Wendy ’s Writing
I was born with a pen in my hand and have always loved to write receiving lavish praise at various times from teachers for my imaginative stories .I have worked professionally as a writer in a variety of different capacities over the years .
In my naïve and clueless days when I was looking for writing work in Sydney I once rocked up to a heavy industry press agency in Sydney with my handwritten portfolio of fairy stories .
The managing director Peter sat with his feet on his desk scrolling through my work chuckling in great amusement no doubt at my naiveite and chutzpah but as luck or serendipity would have it he happened to have a very quirky and whimsical side to him and out the back of his agency he had a model train layout to play with as a stress reducer .He was a railway modeller who also produced his own railway modelling magazine and he commissioned me on the spot to write an article about what motivates and calls people to the hobby .I had to traipse all over Sydney NSW interviewing railway modellers
Peter airily waved his hand telling me to take as long as I liked This was such a generous gesture from him which I took quite literally .I can tell you that having to listen to hours of transcripts of blokes waxing lyrical about the intrinsic benefits of fiddling with their choo choos in order to write my article took quite some time and eventually I presented Peter with a finished article Zen and the Art of Miniature Railway modelling and an invoice for 55 hours. At 50 dollars per hour .You do the math.That was a good gig for me.
Why do I write ? I love the ‘Rocky’ Movies I came late to them in life infinitely too sophisticated and artsy to have anytime for blokes punching each other in the face in my younger days .Istill don’t get the appeal of all the hitting but good on Sylvester Stallone for making a string of movies which continue even years later to inspire and motivate people of all ages to live large and go for their dreams .
The movies are full of good motivational one liners. Theres a line there in one of the later movies that one of Rockys confidants a woman tells him when trying to encourage him to follow his passion .She says to him quite simply .A fighter fights hey?
Similarly for writing quit simply a writer writes .You write because you have to .It is a facility a gift ,a vocation, a passion ,a pleasure and a joy and a means by which to communicate and share your best thoughts and ideas with others
When the writing goes well its like balancing up on the highwire and the pleasure of selecting just the right word with exactly the right nuance and texture and colour for your purposes is like the pleasure of carefully selecting a delectable candy from a chocolate box .You taste the words you savour them and feel them and try them out for size in your mind Are they a good fit for what you are writing? Is there something that says what you want to say better? it’s a wholly indulgent thrilling sensual pleasure for a writer when the writing goes well.
As well as writing for myself to bear witness and celebrate and share with others the joys and mysteries and challenges and discoveries of life I have also worked in a professional capacity to assist others writing across a spectrum of different genres . I have my academia webpage where as a former creative arts primary teacher I shared resources for teaching creative arts in the primary classroom which had worked for me in a global forum which gets regular traffic from all over the world I have interviewed and written profiles on celebrities ,worked as freelance journalist for a variety of magazines , worked as a freelance editor for other writers ,received funding from the Australian Film Commission to develop a children’s film treatment have had one children’s book published called A Star is Born by Star Lazer Press and have several other childrens book projects under development as well.
So then read ,enjoy and if you’d like to share your thoughts with me in the comments space at the end of the article that would be great to hear from you .
Thankyou
Wendy Buss
P.S.
Later I will add a tab and a place for my childrens books currently under development with excerpts and links to purchase as E books and print copies
Also if you happen to be a teacher looking for inspirational educational resources for teaching creative arts in you primary classroom do have a look at my academia site http://independent.academia.edu/wendybuss for many resources I have made freely available there
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