Behind the Scenes of a Writer's Life (Part One)

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So, yesterday, one of our lovely members said she was interested in doing some freelance writing, and was wondering what to charge. After giving some advice, I thought it might be fun to discuss what being a full-time writer entails, how I got to this position, and what you can do if you wish to join me in this never dull career! Obviously, there are lots of writers on this platform and of course, their experiences may be different. I am also a proofreader.

My Background

Just as background, I worked as a training officer for the UK government for 30 years. I did enjoy it, but the subject matter could be considered boring, and it was often difficult to encourage my students to embrace it fully. Basically, every time the government changed the rules on Social Security benefits, I had to study the new reglations and laws, and then convey them to the other employees in an easy to understand manner.

Losing My Job

In May 2012, the office closed, and staff were either moved to different areas or given a redundancy package. I was made redundant, and quickly became bored with having nothing to do. I took a few short term jobs with the National Health Service, but didn't really enjoy them, and chose to do voluntary work in a charity shop instead.

Taking the Test

A couple of months later, I read an article about freelance writing and there was a link to an application for an agency. It stated that to apply, you had to take a spelling and grammar test and write a short article. Now, I had no thought of making this my new career, but decided to take the test out of curiosity. The results would be graded at a level between 1 and 6, with 6 being the highest possible score.

The Results

The spelling and grammar test was easy, as it is something I have always been good at. The article writing was initially a challenge; write 300 words in one hour on the obstacles facing the fashion industry today! What? Not only I am not interested in fashion, but 300 words in an hour? That sounded impossible at that time, knowing that it included research. However, not one to be defeated, I completed the task and two days later came the results - I was level 5!

To be continued...

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Recent Comments

25

Thank you sharing your life story. 👍

Looking forward tp part twp

It's an interesting background that you've had, Diane!

Jeff

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