Last March, I wrote about this. There was a polite rejection letter for this book proposal. But then, through what I can only describe as divine circumstances, the red light changed to green. And now, I am signing my very first book contract! It's as if this book needs to be written; and I am merely the instrument to get the message out. Will be less cryptic once this project moves along, but this is a reminder to self - the words (whatever they might be) need to be … [Read more...]
Sunday
The Words That Move Out of Me
October 30th, 2011
I decided that when I went into full-time freelance writing/editing earlier this year, I had to overcome the fear of revealing my own voice. As such, I begun to write more of my "own things" and just forced on some shameless skin about showing these words to other people. I did this because I didn't want to forget why I love words so much, and I wanted to be bolder about self-expression and receiving criticism and/or rejection in order to grow. And I'm grateful for this little perk of … [Read more...]
Wednesday
The Politics of Work
October 12th, 2011
Last weekend marked the completion of one of the projects I've been working on these past couple of months. It was the opening of Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall (SYSNMH), and I helped with the media content of this revamped heritage site. I love history, I love interesting characters and I love dramatic stories. This job scope had all these things, and gave me new insights on how to approach writing for different media platforms (my best friend's name is Succinct). I think the idea of … [Read more...]
Saturday
Two Houses
June 11th, 2011
It's funny where freelance writing takes you sometime. This week, I ended up in two rather interesting places. The first place was a place full of old, forgotten stories. Even with all the construction drilling and wet cement, I kept wondering about the people who had been in this house - fervently planning revolutions from afar, determined to change the world they lived in. The second place was a place full of sea breeze and money. I felt like I was in this suburban resort paradise … [Read more...]
Thursday
Matchmade
June 9th, 2011
In line with the whole "branding consistency" thing, I felt it was time for a new namecard design to go with the sort-of new website. A very sweet designer friend helped me with this and ta-dahhh, ain't it a cutie patootie? It's quite cool to have a website and a namecard done by people who managed to get what kind of aesthetic I was looking for so quickly - really appreciate their intuitiveness and efficiency in whipping things up which I instantly love! Now if only I could have that kind … [Read more...]
Tuesday
Me Writing About Me
April 19th, 2011
I really struggle when I have to write any sort of "official" bio about myself. Even the About Me section on this website took a whole afternoon to painfully squeeze out. There have been so many times when I cringe at other writers' bios for either sounding so boring or smartass, and I really don't get why so many of them need to mention what breed of dog they have. There are so many blind spots when it comes to this thing called self-awareness, so all the more it's likely that you can sound … [Read more...]
Friday
Heart Days
March 25th, 2011
Monday to Thursday was all about trying to sort work out and figuring ways to make more business sense. So, today, I decided to make it a Heart Day. The kind of day that while yes, I am still answering e-mails and trying to digest an assortment of client requests, I also wonder about my "own stuff". Today, I submitted a book proposal. This proposed book project is not really "my" thing, but it's a thing that I feel I should do even though it totally defies the "business sense" I'd been trying … [Read more...]
Sunday
Tech Stuff Can Be Sexy
March 13th, 2011
Hello, I'm Melanie and I am a Tech Idiot. For a long time, this meant that I did not get along with anyone from the IT Helpdesk with their gruff, low EQ methods of communication and my frustration in trying to understand what they were saying. (Most of the time, it just seemed to be, "We don't repair Macs. I'm not touching your Mac!") But now that I'm doing a project for a semiconductor client, I'm like, "Hello, aren't those little microchippies the sexiest things ever?" And I have utmost … [Read more...]
Tuesday
Whaddya do?
August 3rd, 2010
It's been a while since I popped by here - needless to say, it has been a struggle trying to write "my own stuff" with a full-time job but I managed to squeeze out another piece last week for New Slang. What can I say? It's a topic that's close to my heart. … [Read more...]
Monday
Singapore Naturally
June 21st, 2010
One of the more enjoyable writing assignments I've had required presenting Singapore as a nature's paradise for a feature story in Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia. This was something of a challenge, and I was initially concerned that I'd have to do some sort of PR spin for this article. However, there are some delightful pockets of nature in this small little urban jungle, and I'm really glad to have some time out in the sun spent with nature-lovin' peeps. My favourite bits: Watching animals … [Read more...]
