Sunday, April 14, 2013

Slow writing


I'm relishing a slow-writing process: being able to read, reflect and gradually construct a story by allowing the ideas and sentences to rise up in their own time instead of being forced. I'm working on a feature for Outback magazine about sustainable farming, and my deadline is a luxurious four weeks away. Since leaving the Express, I've done a little bit of writing in my new capacity as the editor for the New England Writers Centre newsletter, but mostly I have been employed as a casual academic at the University of New England. In trimester three, I marked assignments for a unit on publishing and editing; currently I'm teaching grammar and formal academic writing to first years. This freelance feature is a gift that dropped in my lap, and it's doubly satisfying because the topic - agricultural practices that are both regenerative and profitable - is so important.