Yesterday I had my first lecture as part of the Writing, Editing and Publishing course I am undertaking at the University of Queensland
I decided to do this because I felt my writing had become much neglected in the last few years as an editor of an online political journal. I felt I had become “pigeon-holed”. Admittedly I do have a formidable range of contacts among Australia
After our first lecture last night many of us decamped to West End for the first WEP dinner of the semester. One of the really good things about this course, and one of the main reasons it appealed to me, was the networking and camaraderie among the course participants. Just talking to the course convenor, Ros Petelin, before Christmas made me realise that she is the lynch pin in a tightly knit group of like-minded and passionate people.
And camaraderie there definitely was. I sat chatting and listening to other editors and writers and realised that we have many things in common: a passion for the language; a passion for communication; for story telling; and for the minutiae (which I touched on in my previous blog post, “The mind of an editor”).
“I love manuals” said the lady next to me. She just happens to be the lecturer for one of my courses. “I get so much pleasure from seeing a well rounded, complete, beautiful looking manual, well titled and organised …” (or words to that effect).
Yeh, I got that. I understood.
So did the lady on the other side of me. She reckoned she was going to re-write the manual for the new Kenwood steam mop she just bought recently because it was so appalling. And send it to them to show it how it should be done.
And I have to admit I have been in the habit of sending emails to real estate companies correcting their “newslatters”. I know, I know. But I just can’t help myself!
Of course all this studying is a wonderful luxury and if I manage to find a job that is permanent before the uni census date then I won’t be able to indulge myself. Bills must be paid. But in the meantime I have found a group of like-minded individuals out there and it is most refreshing.
As an aside I have set up my own freelance writing and editing business called Write-now! You can find the website here: http://www.write-now.com.au/. Do contact me if you need some work done. I am happy to quote.
As an aside I have set up my own freelance writing and editing business called Write-now! You can find the website here: http://www.write-now.com.au/. Do contact me if you need some work done. I am happy to quote.
