Writing My Own Column

I have always wanted to write from a young age. A journalistic career even beckoned at one stage, until I realised that studying for a degree just wasn't my bag and writing fiction was more up my street. Now, a few years down the line, in the back of my mind, there was always that feeling of 'what if?', hence the fact that I added this task to my list. The fact that this particular task also came from my love of Sex and The City, also may have something to do with it as well! Who wouldn't want to be Carrie Bradshaw, living in her New York apartment with her fabulous shoe collection and getting paid to write a column about her life?

So where does a young (!!) Nottingham lass with a modest (but growing) shoe collection start in the land of the printed word? It seems the words start small, aim big is the motto of the day. On the recent Marie Claire 'How to get published' roadshow, a discussion began with regards for writing for magazines. Marie Claire very rarely print any articles from people who have not been published in any other publications, so working your way up from smaller publications seems to be the order of the day. Armed with that knowledge, I'm going to spend this weekend collecting various 'smaller' publications and submitting any article ideas that I may have and work from there.

Realistically my own column is not going to fall at my feet, I'm going to have to go out there and work for it. Although there is nothing to stop me from approaching larger organisations with my ideas, I think I have more chance starting off with the smaller ones. I have got an idea for a weekly blog column for a corporate company, so I'm still going to submit that (hopefully this weekend) and who knows, they may pick up the idea, they may not. I won't know until I try.

So consider this task, a work in progress at the moment and I'll update you of any progress along the way.

Leeds, Katy Regan and Me

Preparing to sell our house has seemed to take precedence over everything else at the moment, so much so that I almost forgot to blog about my road trip to Leeds.

I've never been to Leeds, well that's strictly not true. I have been to Elland Road and I once spent a rather horrible afternoon trying to find a training course in a building that no-one had seemed to have heard of, but never to Leeds city centre. So when I saw the 'How To Get Published' roadshow organised by Marie Claire, I saw the perfect way to indulge my two loves, shopping and writing.

Having survived driving through a monsoon to get there, I found the parking very reasonably, although asking someone if I could possibly have a 5p, as I was 5p short in order to buy a ticket, seemed to be the equivalent of asking someone in Nottingham to give me £10. I mean, come on it's only 5p for God's sake! The shops were also jolly nice, although the location of a Louis Vuitton near a Dorothy Perkins, seemed a little bizarre!

The road show started in the Malmaison Hotel, complete with a glass of champagne, which unfortunately I could only gaze at lovingly. There was about 40 people squeezed into a smallish room, which was scary, especially if you saw the person that I was sat next to. What was also scary was the fact that writing is such an isolated activity that you somehow forget that so many other people are also trying to get published as well and there in very close proximity were at least another 40 people chasing my dream.

The next hour was spent in the company of Carla Bevan, Claire Boyd and the lovely Katy Regan author of 'One Thing Led To Another', discussing different aspects of the writing process. It seemed quite weird, as I sat there, knowing that after attending so many of these events, I was actually one step nearer to getting published - the nearest I had ever been. The only down side of the night was the fact that Katy's Agent was a no show. Securing an Agent is my next step, so I was looking forward to gaining some much required knowledge on that process.

All in all, an enjoyable evening, one which left me feeling motivated and thinking, wouldn't it be fantastic if I could gain a publishing deal this year and cross another task off my list?

Mini Update

So I have the six or so tasks in mind that I need to do this year and I'm getting organised. Library books have been ordered off the BBC list, Wimbledon tickets have been received and I've even begun to write my Dr Who script. My book as those of you who read my blog regularly will know, has been written. However, I have decided to take one final look at it before it gets sent off. I've also decided to do more 'writer' orientated things this year, so if you're going to the Lowdham book festival you may see me there or the Marie Claire 'How to get published' roadshow in Leeds, then you may see me there too!

Wimbledon is in two weeks time, so I'm getting super excited about that, especially now I know that it can't be cancelled on Centre Court. So come what may, I will be there, eating my strawberries and cream and sipping my Pimms. It's not a bad old life really, is it?