So things are good. I launched my new website, bite by bite, and it has been attracting quite a few hits. I’m learning all about SEO and other important internet things, via ittybiz’s totally awesome SEO school. I’m writing an article on the ethics of eating disorders for an ethics writing competition, which is stretching my mind in an awesome way. And I just got my first commission for a mainstream national publication, writing a piece about binge eating for a women’s mag. (I will put it up here – and tell you which mag it’s in – after it has been published).

I’m off to the Blue Mountains on Sunday for two nights, staying in a cute B&B and going to the Katoomba events on the Sydney Writer’s Festival program. I’m so excited – two full days of interesting writers talking about their writing experiences, and two whole nights of quiet, fresh, cold country air and relaxation. Yay!

I’m also volunteering at the festival next week, taking tickets, managing queues and all that kind of front-of-house stuff for various events. I’ll be at the Walsh Bay precinct all day Thursday and Friday if you’re around and want to say hello. I’m looking forward to being around other writers/arty types/fabulous people who have spare time to volunteer. Ooh, speaking of fabulous people, I have recently joined a women’s group called Creative Nest, run by the awesome Sally Swain of Art and Soul.

Creative Nest is a group of 7 women (plus Sally, the facilitator) writers, who get together once a week to write and draw and cry and just be generally fabulous. It’s all about opening up the creativity and playing and having fun. I am enjoying it immensely. All my writer buddies are in Melbourne, and while I have (awesome) friends in Sydney, they’re not really a creative bunch. It’s so great to be around these wonderfully creative, expressive, talented women. I heartily recommend Sally and her groups – there are writing groups, painting groups and all sorts of other fabulousness.

My other writing group, Features Etc., is going well, too. We meet once a fortnight and workshop each others’ stuff. It reminds me of being back at uni, the whole ‘sandwich’ criticism thing (where you make a good point to start, followed by your bad points and then a happy, fuzzy good point to finish). I wish my husband would learn to sandwich criticise, instead of just blurting out the bad stuff without any padding. Oh well.

I’m still looking for a part-time job that doesn’t suck and is writing-related. 2 or 3 days a week doing communications would be ideal, as it would still give me time to write. I could go back to full-time comms if I had to – but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. And that’s me and my writing career update.

posted by Kelly
Filed under: My brand new writing career