Sunday
Mdm Goh
May 23rd, 2010
For most of the time, I like doing interviews. It's the only thing besides alcohol or sufficient sleep that can make me snap out of my shyness, and listening to other people's stories is always fascinating. Of course, there will always be interview subjects that one prefers more than others. And lately, I had one of those delightful interviews where I went back home with a goofy smile on my face. This article was for Schoolbag - MOE's education blog for parents, and it was about Mdm Goh, a … [Read more...]
Wednesday
Published Ramblings
April 7th, 2010
There was one particular day where I just felt I couldn't write anything sensible anymore. My friend Lianne very wisely suggested, "Why don't you write your own stuff ?" as I mooched about in boredom. So I did just that one morning and remarkably, the written ramblings did wonders for my productivity for the rest of the day. Of course, it also helped that my Asian Brother From Another Mother Jaton had asked if I could contribute a piece for his terribly hip online literary journal New … [Read more...]
Thursday
My Favorite Place: Dai Sijie
January 14th, 2010
Remember the funny interview I had with Dai Sijie? Well, here's how the short little story turned out in the January 2010 issue of Travel +Leisure (SE Asia). I've had a craving for mountains lately and am hoping to get to higher ground soon! Click on image for a more hi-res version. … [Read more...]
Friday
The What-Ifs
December 11th, 2009
A friend's sister is a psychologist who uses RDI to treat her autistic patients. During the school holidays, she holds "extracurricular" workshops and a while back, we started discussing the possibility of introducing creative writing in addition to the arts and crafts lessons that were being held. According to her, writing one's own story is a great way to build up self-reflection, as this act will inevitably bring in one's own life experiences. Also, by determining their own plot, they might … [Read more...]
Friday
The Art of Being Anal
November 13th, 2009
I recently completed an editing/proofreading job that left me with a slightly shakier confidence in my command of English. In fact, just writing the previous sentence caused a minor internal tussle on which prepositions to use. I have been re-reading The Elements of Style to revise on the fundamentals. Here's a nifty tip from possibly-the-only-remotely-interesting-book-on-grammar: "When you become hopelessly mired in a sentence, it is best to start fresh; do not try to fight your way through … [Read more...]
Saturday
Behind the scenes: Dai Sijie Interview
October 24th, 2009
While interviewing French author and filmmaker Dai Sijie on his favourite travel destinations, I gave him a sample of the kind of article I was hoping to write on him. That particular profile was of a certain celebrity chef who loved Sydney Harbour. Here's how Mr. Dai responded in Mandarin: "Who in the right mind would say Sydney Harbour is their favourite place?! I was there once and saw a man slap a woman. A writer would NEVER like a place like this. Who is this guy again? A cook? A … [Read more...]
Friday
Fourteen Days
September 25th, 2009
I think it's been a semi-productive fortnight. Besides churning out web articles, I've also had some correspondence with a magazine editor that has got me a few short-ish writing assignments which I'll probably work on next month. The assignments are not rocket science, but it's a good international publication and I'm grateful to just get a tiny little pinky finger into it. There have also been some discussions on holding a few creative writing workshops for kids (should be interesting!) and a … [Read more...]
Sunday
The first two articles
September 20th, 2009
My first few articles at Nanz Inc are out: Meet the Stay-Home Career Mum To Be or Not To Be This was the project I mentioned in my earlier post. I quite enjoyed doing these two articles because I don't think I would have asked my mummy friends (who were the kind and willing interview subjects) such personal questions in daily conversation. It has made me respect them a lot more. … [Read more...]
Tuesday
Under training
August 25th, 2009
Yesterday, I accepted a project offer that didn't pay much. Mostly because the person overseeing this project is someone I think I can learn a lot from. I've worked with her before from previous freelance writing assignments and I know she will make a fair client/boss/mentor, though I do reckon that she will also make me work very hard. It may seem that I am settling for less by agreeing to be "cheap labour". But in this instance, I really appreciate this opportunity for some guidance as I … [Read more...]
Saturday
An old-fashioned, impatient website
July 11th, 2009
I'm in the midst of creating my own website. As you can see, it is as simple as you can get but it's been infuriating nevertheless, mostly because I only went for a rookie's course in Dreamweaver many moons ago. And while I used to be the "spider girl" - revamping and managing a Swedish MNC's website, this mostly meant writing online copy, amending prices of products, photoshopping images or passing the message onto the web agency that my boss wanted flashier flash effects. It has been a … [Read more...]