Join me on my new blog here
Sarah x
Friday, 17 October 2008
Thursday, 9 October 2008
My Inbox is Empty
Yep, I have no commissions or paid work of any kind at the moment. Thankfully with 'payment on publication' gigs, I have money coming in until January that'll cover my expenses, but wont really leave me with much spare cash (thank goodness for a husband with a good job).
As is so often the case when you freelance, I'm waiting to hear from a couple of people about projects that may or may not come off, but at the moment I'm happy to take a step back and develop my own projects a bit.
Next week I'll start pitching again and wait for the eternal silence of the e-ether to be broken by somebody who wants to pay me for what I do best (writing stuff before anyone leaves smutty comments!)
Sarah x
As is so often the case when you freelance, I'm waiting to hear from a couple of people about projects that may or may not come off, but at the moment I'm happy to take a step back and develop my own projects a bit.
Next week I'll start pitching again and wait for the eternal silence of the e-ether to be broken by somebody who wants to pay me for what I do best (writing stuff before anyone leaves smutty comments!)
Sarah x
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Freelance Writing Tips
Join me here to find out how having blogs and websites can help raise your profile and generate commissions.
Sarah x
Sarah x
Sunday, 28 September 2008
Killing the List
As you know, I decided not to complete the 40 things to do before I was 40 because I decided it was actually a stupid idea. Anyway, I wrote an article about it and pitched it to every possible home, but nobody wanted it, so - as I promised - here is the piece. Please let me know what you think.
Sarah x
Killing the List
Back in January of this year with my 40th birthday looming in October, I started a blog at www.sarahat40.blogspot.com
It was the first of – yes, you guessed it – 40 things I was going to do before I reached 40. Friends had sent me links to others people’s blogs and bought me books and I’d made a list of things that sounded cool (and not too dangerous), to do.
Now - at the end of August – I’ve managed to do 10 of them with varying degrees of success (I’ll never perform on the harmonica in public!), and have realised that I don’t actually give a monkeys about all the others.
In fact, I’ve come to realise that if I’d really wanted to do these things, I would have done them in the 39 years I’ve already had. It also struck me (co-incidentally in the week when Dave Freeman – the guy who invented the whole “list” concept – died), that in not doing the things on the list, I’ve done some far more interesting things by just living.
I have – for example – become a freelance journalist; collected lots of interesting pebbles and glass on the beach with my family; bought and flown a kite; done
some great hikes; knitted a mitten (and I’m going to do the other one to make the pair); made new friends and reconnected with own ones on Facebook and spent many wonderful hours in the company of my husband and son.
In not doing 30 of the 40 things, I’ve discovered that I don’t want to learn how to skateboard, play the drums or write a song. I don’t want to bury a time capsule, send a message in a bottle, or order a vodka martini shaken not stirred. I have no desire to be drawn by a street artist, have tea at The Ritz or go to a health spa. I also don’t want to read a Russian novel, complete The Times crossword, learn a new word every day for a month, audition something, become a street entertainer or be on TV.
What I actually want to do is get on with the business of doing what I’m doing, being a wife, mother and freelance journalist. I want to provide a comfortable home and good food for my family. I want to be around to take my son to and from school. I want to continue to write and forge little successes in my chosen career. I want to train as a Cub Leader and enjoy Scouting. I want to look back on my life without regret and think “I did what I wanted to do, I lived a good life, I provided for my family and made a little difference to the people whose lives I touched.”
Do I regret making my list? Do you know what? Yes, I do. I made a list of things I thought other people would think were cool, that other people would envy me doing. I made the list because I thought it would impress other people
and make them think I was interesting.
Writing the list was shallow and showy. Not completing the list isn’t a failure, it’s a realisation that there are more important things in life, like honesty and responsibility and so the thing to do before – and after – I’m 40 is to live my life to the full, honestly and without regret.
Sarah x
Killing the List
Back in January of this year with my 40th birthday looming in October, I started a blog at www.sarahat40.blogspot.com
It was the first of – yes, you guessed it – 40 things I was going to do before I reached 40. Friends had sent me links to others people’s blogs and bought me books and I’d made a list of things that sounded cool (and not too dangerous), to do.
Now - at the end of August – I’ve managed to do 10 of them with varying degrees of success (I’ll never perform on the harmonica in public!), and have realised that I don’t actually give a monkeys about all the others.
In fact, I’ve come to realise that if I’d really wanted to do these things, I would have done them in the 39 years I’ve already had. It also struck me (co-incidentally in the week when Dave Freeman – the guy who invented the whole “list” concept – died), that in not doing the things on the list, I’ve done some far more interesting things by just living.
I have – for example – become a freelance journalist; collected lots of interesting pebbles and glass on the beach with my family; bought and flown a kite; done
some great hikes; knitted a mitten (and I’m going to do the other one to make the pair); made new friends and reconnected with own ones on Facebook and spent many wonderful hours in the company of my husband and son.
In not doing 30 of the 40 things, I’ve discovered that I don’t want to learn how to skateboard, play the drums or write a song. I don’t want to bury a time capsule, send a message in a bottle, or order a vodka martini shaken not stirred. I have no desire to be drawn by a street artist, have tea at The Ritz or go to a health spa. I also don’t want to read a Russian novel, complete The Times crossword, learn a new word every day for a month, audition something, become a street entertainer or be on TV.
What I actually want to do is get on with the business of doing what I’m doing, being a wife, mother and freelance journalist. I want to provide a comfortable home and good food for my family. I want to be around to take my son to and from school. I want to continue to write and forge little successes in my chosen career. I want to train as a Cub Leader and enjoy Scouting. I want to look back on my life without regret and think “I did what I wanted to do, I lived a good life, I provided for my family and made a little difference to the people whose lives I touched.”
Do I regret making my list? Do you know what? Yes, I do. I made a list of things I thought other people would think were cool, that other people would envy me doing. I made the list because I thought it would impress other people
and make them think I was interesting.
Writing the list was shallow and showy. Not completing the list isn’t a failure, it’s a realisation that there are more important things in life, like honesty and responsibility and so the thing to do before – and after – I’m 40 is to live my life to the full, honestly and without regret.
Friday, 19 September 2008
Manic every day of the week, never mind about Monday!
Yep, I'm rushed off my tiny toes again with a big pile of deadlines coming up.
On top of those, I'm writing two projects for a local school, with term started again I'm back on school runs, homework, after school clubs and sandwiches AND I'm starting to train as a Cub Leader. Actually, I haven't even started the training part yet, but I have started attending the Pack Nights (great fun, but exhausting).
I'm hoping to have everything set up to take on a PR client in the next few weeks and then I'll probably cut back on my journalism work for a little while so that I can develop my other interests.
Things are looking interesting at the moment, at the risk of sounding naff, I wonder if life really does begin at 40?
Back at the chalkface...
Although, there's not much call for chalk any more, what with interactive whiteboards and PCs.
Anyway, I'm developing 2 projects for a local school based around writing. The first will take high-achieving writers and - hopefully - push them that bit harder to help them be better writers. The other will be to help interested children to develop a termly online magazine to profile their news.
Being a former teacher and a writer makes this right up my street, at the moment the projects are in the really early stages of development, but I'm excited about the opportunity to share my experience and enthusiasm with the children. I'll keep you informed of where the projects go...
Sarah x
Monday, 15 September 2008
Problems in Pregnancy
Read about them here in a piece I wrote for online magazine Womens Everything!
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