Recently I have decided to take the plunge and attempt to make some money through writing. I am in the very early stages of this journey, so I thought I would add to the experience by blogging about it. Hopefully it will add to rather than detract from my chances of progressing.
So far my ‘plunging’ consists of:-
1. Telling my part-time job that I am quitting at the end of January
2. Telling everyone that I am going to do the NCTJ Diploma by distance learning (even though I don’t have the money yet!)
3. Enrolling in some M.O.O.Cs to give myself a taste of what is to come
I never said that this is the right way to start a new career, but it is one way!
So, what is a M.O.O.C anyway? It is a Massive Online Open Course, otherwise known as one of those free courses you can do on the internet. I have completed Introduction to Journalism with the University of Strathclyde and am just over half-way through Fiction Writing in conjunction with the Open University.
They are both provided through futurelearn.org, a company that teams up with universities globally to offer these courses.
Introduction to Journalism was a fascinating course, with loads of practical opportunities to try your hand at writing a variety of articles including a basic report, an opinion piece and a feature. You can find some examples of the articles I wrote for the course in the Articles section of this site. The course rounds off with some interesting groundwork in theory, exploring the role journalism plays alongside politics. There were plenty of opportunities to get involved in juicy debate around this and other topics. The course ends with a very brief introduction to Investigative Journalism that left me with a taste for pursuing journalism further. So, now I am determined to do as much work experience as possible and hopefully secure a traineeship somewhere. Wish me luck! On that note, I am going to my first ever meeting of The Bristol Cable tonight. Check it out and I will report my findings in the next entry.
So, the Creative Writing course? Well, first off, it has gotten me writing some more focussed fiction, which was my intention, so on that note, it has succeeded and you can read some of it in the articles section. I may well adapt some of these stories and send them off to short story writing competitions in the future. I miss some of the fire and rigour that was present in the Journalism course. I think this stems from the course having a pure arts focus, it is not about the place of fiction in the world, but rather about the practise of writing fiction, whereas that question is I think implicit within journalism and helps to focus a journalist on the style and facts needed to impart any story to the wider world. Most people who write fiction have a more personal response to it. They have already decided upon the role that fiction plays in their life and want to focus on writing. I guess what I am trying to say is that I am not learning anything new- but it is a good forum for practising and receiving feedback.
Please have a look at my articles and let me know what you think.
Next: The Bristol Cable. What was my first meeting like and what are they trying to do?
So far my ‘plunging’ consists of:-
1. Telling my part-time job that I am quitting at the end of January
2. Telling everyone that I am going to do the NCTJ Diploma by distance learning (even though I don’t have the money yet!)
3. Enrolling in some M.O.O.Cs to give myself a taste of what is to come
I never said that this is the right way to start a new career, but it is one way!
So, what is a M.O.O.C anyway? It is a Massive Online Open Course, otherwise known as one of those free courses you can do on the internet. I have completed Introduction to Journalism with the University of Strathclyde and am just over half-way through Fiction Writing in conjunction with the Open University.
They are both provided through futurelearn.org, a company that teams up with universities globally to offer these courses.
Introduction to Journalism was a fascinating course, with loads of practical opportunities to try your hand at writing a variety of articles including a basic report, an opinion piece and a feature. You can find some examples of the articles I wrote for the course in the Articles section of this site. The course rounds off with some interesting groundwork in theory, exploring the role journalism plays alongside politics. There were plenty of opportunities to get involved in juicy debate around this and other topics. The course ends with a very brief introduction to Investigative Journalism that left me with a taste for pursuing journalism further. So, now I am determined to do as much work experience as possible and hopefully secure a traineeship somewhere. Wish me luck! On that note, I am going to my first ever meeting of The Bristol Cable tonight. Check it out and I will report my findings in the next entry.
So, the Creative Writing course? Well, first off, it has gotten me writing some more focussed fiction, which was my intention, so on that note, it has succeeded and you can read some of it in the articles section. I may well adapt some of these stories and send them off to short story writing competitions in the future. I miss some of the fire and rigour that was present in the Journalism course. I think this stems from the course having a pure arts focus, it is not about the place of fiction in the world, but rather about the practise of writing fiction, whereas that question is I think implicit within journalism and helps to focus a journalist on the style and facts needed to impart any story to the wider world. Most people who write fiction have a more personal response to it. They have already decided upon the role that fiction plays in their life and want to focus on writing. I guess what I am trying to say is that I am not learning anything new- but it is a good forum for practising and receiving feedback.
Please have a look at my articles and let me know what you think.
Next: The Bristol Cable. What was my first meeting like and what are they trying to do?