There is so much on my mind these days

I completed my course last night ending a good run of schooling since March. I will be taking the next course in the business program in the fall, but it was the writing class that came to a finale yesterday that was a huge eye opener for me. It was a straight up course about writing for magazines and getting them published, taught by someone who is actually doing it – right now.

Deborah Campbell was our instructor and she shared a ton of inspiring insight with a class full of some great writers. Much of her writing chronicles the people and experiences from her travels to Tehran, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Paris and the Gaza Strip. Deborah also writes about artists and has an article about Douglas Coupland’s sculptures coming out soon. She published her book on the conflict in Israel and Palestine called This Heated Place and her articles have appeared in magazines like the Guardian, The Walrus, Modern Painters and one of my favourites – Adbusters.

At the end of class last night, I recounted my story about Adbusters and how their offices are just around the corner from my house. How I sent Adbusters some articles and also walked straight into their offices with resume in hand looking for a gig. “Don’t stop trying,” she says. It’s not an easy business to get into. It is very competitive and writers need to be very disciplined, not only in writing for deadlines but also in fielding new assignments and contacts. It’s important to meet these people, get your name out there and open up those opportunities.

Last night was a bit of a reality check. My second article for the class was about the Young Men’s Adventure Weekend (YMAW) taking place July 14, 15 & 16. I was far too optimistic that I could get the article published in time for the event. I was definitely disappointed with myself, as the article still needed additional writing and tweaking before it is ready to be pitched. The class is part lecture and part workshop, so we all discussed my story and the suggestions everyone had were very important in making the story, a better story. So it was with mixed emotions that I said good-bye to everyone and headed home. We have set up a blog and hopefully we will continue to workshop our writing with each other and I’m sure there will be another writing class in the future.

My goal was to share the YMAW story here on my blog and then begin to pitch it to magazines and some newspapers. I think now that I will extend the scope of the piece with additional stories from this year’s event and submit it for publication afterwards. Still, I am ecstatic over the last couple of months where I have finally felt comfortable saying, I am a creative writer. I am still writing articles for the insurance website which will launch soon and I just picked up another writing gig as well. So I guess I’m actually doing it – right now, too.

It has been a very busy second quarter of the year and I’m looking forward to finally getting some relaxation this long weekend. Enjoy! GO PORTUGAL!! VIVA!

This has been another Observation from the Island.

peace,