitches accepted based purely on my clips and reputation. It’s a bit of a writer’s dream, really.
3. You wish you wrote: The Beauty Myth.
4. Can’t leave home without: A bottle of water.
5. One thing you are currently writing: Thesis-related Vogue feature. And just submitted a review of Mia Freedman’s new book to the SMH this morning.
6. First thing you wrote: For pay? An opinion piece on Germaine Greer’s short-lived stint on UK Celebrity Big Brother.
7. Addicted to reading: My Google Reader.
8. Top spot on your goals list: Finish the damn book!
9. If you were a character in a novel, you’d be: None spring to mind. But caricatured and on a good day, I’d be Elle Woods in Legally Blonde 2 – optimistic, idealistic and tenacious. And I’d like to be Veronica Mars: smart and sassy.
10. The best thing about being a wordsmith: Being able to communicate about things I – and increasingly the people reading my work – care about.